Most Searched Things on Google in 2026

“Maps” still holds the #1 spot on Google worldwide, with a 1.63% traffic share, about 3.4x the next term (“y”). What changed in September is the layer beneath it: the autumn sports calendar. “NFL” enters the global top 10 at #6 with 66.3M searches, and “us open” lands at #12 with 62.7M. Neither term appeared in August’s global top 100. Club soccer remains the largest topic cluster: 26 of the 100 queries, 34.1% of top-100 volume, with “real madrid” up 22% to 101.1M searches (#4).

In the US, Google’s Gemini returns to #1 with a 1.31% traffic share and 17.0M searches, ahead of “maps” and “nfl”. The August celebrity spikes faded quickly: “dolly parton” fell from #1 (41.1M searches) to #80 (4.5M, down 89%). American football now accounts for 42 of the US top 100 queries and about 34% of their combined volume.

The trending list tells the same story with sharper edges. “NFL” ranks #1 with a 1.73% share, “us open” is #2, and “serie a” is #5. Only 19 of the 100 trending terms also appear in the global top 100.

Using Similarweb’s data, I analyzed the top 100 Google searches globally, in the US, and across trending terms to understand what people are searching for, where that demand is going, and which topics are driving attention in 2026.

What are the most popular Google searches worldwide?

Here’s a sneak peek into the full list of the top 1,000 Google searches, which you can download below.

Key stats

• Top searched keyword: maps 
• Search volume (for #1): ~59.7M 
• Top traffic leader (for #1): google.com 
• Total volume (Top 100): ~2.48B searches 
• Most common traffic leader (Top 100): youtube.com 
• Unique traffic leaders (Top 100): 56

Takeaway

• “Maps” remains the #1 global search with a 1.63% traffic share, roughly 3.4x the share of #2 “y” (0.48%), although its volume slipped 7.8% to 59.7M searches. Everyday utility queries still form the base of the list: weather appears in eight languages (“weather” #3, “hava durumu” #26, “天気” #27, “погода” #71, “clima” #72, “台風” #78, “meteo” #80, “previsão do tempo” #96). Together they total 388.0M searches, 15.6% of top-100 volume, and “weather” alone has the highest raw volume on the list at 146.8M.
• Sports seasonality drives the biggest changes. “NFL” debuts at #6 with 66.3M searches, and the two US Open queries (“us open” #12, “us open tennis” #22) add up to 78.7M. Soccer matters even more: 26 of the top 100 queries, totaling 845.7M searches, are club or league terms. “Real madrid” (#4, 101.1M) has the second-highest raw volume on the list after “weather”. As the European seasons got underway, “premier league” rose 44% to 71.4M (#13), “la liga” 69% to 52.9M (#17), and “barcelona” 58% to 51.3M (#14). “Serie a” debuts at #31 with 54.3M searches, and “ucl” enters at #74.
• The August news spikes have mostly passed. “Dolly parton” (#2 in August), “hayden panettiere” (#11) and “tim curry” (#12) are no longer in the global top 100. The exception is “lindsay clancy”, which rises from #10 to #7 with 46.9M searches (+30% vs. August), as the trial ended in a mistrial on September 4.
• Gemini’s footprint keeps widening. Four queries led by gemini.google.com now total 37.6M searches, up from 31.6M across three queries in August: the generic “ai” rises from #25 to #19 (21.1M, +11%), the Korean “제미나이” moves from #9 to #11 (8.6M), the Japanese “ジェミニ” holds at #47 (3.3M), and the Russian “гемини” enters at #76 (4.7M).
• Traffic leaders are more spread out than in August. The top 100 now has 56 unique traffic-leading domains (up from 49). YouTube is still the most common leader but leads 17 queries, down from 24, followed by Facebook (7), Instagram (5), and Wikipedia and gemini.google.com (4 each). Total top-100 volume is up 2.9% to about 2.48B searches.

What are the most popular Google searches in the US?

