Top Google searches (as of December 2018)

Are you wondering what people in the United States (and around the World) are searching for the most? Then you’re in luck!

We’ve just uploaded fresh data from December into Keywords Explorer—our monstrous keywords database—and naturally, we wanted to know which Google searches were most popular this month.

SIDENOTE.

 the total size of Ahrefs’ keywords database is now 7.4 BILLION keywords (3.1 billion of which are Google search queries from the United States alone). Which makes our database the biggest one in our industry.

We have pulled two lists for the United States:

• Top100 most searched keywords in the US—a list of terms with the highest average monthly search volume as of today;
• Top100 new keywords in the US in December—a list of the most popular search queries that we haven’t seen up until December.

And then we also pulled these “best new keywords in December” across all countries in our database, which turned out quite interesting as well.

So here you go:

Top 100 Google search queries in the US (in December 2018)

Unsurprisingly, this list is almost entirely dominated by branded searches. But we have decided to leave the list as is so that you could see the full picture.

#	Keyword	Search Volume	Return Rate
1	facebook	235,800,000	11.25
2	youtube	193,200,000	6.47
3	amazon	102,100,000	4.41
4	gmail	90,340,000	5.59
5	google	83,950,000	4.33
6	ebay	58,350,000	4.66
7	yahoo	56,580,000	8.2
8	craigslist	53,010,000	4.44
9	weather	51,360,000	5.02
10	yahoo mail	51,270,000	6.5
11	google maps	41,040,000	3.74
12	netflix	38,640,000	3.41
13	walmart	38,450,000	2.66
14	google translate	36,350,000	5.23
15	google docs	28,090,000	5.01
16	news	27,380,000	9.16
17	translate	25,330,000	5.14
18	facebook login	25,070,000	6.03
19	home depot	24,650,000	2.6
20	cnn	24,440,000	6.95
21	hotmail	23,790,000	6.05
22	fox news	22,670,000	8.3
23	google drive	21,570,000	4.09
24	calculator	21,280,000	4.63
25	maps	20,440,000	3.25
26	msn	20,080,000	12.07
27	usps tracking	19,170,000	3.27
28	google classroom	17,940,000	4.69
29	lowes	17,700,000	2.55
30	target	16,970,000	2.22
31	paypal	16,850,000	2.47
32	espn	16,310,000	5.8
33	bank of america	16,270,000	4.11
34	entertainment	16,210,000	5.1
35	instagram	16,200,000	2.43
36	aol mail	16,110,000	10.32
37	wells fargo	15,350,000	4.18
38	pinterest	14,890,000	2.98
39	zillow	14,310,000	2.69
40	twitter	13,950,000	3.16
41	best buy	13,900,000	1.96
42	you tube	13,810,000	4.71
43	speed test	13,390,000	2.81
44	indeed	13,280,000	3.33
45	trump	12,950,000	9.81
46	roblox	12,840,000	4.72
47	linkedin	12,400,000	2.64
48	sports	12,270,000	3.77
49	youtube to mp3	12,000,000	3.57
50	amazon prime	10,960,000	2.47
51	aol	10,860,000	10.44
52	chase	10,460,000	3.98
53	capital one	10,270,000	3.08
54	costco	10,170,000	2.22
55	ups tracking	10,150,000	2.45
56	pandora	10,070,000	2.67
57	kohls	9,850,000	2.42
58	reddit	9,800,000	3.83
59	nba	9,700,000	8.92
60	bing	9,440,000	5.57
61	traductor	9,320,000	7.48
62	hulu	9,140,000	2.23
63	finance	8,970,000	13.4
64	nfl	8,720,000	5.8
65	american airlines	8,630,000	2.27
66	usps	8,470,000	2.13
67	etsy	8,320,000	2.52
68	pizza hut	8,160,000	1.9
69	fb	8,150,000	12.04
70	twitch	7,870,000	2.99
71	airbnb	7,860,000	2.09
72	macys	7,820,000	2.55
73	123movies	7,730,000	3.54
74	dominos	7,590,000	1.96
75	spotify	7,520,000	1.72
76	google flights	7,380,000	3.94
77	google scholar	7,350,000	4.27
78	expedia	7,330,000	2.34
79	wells fargo login	7,240,000	3.96
80	verizon	7,020,000	1.94
81	fedex tracking	6,790,000	2.4
82	you	6,770,000	2.34
83	united airlines	6,670,000	2.02
84	google news	6,530,000	8.08
85	bed bath and beyond	6,520,000	1.82
86	discord	6,190,000	2.24
87	outlook	6,180,000	2.89
88	walgreens	6,120,000	1.82
89	mapquest	6,070,000	2.3
90	gamestop	6,020,000	2.07
91	restaurants near me	5,970,000	2.07
92	facebook log in	5,940,000	4.48
93	pof	5,930,000	9.64
94	nfl scores	5,880,000	5.83
95	southwest	5,860,000	2.17
96	credit karma	5,820,000	2.15
97	tumblr	5,800,000	3.27
98	xfinity	5,790,000	2.36
99	solitaire	5,780,000	11.15
100	groupon	5,770,000	1.89

