The most popular Google searches of 2019

From the infamous occupation of Area 51 to “OK, Boomer,” there was a lot to Google in 2019. 

There are a lot of great tidbits buried in Google’s annual Year In Search report — sorry, Baby Shark, but Baby Yoda was the most popular baby on the internet in 2019 — but the “What is…?” section is, as always, fascinating. Here are what people were curious about in the United States. 

1. What is Area 51?

2. What is a VSCO girl?

3. What is momo?

4. What is a boomer?

5. What is quid pro quo?

6. What is camp fashion?

7. What is Disney Plus?

8. What is Bird Box about?

9. What is a Mandalorian?

10. What is Brexit?

Most of these were the online trends that defined 2019, so it’s easy to imagine clueless web surfers searching for the terms and being either delighted or horrified at the results. Face it, once you find out what “momo” actually is, you’ll never forget it.

But real, impactful world events managed to sneak in among searches for VSCO girls and camp fashion. Not only is Brexit dragging on, but apparently people still need to be reminded what it actually is.

And, of course, there’s “quid pro quo,” the phrase at the center of the Trump impeachment trial. Translating (roughly) to “this for that,” it’s the Latin phrase most have used to describe what Trump allegedly demanded of Ukraine.

Here’s to 2020 and all the election controversies and confusing memes that will fill our Google search bars for the next 12 months.