We’ve just uploaded fresh data from October into Keywords Explorer—our monstrous keywords database—and naturally, we wanted to know which Google searches were most popular this month.
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 October—a list of the most popular search queries that we haven’t seen up until October.
And then we also pulled these “best new keywords in October” 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 October 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 | 236,100,000 | 11.10 | |
| 2 | youtube | 191,400,000 | 6.35 |
| 3 | amazon | 99,050,000 | 4.28 |
| 4 | gmail | 89,360,000 | 5.50 |
| 5 | 83,260,000 | 4.26 | |
| 6 | ebay | 57,740,000 | 4.59 |
| 7 | yahoo | 56,150,000 | 8.04 |
| 8 | craigslist | 53,810,000 | 4.42 |
| 9 | yahoo mail | 51,550,000 | 6.46 |
| 10 | weather | 50,970,000 | 4.91 |
| 11 | google maps | 41,050,000 | 3.67 |
| 12 | netflix | 38,350,000 | 3.38 |
| 13 | walmart | 36,630,000 | 2.58 |
| 14 | google translate | 35,710,000 | 5.12 |
| 15 | google docs | 27,220,000 | 4.87 |
| 16 | news | 26,940,000 | 9.01 |
| 17 | facebook login | 25,840,000 | 5.99 |
| 18 | translate | 24,820,000 | 5.04 |
| 19 | home depot | 24,290,000 | 2.55 |
| 20 | cnn | 24,160,000 | 6.84 |
| 21 | hotmail | 23,620,000 | 5.97 |
| 22 | fox news | 22,270,000 | 8.18 |
| 23 | google drive | 21,230,000 | 4.00 |
| 24 | calculator | 20,870,000 | 4.54 |
| 25 | maps | 20,410,000 | 3.21 |
| 26 | msn | 19,950,000 | 11.86 |
| 27 | usps tracking | 18,430,000 | 3.20 |
| 28 | google classroom | 17,760,000 | 4.58 |
| 29 | lowes | 17,440,000 | 2.51 |
| 30 | entertainment | 16,610,000 | 5.00 |
| 31 | paypal | 16,470,000 | 2.43 |
| 32 | bank of america | 16,110,000 | 4.04 |
| 33 | aol mail | 16,080,000 | 10.09 |
| 34 | target | 15,970,000 | 2.16 |
| 35 | espn | 15,930,000 | 5.64 |
| 36 | 15,920,000 | 2.40 | |
| 37 | wells fargo | 15,260,000 | 4.13 |
| 38 | 14,790,000 | 2.94 | |
| 39 | zillow | 14,260,000 | 2.65 |
| 40 | 13,790,000 | 3.12 | |
| 41 | you tube | 13,580,000 | 4.64 |
| 42 | speed test | 13,170,000 | 2.77 |
| 43 | indeed | 13,160,000 | 3.29 |
| 44 | best buy | 13,000,000 | 1.92 |
| 45 | trump | 12,740,000 | 9.62 |
| 46 | roblox | 12,700,000 | 4.71 |
| 47 | sports | 12,450,000 | 3.74 |
| 48 | 12,340,000 | 2.60 | |
| 49 | youtube to mp3 | 11,950,000 | 3.51 |
| 50 | aol | 10,840,000 | 10.30 |
| 51 | amazon prime | 10,550,000 | 2.42 |
| 52 | chase | 10,290,000 | 3.91 |
| 53 | capital one | 10,060,000 | 3.02 |
| 54 | pandora | 10,030,000 | 2.64 |
| 55 | ups tracking | 9,910,000 | 2.43 |
| 56 | costco | 9,720,000 | 2.16 |
| 57 | 9,710,000 | 3.83 | |
| 58 | bing | 9,310,000 | 5.50 |
| 59 | nba | 9,230,000 | 8.43 |
| 60 | traductor | 9,130,000 | 7.34 |
| 61 | kohls | 9,050,000 | 2.35 |
| 62 | finance | 9,020,000 | 13.27 |
| 63 | hulu | 8,730,000 | 2.20 |
| 64 | american airlines | 8,560,000 | 2.24 |
| 65 | usps | 8,230,000 | 2.11 |