SIDENOTE.

 We removed all NSFW queries from this list. What you see above are the top 100 “clean” search queries. Here’s the raw, uncensored list for those that want it. (You’ve been warned!)

Before we move on to the next list of trending keywords, it’s important to understand the keyword metrics that we display.

Search volume

Search volume shows how many times a given keyword is being entered into Google per month. And, because the search demand on many keywords tends to fluctuate from month to month, the number that we give you is an annual average.

SIDENOTE.

 here at Ahrefs we calculate search volumes by modeling data from Google Keyword Planner against clickstream data. This method has proven to be quite accurate and we keep tweaking our model to achieve even better results.

Return Rate

Return Rate shows how often a person will search for that keyword again. It is a relative metric, so RR 3.55 doesn’t mean that people perform the same search 3–4 times a month on average.

But Return Rate is very useful when comparing two keywords.

For example, the keyword “spotify” has RR 1.72, which means that people rarely search for that keyword again. (Probably because they were just looking to download this app or learn what it is.)

On the other hand, “facebook” has RR 11.25, which means that people search for it quite frequently. (Probably because many people don’t have Facebook on their bookmarks bar, and simply Google it each time they want to access it.)

Top 100 NEW Google searches in the US (in December 2018)

This list is much more interesting because it shows things that people in the UShave started to care about in December all of a sudden.

