Culture

20 Years of Top Trending Google Searches

Published

5 months ago

October 15, 2022

Carmen Ang

Graphics/Design:

Nick Routley

Infographic showing images of search trends on Google over the past 20 years

20 Years of Top Trending Google Searches

For decades, Google search has been a go-to source for many when looking up directions, keeping up with the news, or seeking information on new and unfamiliar topics.

Today, Google processes about 3.5 billion searches per day. Because of its dominant market share, Google holds a vast archive of keyword searches that, when analyzed, provide an interesting glimpse into the key themes that have captured the world’s attention over the years.

This graphic, using data from Google Trends, goes back 20 years and highlights some of the top keyword searches since 2001.

Our editorial team dug through hundreds of top trending search terms from global and U.S. data and hand-selected their top picks, which are featured in the graphic above.

Trending vs. Volume

Before diving in, it’s worth emphasizing how top trending searches differ from popular searches, which are measured by sheer volume.

Trending searches are terms that have recently spiked in popularity. They focus on growth rather than total volume, and in this dataset, trending terms gauge year-over-year growth.

A good example is Donald Trump, who popped up in the news cycle during the 2016 presidential campaign. After the election, interest in Trump remained high. But his name doesn’t pop up on the Google trends list after 2017, since by that point, search volume for Trump had plateaued.

What are the most popular Google search terms, by volume? To be honest, they’re slightly less interesting than the top trending searches — YouTube is number one, followed by Facebook, then WhatsApp web.

The Globalization of Search Trends

The people and topics featured in Google’s top trends lists evolves as time goes on, reflecting broader adoption of the internet (and Google Search) around the world over time. Early themes are tied to mainstream U.S. pop culture and tech trends.

As time goes on, social media and smartphone adoption increase the granularity and volume of searches, resulting in top trends that are more participatory, diverse, and global in nature.

One final variable to keep in mind is that Google itself began to share more detailed search highlights with each passing year.

Two Decades of Google Searches: Macro Insights

Now that we’ve explained what trending searches actually measure, let’s dig into some of the key themes that have emerged over the last two decades of Google searches.

① People Love Sports

Over the last 20 years, sports have remained a continuous trend.

Every four years, the World Cup shows up as a top trending keyword across the globe. The Olympics also makes a regular appearance, along with Olympic athletes like Michael Phelps and McKayla Maroney.

Although the U.S. dominates the list, particularly when it comes to athletes, there’s still a good variety of international sports that go viral, especially as time goes on. In the last two years, cricket, rugby, and soccer have all made the top five trending lists.

② The Emergence of Celebrity 2.0

Over time, you can also see a transition from the conventional celebrity to celebrity 2.0, also known as the social media celebrity.

In the early 2000s, pop culture icons like Britney Spears, Eminem, and Jennifer Lopez flooded the trending searches, and traditional media forms like TV shows and Movies dominated the mass media categories.

But by 2011, YouTube stars like Rebecca Black started to make their way on the trending search lists. And in 2014, Meme emerged as a top trending category.

This transition nods to a larger shift in media, as digital has gradually overtaken traditional media as the dominant form of entertainment.

③ Natural Disasters are Top of Mind

Natural Disasters are a key trend throughout this data set as well.

Hurricanes are a particularly trendy word, showing up almost half the time—in eight of the 20 years. In 2005, Hurricane Katrina ranked second in the most searched category across the globe.

It continued to gain global attention—by 2006, Hurricane Katrina was still in the top five trending news searches.

Dig Deeper into Trending Google Searches

Our team enjoyed sifting through 20 years of Google data, and we hope you enjoyed this blast from the past too. If you’d like to dive deeper, you can explore Google’s full dataset here.

Happy searching.

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Maps

Mapped: Which Countries Get the Most Paid Vacation Days?

Which countries have the most vacation days, or the most public holidays? These graphics reveal how many paid vacation days each country mandates.

Creator Program

Published

2 weeks ago

March 3, 2023

Freny Fernandes

Mapped: Which Countries Get the Most Paid Vacation Days?

Whether it’s a day off in lieu of a national holiday, a religious festival, or simply a mandated minimum for paid vacation days, there are different rules in each country that set the base threshold of paid time off for workers.

Resume.io analyzed the laws on statutory paid leave and paid public holidays in every country around the world and created these graphics to reveal the minimum amount of vacation days employees are entitled to (at least on paper).

Countries With the Most and Least Paid Vacation

The data in the study focuses in on two types of paid leave: public holidays and paid vacation days. Combine them together and you have the total amount of paid leave.

Here’s how the numbers break down on both ends of the spectrum:

Rank	Countries With Most Paid Vacation	Total Vacation Days	Countries With Least Paid Vacation	Total Vacation Days
1	Iran	53	Micronesia	9
2	San Marino	46	Nauru	10
3	Yemen	45	United States	10
4	Andorra	44	Palau	12
5	Bhutan	44	Kiribati	13
6	Bahrain	44	Mexico	14
7	Togo	43	China	16
8	Niger	43	Lebanon	17
9	Madagascar	43	Philippines	17
10	Monaco	42	Nigeria	17
11	Kuwait	42	Taiwan	17
12	Turkmenistan	42	Brunei	18
13	Azerbaijan	42	Singapore	18
14	Mali	42	Tunisia	18
15	Peru	42	India	18
16	Russia	42	Malaysia	19
17	Maldives	41	Canada	19
18	Equatorial Guinea	41	Thailand	19
19	Georgia	41	Samoa	20
20	Panama	41	Bahamas	20

Some African, European, and Central Asian countries, including Togo (43), San Marino (46) and Yemen (45), have been extremely generous with doling out vacation days.

At the very top is Iran with a total of 53 vacation days, split almost equally between public holidays and paid time off.

Meanwhile, others including the Oceanic countries of Micronesia (9) and Nauru (10) rank at the bottom of the list. The U.S. is tied with Nauru in second-last place, with employees mandated a minimum of only 10 vacation days a year.

Which Countries Have the Most Paid Leave Days?

View the full-size infographic

If you’re working full-time and devoting 40 hours per week to your workplace, many nations believe you deserve time off.

In most countries, laws to provide statutory leave to employees are in place. 22 countries have a generous 30-day leave policy, with 10 located in Africa.

However, the amount of paid leave around the world often relies on the employee’s tenure. And not all countries have the same minimums, as the U.S., Nauru, Micronesia, and Kiribati, have zero mandated paid leave days.

It’s important to note that this does not mean that all employees in these countries have zero paid leave. Instead it means that it’s up to the hiring employer, with some companies using generous paid leave to entice skilled employees while others offer none.

Which Countries Have the Most Public Holidays?

View the full-size infographic

Countries around the world celebrate public holidays for numerous different occasions. They honor significant national, cultural, and religious events.

Again, the number of these days can vary worldwide. Iran offers the highest number of paid public holidays in the world with a total 27 days per year including the Islamic Republic Day. It is followed by Bangladesh (24), Azerbaijan (21), and Cambodia (21).

On the other extreme, Libya has no paid public holidays, while Lebanon has only two paid public holidays per year.

And not every celebration is a holiday. For example, despite having a plethora of festivals and days of national importance, India has only three paid national holidays: Republic Day, Independence Day, and the birthday of Mahatma Gandhi.

However, India is also a good example of countries which also offer state-level holidays. Every state is empowered to add to its list of paid holidays based on their religious, cultural and historical occasions.