Most Searched Things on Google in 2026

In 2026, Google search behavior is being shaped by three major forces: live sports, everyday utility, and platform-driven discovery.

Across the global and trending lists, sports dominate the search landscape. The IPL is the standout story on the global list, ranking as the top worldwide search with volume far ahead of every other query. But in trending searches, the NBA has taken the top spot, with playoff-season demand pushing basketball past cricket for the period. Basketball, football, baseball, cricket, and major leagues all appear throughout the top 100, showing how live competition continues to generate massive, recurring search demand across markets.

At the same time, familiar utility searches still hold their ground. Queries like “maps,” “weather,” and “news” remain among the most searched terms, proving that Google continues to function as an everyday tool for practical, high-frequency needs.

The data also shows how search is increasingly used as a gateway to platforms and content destinations. YouTube is the most common traffic leader across the global, US, and trending lists, while sites like Instagram, NBA.com, and league-specific domains capture demand depending on the query. In the US, AI remains a durable presence, with “gemini” ranking #3 overall and “gemini ai” also appearing in the top 30, but it has been overtaken by the Spurs, whose playoff run pushed the team to the top of US search for the period. A new signal worth noting: “hantavirus” has broken into the global top 25, reflecting a significant public health search moment that redirects tens of millions of queries to cdc.gov.

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: ipl
• Search volume (for #1): ~620.1M
• Top traffic leader (for #1): iplt20.com
• Total volume (Top 100): ~3.48B searches
• Most common traffic leader (Top 100): youtube.com
• Unique traffic leaders (Top 100): 51

Takeaway

• The IPL continues to dominate global search behavior, with approximately 620 million monthly searches, pulling even further ahead of every other query and reflecting the relentless scale of cricket fandom across South Asia and beyond.
• A new entrant with staying power: “hantavirus” has broken into the global top 25, signaling a significant public health search moment with over 72 million in volume, directing traffic primarily to cdc.gov.
• Formula 1 has entered the global top 25 for the first time in this dataset period, with “f1” generating over 33 million searches, confirming that motorsport is now a recurring search driver on a global scale comparable to the major team sports.
• YouTube remains the most common traffic destination across the top 100, capturing clicks for sports, entertainment, music, and trending content — reinforcing its role as the default destination for video-first intent.
• The competitive landscape has slightly consolidated compared to the prior period: 51 distinct domains capture traffic across the top 100 queries, down from 53, suggesting a modest concentration of intent around established properties.

What are the most popular Google searches in the US?

Key stats

• Top searched keyword: spurs
• Search volume (for #1): ~23.8M
• Top traffic leader (for #1): youtube.com
• Total volume (Top 100): ~762.6M searches
• Most common traffic leader (Top 100): youtube.com
• Unique traffic leaders (Top 100): 32

Takeaway

• The San Antonio Spurs have surged to the top of US search for this period, overtaking “gemini” from the prior list, driven by playoff-related interest and generating nearly 20 million traffic visits, a signal of how dramatically live sports can shift the top of the rankings.
• “Gemini” drops to #3 but remains firmly in the top five alongside “gemini ai,” confirming that AI tool discovery continues to be a durable, high-frequency behavior among US users rather than a one-time spike.
• Sports overwhelmingly dominate the US top 100: the NBA alone drives multiple top-10 entries (nba, nba games, nba playoffs, knicks, pistons, cavs), and the WNBA makes a strong appearance with both “wnba” and “indiana fever” and “dallas wings” in the list — a notable expansion of women’s sports search presence.
• YouTube is by far the most common traffic leader in the US top 100, appearing 30 times, nearly double its nearest competitor, x.com (14 appearances), showing how video dominates even in a sports-heavy, platform-centric market.
• The US traffic landscape has become more concentrated than the prior period, with only 32 unique domains winning clicks across the top 100 queries (down from 34), pointing to an increasingly platform-centric search ecosystem.

What are the most trending Google searches?

Key stats

• Top trending keyword: nba
• Search volume (for #1): ~193M
• Top traffic leader (for #1): nba.com
• Total volume (Top 100): ~2.02B searches
• Most common traffic leader (Top 100): youtube.com
• Unique traffic leaders (Top 100): 48

Takeaway

• The NBA has overtaken the IPL as the top trending search for this period, with 193 million in volume and nba.com as the primary traffic destination, reflecting peak playoff season demand that compressed massive search interest into a short window.
• Formula 1 is a notable new entrant in the trending list, driven by race-weekend spikes and consistent global interest, confirming that motorsport now generates the kind of recurring, event-driven search demand that previously belonged mostly to football and basketball.
• Entertainment is a secondary but meaningful driver, with “obsession,” “the boys,” and “devil wears prada 2” all appearing in the top 100, showing how streaming releases continue to generate trending search spikes that complement sports in the list’s composition.
• YouTube dominates as the most common traffic destination, appearing 25 times across the top 100, especially strong for sports matchups, entertainment content, and trending news where users want fast, visual coverage of what’s happening.
• With 48 unique traffic leaders, trending search sits between the US list (32) and the global list (51) in terms of diversity, reflecting a mix of league-specific destinations, streaming platforms, and global sports properties all competing for event-driven clicks.

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 June 2026 using data from May 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 May 2026 data, the most searched query worldwide is “ipl”, with approximately 620 million searches.

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

In the US, the most searched query is “spurs”, with approximately 23.8 million searches, driven by San Antonio’s NBA playoff run.

What is the top trending Google search?

The top trending Google search is “nba”, with approximately 193 million searches, reflecting peak playoff season demand.

Why is IPL the most searched term globally?

IPL is driving massive search demand because of the scale of cricket fandom, especially across South Asia, and the constant need for match updates, teams, schedules, scores, and league information.

Why do sports searches dominate the list?

Sports generate recurring, real-time search demand. People search for teams, scores, standings, games, playoffs, drafts, and live events, which keeps sports-related queries highly visible across global, US, and trending lists.

Which everyday queries are still searched highly?

Utility searches like “maps,” “weather,” and “news” remain among the top queries, showing that people still use Google heavily for practical, everyday needs.

Why has “hantavirus” appeared in the global top 25?

“Hantavirus” has broken into the global top 25 with over 72 million searches, reflecting a significant public health search moment. The query directs most of its traffic to cdc.gov, showing how health-related news events can rapidly generate massive search volume.

Why does YouTube appear so often as a traffic leader?

YouTube is the most common traffic leader across all three top 100 lists because many users want fast, visual content, especially for sports highlights, entertainment updates, music, and trending topics.

Why is “gemini” still a top US search if the Spurs are #1?

“Gemini” ranks #3 in the US and “gemini ai” appears in the top 30 as well, confirming that AI tool discovery remains a durable, high-frequency behavior, it simply got overtaken by the short-term surge of playoff-driven sports searches this period.

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.