| 66 | fb | 8,140,000 | 11.88 |
| 67 | pizza hut | 8,010,000 | 1.88 |
| 68 | etsy | 7,980,000 | 2.48 |
| 69 | 123movies | 7,900,000 | 3.52 |
| 70 | airbnb | 7,840,000 | 2.07 |
| 71 | twitch | 7,700,000 | 2.95 |
| 72 | nfl | 7,640,000 | 5.34 |
| 73 | dominos | 7,400,000 | 1.93 |
| 74 | expedia | 7,320,000 | 2.30 |
| 75 | spotify | 7,290,000 | 1.69 |
| 76 | macys | 7,260,000 | 2.49 |
| 77 | google flights | 7,230,000 | 3.88 |
| 78 | wells fargo login | 7,190,000 | 3.90 |
| 79 | google scholar | 7,130,000 | 4.15 |
| 80 | verizon | 6,890,000 | 1.92 |
| 81 | you | 6,700,000 | 2.31 |
| 82 | united airlines | 6,660,000 | 2.00 |
| 83 | fedex tracking | 6,570,000 | 2.38 |
| 84 | google news | 6,440,000 | 7.98 |
| 85 | mapquest | 6,150,000 | 2.27 |
| 86 | bed bath and beyond | 6,150,000 | 1.78 |
| 87 | outlook | 6,070,000 | 2.87 |
| 88 | discord | 6,060,000 | 2.22 |
| 89 | pof | 5,910,000 | 9.54 |
| 90 | southwest | 5,870,000 | 2.14 |
| 91 | walgreens | 5,860,000 | 1.79 |
| 92 | restaurants near me | 5,850,000 | 2.04 |
| 93 | credit karma | 5,830,000 | 2.12 |
| 94 | solitaire | 5,750,000 | 11.10 |
| 95 | xfinity | 5,740,000 | 2.33 |
| 96 | groupon | 5,710,000 | 1.86 |
| 97 | thesaurus | 5,700,000 | 2.31 |
| 98 | gamestop | 5,640,000 | 2.04 |
| 99 | tumblr | 5,620,000 | 3.27 |
| 100 | autozone | 5,550,000 | 1.94 |
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.
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 1.69, 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 11.10, 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.)
Learn more about Search volume & Return rate here.
Top 100 NEW Google searches in the US (in October 2018)
This list is much more interesting because it shows things that people in the US have started to care about in October all of a sudden.
| # | Keyword | Search Volume |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | cesar sayoc | 90,000 |
| 2 | hurricane michael update | 31,000 |
| 3 | jayme closs | 29,000 |
| 4 | tricktreatwin | 28,000 |
| 5 | tricktreatwin com | 18,000 |
| 6 | hurricane michael tracker | 17,000 |
| 7 | hurricane michael live | 14,000 |
| 8 | lauren mccluskey | 14,000 |
| 9 | viktoria marinova | 10,000 |
| 10 | pittsburgh synagogue shooting | 9,000 |
| 11 | jackson cosko | 8,800 |
| 12 | megyn kelly blackface | 8,500 |
| 13 | mega millions results 10/19/18 | 8,500 |
| 14 | melvin rowland | 8,500 |
| 15 | cesar sayoc jr | 8,300 |
| 16 | rose mallinger | 7,900 |
| 17 | dyson airwrap | 7,500 |
| 18 | hurricane michael noaa | 7,500 |
| 19 | goblin slayer episode 2 | 6,900 |
| 20 | saudi journalist | 6,900 |
| 21 | caesar sayoc | 6,700 |
| 22 | noaa hurricane michael | 6,100 |
| 23 | dennis sansoucie | 6,000 |
| 24 | mega millions results 10/23/18 | 5,900 |
| 25 | ti melania video | 5,900 |
| 26 | limo crash ny | 5,800 |
| 27 | powerball numbers 10/24/18 | 5,800 |
| 28 | fortnite shooting galleries | 5,700 |