Key stats

• Top searched keyword: gemini 
• Search volume (for #1): ~17.0M 
• Top traffic leader (for #1): gemini.google.com 
• Total volume (Top 100): ~598.6M searches 
• Most common traffic leader (Top 100): youtube.com 
• Unique traffic leaders (Top 100): 38

Takeaway

• “Gemini” is back at #1 in the US with a 1.31% traffic share and 17.0M searches (+11% vs. August), about 1.6x the share of “maps” (#2, 0.82%). “Gemini ai” rises from #19 to #15 (3.5M searches, +18%). Together the two queries total 20.5M searches, up 12% from August, when Gemini slid to #3.
• American football now defines the US list. “NFL” ranks #3 (40.6M searches, 0.80% share) and “nfl games” #7. In total, 42 of the top 100 queries are NFL or college football terms (teams, scores and players), with a combined 203.5M searches, about 34% of top-100 volume. Sixteen of them are college football queries, such as “lsu football” (#11) and “michigan football” (#24). Other sports follow the calendar too: “wnba playoffs” ranks #6 (15.2M searches) while plain “wnba” falls from #10 to #70, and four tennis queries (“us open tennis” #8, “us open” #16, “coco gauff” #61, “ben shelton” #71) add up to 31.3M searches.
• The celebrity spikes of August have largely reversed. “Dolly parton” drops from #1 (41.1M searches) to #80 (4.5M, down 89%), and “hayden panettiere” and “tim curry” are no longer in the top 100. “Lindsay clancy” holds at #4 with 23.6M searches (+2% vs. August), and the trial ended in a mistrial on September 4.
• Product and film launches fill the next tier. Five iPhone queries, all led by apple.com, total 17.8M searches (“iphone 18” #40, “iphone duo” #44, “iphone 18 pro max” #46, “iphone” #69, “iphone 18 pro” #76), around Apple’s September 9 event. “Resident evil movie” (#31, 5.9M searches), “practical magic 2” (#89) and “practical magic” (#92) reflect two September theatrical releases. “Spiderman brand new day”, which held three positions in August, no longer appears.
• Concentration is up. The US top 100 has 38 unique traffic leaders, down from 44, and YouTube leads 28 queries (up from 21), followed by Instagram (9), Facebook (7), ESPN (5) and apple.com (5). The affiliate-style domains that led several buyer-intent queries in August (protect-iq.com, couponvault.net) lead none in September. Total top-100 volume is flat at about 598.6M searches (-0.3%).

What are the most trending Google searches?

Key stats

• Top trending keyword: nfl 
• Search volume (for #1): ~66.3M 
• Top traffic leader (for #1): nfl.com 
• Total volume (Top 100): ~903.8M searches 
• Most common traffic leader (Top 100): youtube.com 
• Unique traffic leaders (Top 100): 34

Takeaway

• The sports calendar sets the trending list. “NFL” ranks #1 with a 1.73% share of trending traffic and 66.3M searches, followed by “us open” (#2, 1.12%), “us open tennis” (#3, 0.73%), “serie a” (#5, 0.63%) and “wnba playoffs” (#6, 0.60%). By our classification, 32 of the 100 trending queries are NFL or college football terms (198.0M searches), 13 are soccer terms (190.5M) and 8 are tennis terms (122.9M).
• The list is also more US-driven than in August, when it mirrored the global top 100. Now 45 of the 100 trending terms also appear in the US top 100, while only 19 appear in the global top 100.
• Entertainment adds a second layer. “Resident evil movie” (#18), “resident evil” (#25) and “resident evil 2026” (#53) all trend together, alongside “practical magic 2” (#43) and “practical magic” (#49). “Lizzie borden” ranks #8 with 20.6M searches, led by Wikipedia.
• Individual names push Instagram into second place among traffic leaders: instagram.com leads 20 of the 100 trending queries, versus 5 in the global top 100. Examples include “sydney sweeney” (#13, 27.4M searches), “caleb williams” (#24) and “presley gerber” (#39), plus Japanese-language queries such as “倉木華” (#4) and “中村ゆり” (#16).
• Regional and real-time demand also shows up. “Карта тривог” (#7, 12.3M searches), led by alerts.in.ua, is the Ukrainian air-raid alert map. “Classificações de brasileirão série a” (#22) reaches 39.2M searches, and “ind vs afg” (#34) reaches 20.8M, led by cricbuzz.com. August’s cricket spike, “ind vs sl”, is no longer in the top 100.
• The top 100 now has 34 unique traffic leaders (down from 49 in August). YouTube leads 24 queries, followed by Instagram (20), Wikipedia (8) and Facebook (7). Total top-100 volume is about 903.8M searches.

