That's what I was wondering as well. I can't imagine it applies to everyone in every region, but after Jan/Feb 2020, I personally didn't need to search Google

That's what I was wondering as well. I can't imagine it applies to everyone in every region, but after Jan/Feb 2020, I personally didn't need to search Google (or wherever) for this info because it became a prominent feature on the landing page of the NYT and other news outlets I check fairly frequently. The trend is pronounced enough that there's likely more at play than just "see on website instead of searching" but "I already know it's bad so I don't bother looking it up" and "I already see this data regularly on other outlets without specifically searching for it" surely combine to cause some of this result.