Most Searched Things on Google in 2026

Google searches are being shaped by one tournament reaching its most-searched phase of the year: the FIFA World Cup 2026 has moved into the knockout rounds, and bracket, fixture, and country-vs-country queries are dominating the global and trending top 100. At the same time, Google’s Gemini has pulled off something new, it’s the single most-searched term in the US, ahead of “maps” and “weather” entirely.

Globally, “maps” holds on to the #1 spot by traffic share, but “fifa world cup 2026” generates far more raw search volume (over 258 million searches) than either “maps” or “weather,” it just converts a much smaller share of those searches into an actual site visit. The World Cup’s knockout stage also means dozens of country-matchup queries (“argentina vs england,” “spain vs france,” “norway vs england”) and bracket-checking searches (“fifa world cup brackets,” “world cup bracket”) crowd out most other topics.

In the US, “gemini” is the #1 search term outright, with a 1.08% traffic share that beats “world cup bracket,” “maps,” and “weather.” It’s a first: an AI product query outranking the search engine’s own utility staples. Beyond the World Cup and Gemini, this period’s search landscape also features Wimbledon, the Fourth of July, Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey,” UFC 329, and the WNBA season (with Caitlin Clark and Sophie Cunningham) filling out the rest of the board, now that the NBA Finals are behind us.

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): ~65.7M 
• Top traffic leader (for #1): google.com 
• Total volume (Top 100): ~3.95B searches 
• Most common traffic leader (Top 100): youtube.com
•  Unique traffic leaders (Top 100): 29

Takeaway

• “Maps” holds the #1 global spot on traffic share, but this period’s real story is the FIFA World Cup 2026 reaching its knockout rounds. “Fifa world cup 2026” alone pulls in nearly 259 million searches, more than double “weather” and nearly four times “maps,” yet it converts a much smaller share of those searches into an actual visit (about 14%) compared with “maps” (roughly 70%), which is why “maps” still leads on traffic share.
• The knockout stage has turned bracket-checking into a search behavior of its own: “fifa world cup brackets” (#7), “world cup bracket” (#17), and a wave of specific matchups, “norway vs england” (#10), “argentina vs england” (#39), “spain vs argentina” (#44), “france vs spain” (#48), and half a dozen more Argentina permutations, all crowd the top 100 as fans check who plays whom next.
• Google’s Gemini is quietly becoming a global phenomenon in its own right: the Korean-language query “제미나이” cracks the top 21 with over 10M in volume, the Japanese “ジェミニ” lands at #91, and the generic query “ai” itself resolves to gemini.google.com as its top traffic leader, over 17M searches for “ai” worldwide are effectively Gemini searches.
• Beyond soccer and AI, a few other signals stand out: Christopher Nolan’s “the odyssey” debuts at #12 globally, Wimbledon sits at #15, and Formula 1 (“f1”) holds steady at #40. Meanwhile “spacex stock,” which broke into the global top 90 last period, has fallen out of the global top 100 entirely this time.
• YouTube remains the most common traffic leader by a wide margin (44 of the top 100), and the top 100 is now concentrated across just 29 unique domains, reflecting how thoroughly the World Cup’s knockout stage has funneled global search demand toward match highlights and fixture pages.

What are the most popular Google searches in the US?

Key stats

• Top searched keyword: gemini 
• Search volume (for #1): ~15.9M 
• Top traffic leader (for #1): gemini.google.com 
• Total volume (Top 100): ~908.8M searches 
• Most common traffic leader (Top 100): youtube.com 
• Unique traffic leaders (Top 100): 29

Takeaway

• “Gemini” is the #1 US search term outright, ahead of “world cup bracket” (#2), “maps” (#3), and “weather” (#4). It’s a notable shift: an AI product name now converts almost every search into a visit (about 77% of “gemini” searches land on gemini.google.com), which is high enough to outrank utility staples that get far more raw volume, “weather” alone pulls in nearly 5x the search volume of “gemini” but converts a much smaller share.
• The World Cup’s knockout stage dominates the rest of the board: “world cup bracket” (#2), “norway vs england” (#7), and a run of Argentina matchups (“argentina vs england,” “argentina vs switzerland,” “argentina vs egypt,” “argentina vs spain,” “argentina vs cape verde”) show Americans tracking the bracket picture as closely as any other market.
• With the NBA Finals over, basketball search has shifted to the WNBA season: “wnba” (#14), “caitlin clark” (#51), and “sophie cunningham” (#56) all crack the US top 100, alongside “ufc” (#38) and “conor mcgregor” (#16) ahead of UFC 329.
• YouTube is again the most common traffic leader (38 appearances), and unique traffic leaders sit at 29, similar to the global list, suggesting the US landscape is about as consolidated as global search this period.