| 29 | roman reigns cancer | 5,600 |
| 30 | victoria marinova | 5,500 |
| 31 | typhoon yutu | 5,500 |
| 32 | kelsey quayle | 5,400 |
| 33 | path of hurricane michael | 5,300 |
| 34 | tricktreatwin.com | 5,100 |
| 35 | larry gaudette | 5,000 |
| 36 | new york limo crash | 4,900 |
| 37 | la croix lawsuit | 4,900 |
| 38 | hurricane michael radar | 4,800 |
| 39 | connor and khabib | 4,700 |
| 40 | hilary brooke mueller | 4,700 |
| 41 | jayme closs update | 4,600 |
| 42 | american music awards of 2018 nominees and winners | 4,500 |
| 43 | sayoc name origin | 4,500 |
| 44 | pete davidson ariana grande split | 4,400 |
| 45 | mega millions numbers 10/23/18 | 4,400 |
| 46 | cornerstone caroline | 4,400 |
| 47 | tree of life shooting | 4,400 |
| 48 | cesar sayoc van | 4,300 |
| 49 | mega millions 10/19/18 | 4,300 |
| 50 | sans forgetica | 4,300 |
| 51 | the dragon mural in l.a. chinatown | 4,300 |
| 52 | powerball 10/24/18 | 4,300 |
| 53 | fortnite gargoyles | 4,200 |
| 54 | ix easter egg | 4,200 |
| 55 | kristin westra | 4,200 |
| 56 | voiceoverpete | 4,200 |
| 57 | witches brew frappuccino | 4,200 |
| 58 | cesar sayoc nationality | 4,100 |
| 59 | hurricane michael georgia | 4,100 |
| 60 | powerball numbers 10/20/18 | 4,000 |
| 61 | goblin slayer episode 3 | 4,000 |
| 62 | pittsburgh shooting victims | 3,900 |
| 63 | where is hurricane michael | 3,900 |
| 64 | presidential alert october 3 | 3,800 |
| 65 | ny limo crash | 3,700 |
| 66 | powerball 10/20/18 | 3,700 |
| 67 | hurricane willa track | 3,700 |
| 68 | starbucks witches brew | 3,700 |
| 69 | hurricane michael deaths | 3,700 |
| 70 | national hurricane center michael | 3,700 |
| 71 | natalie mayflower sours edwards | 3,600 |
| 72 | haunting of hill house season 2 | 3,600 |
| 73 | gargoyles fortnite | 3,600 |
| 74 | bent neck lady | 3,500 |
| 75 | kowalski analysis | 3,500 |
| 76 | roman reigns leukemia | 3,500 |
| 77 | sandra margulies | 3,400 |
| 78 | e911 chip | 3,400 |
| 79 | blood of the dead easter egg | 3,400 |
| 80 | powerball numbers 10/27/18 | 3,400 |
| 81 | megyn kelly black face | 3,400 |
| 82 | grinch leak | 3,400 |
| 83 | joan kathleen irion | 3,300 |
| 84 | dx 12 shotgun | 3,200 |
| 85 | hurricane michael pictures | 3,200 |
| 86 | danye jones | 3,200 |
| 87 | the haunting of hill house season 2 | 3,200 |
| 88 | mexico beach damage | 3,200 |
| 89 | jack hall gang map 1 | 3,200 |
| 90 | dance in front of different gargoyles | 3,200 |
| 91 | corner store caroline | 3,100 |
| 92 | shooting galleries fortnite | 3,100 |
| 93 | limo crash victims | 3,100 |
| 94 | cody ray the voice | 3,100 |
| 95 | red sox parade 2018 | 3,000 |
| 96 | synagogue shooting pittsburgh | 3,000 |
| 97 | mega millions numbers 10/19/18 | 3,000 |
| 98 | boston vs dodgers | 3,000 |
| 99 | hurricane michael aftermath | 3,000 |
| 100 | mcgregor vs khabib live stream | 3,000 |
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.