#	Keyword	Search Volume
1	kelsey berreth	26,000
2	far cry new dawn	18,000
3	mattis resignation letter	12,000
4	bird box memes	12,000
5	the game awards 2018 nominees and winners	11,000
6	summer bunni	10,000
7	anna lushchinskaya	10,000
8	wall go fund me	9,100
9	baby its cold outside ban	7,700
10	bandersnatch endings	6,600
11	search between 3 ski lodges	6,500
12	search between three ski lodges	6,000
13	breana rouhselang	5,900
14	president bush funeral	5,500
15	bird box meme	5,400
16	destiny 2 dawning recipes	5,400
17	port orchard tornado	5,300
18	dance on top of a crown of rvs	5,300
19	andreas hvid	5,200
20	dawning recipes	5,200
21	ronil singh	5,200
22	we the people will fund the wall	5,100
23	destiny 2 recipes	4,800
24	ramsey bearse nude	4,800
25	winter storm diego	4,800
26	babi christina engelhardt	4,600
27	my ps4 life	4,500
28	mib international	4,500
29	crown of rvs	4,200
30	maren ueland	4,100
31	baby its cold outside offensive	4,100
32	alabama vs oklahoma orange bowl	3,900
33	grace millane	3,600
34	14 days of fortnite	3,600
35	search waterside goose nests	3,500
36	stand up to harvard	3,500
37	goblin slayer episode 11	3,500
38	waterside goose nests	3,300
39	k.g.f: chapter 1	3,300
40	sarah papenheim	3,200
41	forbidden locations season 7	3,200
42	declan howell	3,200
43	dance on top of a submarine	3,200
44	dance on top of a metal turtle	3,200
45	imagine ariana grande	3,200
46	the outer worlds release date	3,100
47	kfc fire log	3,000
48	souljagame	3,000
49	trump wall fundraiser	3,000
50	california text tax	2,800
51	atlas game wiki	2,800
52	margaret gieszinger	2,800
53	14 days of fortnite rewards	2,800
54	eva’s holiday oven recipes	2,800
55	robinhood checking	2,800
56	flynn sentencing memo	2,800
57	destiny 2 cookie recipes	2,700
58	bandersnatch review	2,700
59	soulja game	2,700
60	tiponi grey	2,700
61	one piece 929	2,700
62	alan maloney referee	2,700
63	grapeshot games	2,600
64	maegan tapley	2,600
65	claas relotius	2,500
66	bush funeral train	2,500
67	elizabeth lecron	2,500
68	gofannon forge	2,400
69	rwby volume 6 episode 9	2,400
70	atlas game map	2,400
71	chris burrous death	2,400
72	rwby volume 6 episode 7	2,400
73	aquaman post credits	2,400
74	izanami forge	2,400
75	soulja watch	2,400
76	planetside arena	2,400
77	huawei arrest	2,400
78	fortnite season 7 week 1 challenges	2,300
79	louisa vesterager jespersen	2,300
80	ou alabama 2018	2,300
81	titan residuum	2,300
82	ramsey carpenter bearse	2,300
83	aquaman show time	2,300
84	chocolate ship cookies destiny 2	2,300
85	black mirror: bandersnatch	2,200
86	epic games subnautica	2,200
87	jazmine headley	2,200
88	texans vs jets	2,200
89	miley cyrus santa baby	2,200
90	aquaman after credits	2,200
91	soulja boy nintendo	2,200
92	lynita stuart	2,200
93	happy new year 2019 images hd	2,200
94	big chungus ps4	2,200
95	bush train	2,200
96	goblin slayer episode 10	2,100
97	csgo danger zone	2,100
98	siviks delivery note	2,100
99	kyler murray tweets	2,100
100	skater xl	2,100

What’s interesting, is that some of these new keywords had a big spike in search demand and then faded to nothing quite fast. While others seem to have a continuous search demand, that shows no signs of fading.

“kelsey berreth” vs “president bush funeral” are two great examples:

I didn’t include Return Rate this time, because the vast majority of these Google searches were very close to 1.

But I included Keyword Difficulty metric, which is super low for almost all keywords in this list (since they’re brand new).

Keyword Difficulty

Keyword Difficulty score shows how hard it would be to rank in top10 search results for a given keyword . It is based on the size and quality of the pages thatalready rank there.

Given that KD scores for most of these keywords are so low, I wonder if this very article will rank for some of them?

And that’s it for the US.

Let’s look at what bothered people around the World in December.

Top NEW Google searches around the World (in December 2018)

I know Ahrefs has a ton of customers from all around the world, and hopefully, everyone will find a fun keyword from their country in this list.