What are the most trending Google searches?

Key stats

• Top trending keyword: fifa world cup brackets 
• Search volume (for #1): ~165.9M 
• Top traffic leader (for #1): youtube.com 
• Total volume (Top 100): ~2.38B searches 
• Most common traffic leader (Top 100): youtube.com 
• Unique traffic leaders (Top 100): 24

Takeaway

• “Fifa world cup brackets” is the top trending query worldwide, and unlike prior periods, it’s also the highest-volume term on the list, over 165 million searches, meaning the tournament’s knockout stage is driving both the biggest spike and the biggest raw demand at once.
• Cricket makes a strong return: “ind vs eng” lands at #9 with nearly 110 million in volume, the second-highest raw volume on the entire trending list, pointing to a marquee India-England Test series running alongside the World Cup.
• Two India-specific consumer platforms, “bookmyshow” (#4) and “flipkart” (#7), crack the trending top 10, a signal of a broader spike in Indian search activity this period, likely tied to both the cricket series and regional entertainment demand.
• Entertainment holds its ground even in a sports-heavy window: “the odyssey” (#3), “wimbledon” (#5), “house of the dragon” (#17), and “the bear” (#62) all feature, while “fourth of july” (#35) and “clima”/”погода” (weather queries in Spanish and Russian) round out the seasonal signals.
• The same commercial-content pattern seen in the US list shows up here too: protect-iq.com is the traffic leader for “best vpn” (#52), “best antivirus” (#74), and “best password manager” (#80), suggesting one site is capturing buyer-intent traffic across several product categories simultaneously, in multiple markets.
• YouTube’s dominance is again the most extreme of the three lists, appearing as the traffic leader for 46 of the top 100 trending queries. Unique traffic leaders sit at just 24, the most concentrated of the three lists, as fans across the World Cup, cricket, and Wimbledon converge on the same handful of destinations for live clips and highlights.

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 August 2026 using data from July 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 65.7 million searches. Notably, “fifa world cup 2026” generates far more raw search volume (about 259 million) but ranks below “maps” because a much smaller share of those searches convert into an actual site visit.

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

In the US, the most searched query is “gemini,” with approximately 15.9 million searches. Despite ranking well below several other terms in raw volume, it tops the US list because nearly every search for “gemini” converts into a visit to gemini.google.com.

What is the top trending Google search? 

The top trending Google search is “fifa world cup brackets,” with approximately 165.9 million searches, the highest raw search volume of any term on the trending list, as the tournament’s knockout rounds get underway.

Why is the FIFA World Cup generating so much search volume this period? 

The tournament has reached its knockout stage, so beyond generic terms like “fifa world cup 2026” and “world cup,” fans are searching bracket and fixture pages directly, “fifa world cup brackets,” “world cup bracket,” and “world cup fixtures” all crack the global top 60, alongside dozens of specific matchup queries like “norway vs england” and “argentina vs spain.”

Why is Google’s Gemini topping the US search list? 

“Gemini” converts an unusually high share of its searches directly into a visit to gemini.google.com, more than three-quarters of searches for the term. That conversion rate is high enough to outrank “maps” and “weather,” even though both of those terms generate more raw search volume in the US.

Which everyday queries are still searched highly? 

Utility searches like “maps,” “weather,” and “news” remain among the top queries globally, showing that people still rely on Google heavily for practical, everyday needs even during a period dominated by a major live tournament.

Why does cricket show up so strongly on the trending list? 

“Ind vs eng” lands at #9 on the trending list with nearly 110 million in search volume, the second-highest raw volume on the entire list, reflecting a high-profile India-England Test series running in parallel with the World Cup.

Why does one domain keep showing up as the traffic leader for “best vpn,” “best antivirus,” and similar searches? 

Across both the US and trending top 100, protect-iq.com is the traffic leader for several unrelated buyer-intent searches, “best vpn,” “best antivirus,” “best password manager,” and “best ai tools.” That pattern suggests a single review or comparison site has captured significant visibility across multiple commercial search categories at once.

Why does YouTube appear so often as a traffic leader? 

YouTube is the most common traffic leader across all three top 100 lists, and its dominance is most pronounced on the trending list, appearing as the traffic leader for nearly half the trending top 100, as fans of the World Cup, cricket, and Wimbledon all turn to YouTube for match highlights and clips.

by Maayan Zohar Basteker

Senior SEO Specialist at Similarweb

Maayan is a senior SEO specialist with 7+ years of experience in SEO. She loves complex research projects, creating SEO strategies and performing technical audits.