“Presidential alert october 3” vs “Dyson airwrap” 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 (learn more here). It is based on the size and quality of the pages that already 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 October.
Top NEW Google searches around the World (in October 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 | summer youth olympic games | 242,000 | in |
| 2 | ブエノスアイレスユースオリンピック 2018 | 112,000 | jp |
| 3 | cesar sayoc | 90,000 | us |
| 4 | apuração eleições 2018 2 turno | 88,000 | br |
| 5 | juegos olímpicos de la juventud de verano | 73,000 | es |
| 6 | летние юношеские олимпийские игры — 2018 | 70,000 | ru |
| 7 | tamilrockers.hn | 68,000 | in |
| 8 | 漫画塔 | 39,000 | jp |
| 9 | summer youth olympic games | 36,000 | au |
| 10 | ประเทศกูมี | 34,000 | th |
| 11 | hurricane michael update | 31,000 | us |
| 12 | jayme closs | 29,000 | us |
| 13 | tricktreatwin | 28,000 | us |
| 14 | cemal kaşıkçı | 27,000 | tr |
| 15 | thế vận hội olympic trẻ 2018 | 26,000 | vn |
| 16 | тайрус вонг | 25,000 | ua |
| 17 | aravinda sametha review | 22,000 | in |
| 18 | apuracao eleicao 2018 2 turno | 22,000 | br |
| 19 | lion air jt 610 | 21,000 | id |
| 20 | tricktreatwin com | 18,000 | us |
| 21 | laura esther rodríguez dulanto | 18,000 | pe |
| 22 | hurricane michael tracker | 17,000 | us |
| 23 | mary prince | 17,000 | cl |
| 24 | tamilrockers hn | 17,000 | in |
| 25 | resultado eleição presidente 2018 | 15,000 | br |
| 26 | jogos olímpicos da juventude de verão | 15,000 | pt |
| 27 | hurricane michael live | 14,000 | us |
| 28 | lauren mccluskey | 14,000 | us |
| 29 | [it] halloween | 13,000 | it |
| 30 | ziua internațională a profesorului | 13,000 | ro |
| 31 | psg naples streaming | 12,000 | fr |
| 32 | משחקים אולימפיים לנוער 2018 | 12,000 | il |
| 33 | amritsar train accident | 11,000 | in |
| 34 | vada chennai review | 11,000 | in |
| 35 | viktoria marinova | 10,000 | us |
| 36 | resultados das eleições: brasil | 10,000 | br |
| 37 | jamal khashoggi | 9,600 | id |
| 38 | apuração eleições 2018 ao vivo | 9,400 | br |
| 39 | теракт в керчи | 9,100 | ru |
| 40 | pittsburgh synagogue shooting | 9,000 | us |
| 41 | titli cyclone | 9,000 | in |
| 42 | gempa situbondo | 8,900 | id |
| 43 | jackson cosko | 8,800 | us |
| 44 | sarkar.sunpictures.in | 8,700 | in |
| 45 | cyclone titli | 8,600 | in |
| 46 | rini puspitawati | 8,500 | id |
| 47 | megyn kelly blackface | 8,500 | us |
| 48 | mega millions results 10/19/18 | 8,500 | us |
| 49 | melvin rowland | 8,500 | us |
| 50 | cesar sayoc jr | 8,300 | us |
| 51 | boca de urna segundo turno | 8,200 | br |
| 52 | woolworths com au qantas | 8,000 | au |
| 53 | rose mallinger | 7,900 | us |
| 54 | anagrama de autora | 7,800 | br |
| 55 | владислав росляков | 7,800 | ru |
| 56 | rawee pawilai | 7,700 | th |
| 57 | www.disneyland.leclerc | 7,600 | fr |
| 58 | dyson airwrap | 7,500 | us |
| 59 | hurricane michael noaa | 7,500 | us |