#	Keyword	Search Volume	Country
1	le feste di dicembre nel mondo	206,000	it
2	大晦日 2018	88,000	jp
3	c’est quand le solstice d’hiver ?	64,000	fr
4	teresa carre‘ño	60,000	es
5	lo sciame meteorico delle geminidi	35,000	it
6	teresa carre‘ño	29,000	ar
7	tamilrockers.tel	27,000	in
8	ตรวจหวย1ธันวาคม2561	27,000	th
9	kelsey berreth	26,000	us
10	平成最後の日は	25,000	jp
11	lluvia de estrellas gemínidas 2018	22,000	es
12	高輪ゲートウェイ	21,000	jp
13	元日 2019	20,000	jp
14	باية محي الدين	18,000	eg
15	far cry new dawn	18,000	us
16	2018 연말	16,000	kr
17	lluvia de meteoros de las gemínidas	16,000	ar
18	holdirdeingeschenk	15,000	de
19	ロマサガリユニバース攻略	14,000	jp
20	grace millane	14,000	gb
21	baba amte	14,000	vn
22	grace millane	14,000	nz
23	باية محي الدين	14,000	sa
24	kgf collection	12,000	in
25	joulukuun juhla	12,000	fi
26	teresa carre‘ño	12,000	ve
27	simba movie review	12,000	in
28	mattis resignation letter	12,000	us
29	bird box memes	12,000	us
30	cherif chekatt	11,000	fr
31	the game awards 2018 nominees and winners	11,000	us
32	ראש השנה האזרחי 2019	11,000	il
33	teresa carre‘ño	11,000	cl
34	節日 慶祝活動	11,000	tw
35	feliz véspera de ano novo!	11,000	pt
36	vali.ge	11,000	ge
37	teresa carre‘ño	10,000	pe
38	summer bunni	10,000	us
39	anna lushchinskaya	10,000	us
40	טרסה קארניו	10,000	il
41	lluvia de meteoros de las gemínidas	9,600	co
42	simmba review	9,500	in
43	ブラック企業マップ	9,300	jp
44	yeni yıl mesajları 2019	9,200	tr
45	wall go fund me	9,100	us
46	antonio megalizzi	9,100	it
47	ロマサガリユニバース リセマラ	9,000	jp
48	stefanie tücking todesursache	9,000	de
49	새해 2019	8,500	kr
50	global december fejring!	8,500	dk
51	telangana elections results	8,300	in
52	hakan muhafız 1. bölüm	8,200	tr
53	danish zehen death	8,200	in
54	joaquin montes	8,100	ph
55	holdirdeingeschenck de	7,900	de
56	sir douglas nicholls	7,900	nz
57	festas felizes!	7,900	pt
58	mira como nos ponemos	7,700	ar
59	baby its cold outside ban	7,700	us
60	cb01 rock	7,600	it
61	باية محي الدين	7,500	iq
62	new years honours list 2019	7,400	gb
63	holdirdeingeschenk.de	7,300	de
64	apaharan web series	7,300	in
65	bird box a ciegas	7,300	mx
66	relotius	7,100	de
67	キュアアンフィニ	7,100	jp
68	niacl ao recruitment 2019	6,900	in
69	la vecchia signora in grigio	6,800	it
70	80. výročie rýchlych šípov	6,700	sk
71	bandersnatch endings	6,600	us
72	mega sena 2105	6,600	br
73	search between 3 ski lodges	6,500	us
74	とろサーモン久保田炎上	6,400	jp
75	lluvia de meteoros de las gemínidas	6,200	cl
76	holdirdeingeschenk de kaufland	6,200	de
77	tsunami anyer	6,100	id
78	felicitaciones de año nuevo 2019	6,000	es
79	search between three ski lodges	6,000	us
80	dichotomy test	6,000	id
81	htet admit card 2019	5,900	in
82	maari 2 review	5,900	in
83	breana rouhselang	5,900	us
84	冬季北方海域作戦	5,700	jp
85	lluvia de meteoros de las gemínidas	5,700	pe
86	president bush funeral	5,500	us
87	sisca icun sulastri	5,500	id
88	βροχή μετεωριτών geminid	5,500	gr
89	bird box review	5,500	gb
90	hol dir dein geschenk	5,500	de
91	bird box meme	5,400	us
92	destiny 2 dawning recipes	5,400	us
93	port orchard tornado	5,300	us
94	dance on top of a crown of rvs	5,300	us
95	мария тереза кареньо	5,300	bg
96	andreas hvid	5,200	us
97	ecotassa auto 2019	5,200	it
98	dawning recipes	5,200	us
99	ronil singh	5,200	us
100	felices fiestas 2018	5,100	do

It looks like phrases related to the new year dominate this list.

Top NEW Google searches in YOUR niche (in December 2018)

Did you know that you can use the “newly discovered” feature in Keywords Explorer to find search queries (containing any “seed” keyword) that were recently added to our database?

Keywords Explorer > enter a seed keyword > Newly discovered

You can do some seriously cool stuff with this!

For example, imagine that you run a movie reviews website.

You could enter “netflix” as your seed keyword and find all the newly‐discovered Netflix‐related terms that we discovered in the last month. Go a step further by adding the word “review” to the “Include” filter to see all the new Netflix movies that people want to see reviewed.