Google has shared its annual listing of the most Googled terms, which provides an interesting overview of the year that was, based on what was driving people’s queries.
And while most of the trends are as you would expect, it is interesting to consider what held people’s attention this year, and why, and how that might relate to your future marketing efforts.
First off, the listing, which is available for “Global” searches, or by specific regions, shows the most Googled world events and people in 2024.
Yeah, probably no surprises there, though it is interesting to note the relative popularity of sports in general searches, versus politicians in “People”. Presumably, a lot of the interest in cricket is driven by India, where cricket is virtually a religion, yet no specific cricket players made the top five in the people list.
It’s also worth noting the broader impacts of climate change in the “News” listing.
Google’s also provided an overview of entertainment trends, including songs, movies, TV shows, etc.
Though Diddy’s likely not trending for his music.
There’s also the top trends in “Sports”, “Gaming” and more.
Interestingly, Google’s also included an overview of the most “Hummed to Google” songs of the year.
Google added Hum to Search back in 2020, but it’s seemingly gaining more traction, with Google taking a moment to highlight how the functionality was used, based on what songs got stuck in people’s heads this year.
There’s also a listing of trending locations on Google Maps:
And another Search trend of note:
“This year, people searched in new and more effortless ways. When people used Lens and Circle to Search, they most often used it for translation, shopping, and identifying things. They also combined the phrase “how to use” with their visual searches, using our multimodal technology to search using both text and images at once – gaining a deeper understanding of what they saw or needed help with.”
There’s always a question as to how many people are actually using Google’s alternate Search options, like voice search, over time, and this provides some additional insight into actual adoption and usage of alternate search methods.
Worth also noting that Google hasn’t shared any official data on the use of voice search since 2016, when it reported that 20% of searches in the Google app are done via voice.
Google’s 2024 Search Trends overview also includes regional breakdowns, and even more specific data for U.S. users, with insights for 200 U.S. metropolitan areas.
It’s like a time capsule of what drove our interest, and over time, we’ll be able to look back and trace the big issues of the day through these Google lists.
You can check out Google’s “Year in Search” hub here.
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