| 60 | desiree mariottini | 7,400 | it |
| 61 | 69062733 | 7,000 | de |
| 62 | the fables of bidpai | 7,000 | in |
| 63 | goblin slayer episode 2 | 6,900 | us |
| 64 | saudi journalist | 6,900 | us |
| 65 | caesar sayoc | 6,700 | us |
| 66 | donarak ölen şehitler | 6,600 | tr |
| 67 | jt 610 | 6,500 | id |
| 68 | leicester city helicopter | 6,500 | gb |
| 69 | galatasaray schalke canlı izle | 6,500 | tr |
| 70 | gremio x river ao vivo | 6,300 | br |
| 71 | naya pakistan housing scheme | 6,300 | pk |
| 72 | dhgtk v2 | 6,200 | id |
| 73 | juegos olímpicos de la juventud buenos aires 2018 medallas por país | 6,200 | ar |
| 74 | summer youth olympic games | 6,200 | vn |
| 75 | звоните дикаприо 2 серия | 6,100 | ru |
| 76 | resultado das eleições 2018 2 turno | 6,100 | br |
| 77 | wyniki wyborow 2018 | 6,100 | pl |
| 78 | résultats élections communales 2018 | 6,100 | be |
| 79 | noaa hurricane michael | 6,100 | us |
| 80 | hasil seleksi administrasi cpns 2018 | 6,000 | id |
| 81 | aravinda sametha collections | 6,000 | in |
| 82 | dennis sansoucie | 6,000 | us |
| 83 | seann and katya | 6,000 | gb |
| 84 | mega millions results 10/23/18 | 5,900 | us |
| 85 | ti melania video | 5,900 | us |
| 86 | limo crash ny | 5,800 | us |
| 87 | powerball numbers 10/24/18 | 5,800 | us |
| 88 | letné olympijské hry mládeže 2018 | 5,800 | sk |
| 89 | fortnite shooting galleries | 5,700 | us |
| 90 | 69425831 | 5,600 | de |
| 91 | roman reigns cancer | 5,600 | us |
| 92 | dyson airwrap | 5,600 | de |
| 93 | naya pakistan housing scheme form | 5,500 | pk |
| 94 | victoria marinova | 5,500 | us |
| 95 | cemal kaşıkçı kimdir | 5,500 | tr |
| 96 | typhoon yutu | 5,500 | us |
| 97 | kelsey quayle | 5,400 | us |
| 98 | çukur son bölüm yeni sezon | 5,400 | tr |
| 99 | qub radio | 5,400 | ca |
| 100 | porto galatasaray maçı izle | 5,400 | tr |
It looks like the Buenos Aires 2018 Youth Olympic Games dominate this list!
Top NEW Google searches in YOUR niche (in October 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 tech blog.
You could enter “hurricane” as your seed keyword and find all the relevant newly‐discovered terms from the last month.
It looks like a lot of people were tracking hurricane Michael.
Seriously, this is a potential goldmine of keyword opportunities. So please do play around with it and see what you can find. 🙂
Free mini‐tool is coming soon… we (still) promise!
Back when the original version of this article was first published (April 2017), I mentioned that we were working on a mini‐tool that would be updated with fresh data from all countries… every month.
I’m quite embarrassed to admit it, but we still haven’t had a chance to finish making this.
(In all honesty, we got carried away with the brand new Rank Tracker and Site Audit tools.)
BUT it is ~80% complete—here’s a preview:
We’re expecting the next few months to be a bit less hectic, so we’ll have this ready for you soon!
Stay tuned! 🙂