Where can you find data on the top Google searches?

To create these lists, I used Similarweb’s Demand Trends feature and Keyword Research Tool, here’s a quick breakdown of how I did it:

• 1. In the Market Analysis suite, go to ‘Demand Trends’
• 2. Select ‘All Industries’ as shown below, or, to get a more targeted list, choose a specific industry
• 3. Select either ‘Worldwide’ data or a specific country in the country filter on the top right
• 4. For the trending terms I filtered the data based on ‘Trending Terms’

Then, to sort by traffic (like I did) or for other further analysis, download the full list and filter from there.

Methodology

I updated this page in October 2026 using data from September 2026. This provides you with an accurate and reliable view of the search landscape and top searches during that period.

The lists are for worldwide, US and trending terms.

I have included: average monthly search volume, traffic (how many of the searches end up going to a website), traffic share, and the traffic leader.

Similarweb Search Intelligence allows you to view things people search for by country and industry. Our data covers billions of keywords worldwide (we’re constantly growing our keyword list each and every day, with real searches as they happen), and we analyze over 2 terabytes of data each day.

FAQs

What is the most searched thing on Google in 2026?

Based on Similarweb’s data, the most searched query worldwide is “maps,” with approximately 59.7 million searches and a 1.63% traffic share, about 3.4x the share of the next term (“y”). “Weather” has the highest raw volume among the top 100, at 146.8 million searches.

What is the most searched thing on Google in the US?

In the US, the most searched query is “gemini,” with approximately 17.0 million searches and a 1.31% traffic share. It returns to #1 after slipping to #3 in August, ahead of “maps” (#2) and “nfl” (#3).

What is the top trending Google search?

By traffic share, the top trending search is “nfl,” with 66.3 million searches and a 1.73% share of trending traffic. “US open” (#2) and “us open tennis” (#3) follow, with “serie a” at #5.

How much of Google search demand is sports-related right now?

Sports account for about a third of top-100 volume in both major lists. Globally, 26 soccer queries total 845.7 million searches, 34.1% of top-100 volume. In the US, 42 NFL and college football queries total 203.5 million searches, about 34% of top-100 volume.

Where does Google’s Gemini rank now?

“Gemini” is #1 in the US with 17.0 million searches, and “gemini ai” ranks #15. Globally, four gemini.google.com-led queries total 37.6 million searches: “ai” (#19), “제미나이” (#11), “ジェミニ” (#47) and “гемини” (#76).

Which everyday queries are still searched highly?

Utility searches remain at the top of the global list. “Maps” is #1 and “weather” #3, and weather queries in eight languages total 388.0 million searches, 15.6% of top-100 volume. “News” ranks #39 globally and #18 in the US.

What happened to the celebrity news spikes from August?

Most faded within a month. “Dolly parton,” the #1 US search in August, falls to #80 with 4.5 million searches (down 89%), and “hayden panettiere” and “tim curry” are no longer in the global or US top 100. “Lindsay clancy” is the exception, ranking #4 in the US and #7 worldwide (46.9 million searches), after the trial ended in a mistrial on September 4.

Which product and entertainment launches are driving searches?

In the US, five apple.com-led iPhone queries total 17.8 million searches around Apple’s September 9 event. “Resident evil movie” (#31), “practical magic 2” (#89) and “practical magic” (#92) reflect September film releases, and “resident evil” variants trend in the top 60 of the trending list.

Why does YouTube appear so often as a traffic leader?

YouTube is the most common traffic leader on all three top 100 lists, leading 17 global queries, 28 US queries and 24 trending queries. The mix shifted from August (24, 21 and 23). Instagram is the second-most common leader on the trending list (20 queries), mostly for queries about individuals.