Google’s 2025 search recap is here, and the top results might surprise you

Joe Maring / Android Authority
TL;DR
Google released its 2025 search recap, highlighting “trending” queries that saw high traffic spikes rather than just total volume.
Top US searches included Charlie Kirk, KPop Demon Hunters, and the iPhone 17, while specific categories covered games like Battlefield 6.
Global trends were heavily influenced by cricket matches and Gemini, though the iPhone 17 also appeared on the worldwide list.
December is the month of recaps. We’ve seen recaps from YouTube, Google Photos, and even Google TV so far, alongside those from other companies and services. Now, Google is sharing Search Recap, arguably the most important recap, which sums up all the key events that occurred in the US and globally throughout the year.
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Google Year in Search 2025 showcases the top trending searches of the year, meaning these queries experienced a high spike in traffic over a sustained period as compared to last year, but differ from the most searched results.
Starting with the US trends, the top 10 trending searches this year were:
Charlie Kirk
KPop Demon Hunters
Labubu
iPhone 17
One Big Beautiful Bill Act
Zohran Mamdani
DeepSeek
Government shutdown
FIFA Club World Cup
Tariffs
I’m actually surprised to see KPop Demon Hunters and DeepSeek on this list. While there has no doubt been considerable interest in these topics, I underestimated just how much interest there was. I am also surprised to see the iPhone 17 on the list — but given the upgrades and the strong sales momentum, one could have anticipated it.
Google has shared top 10 lists across various categories, but we’re sticking with the top five for a few of them:
Top five trending news:
One Big Beautiful Bill Act
Government shutdown
Charlie Kirk assassination
Tariffs
No Kings protest
Top five trending actors:
Pedro Pascal
Malachi Barton
Walton Goggins
Pamela Anderson
Charlie Sheen
Top five trending people:
Zohran Mamdani
Tyler Robinson
d4vd
Erika Kirk
Pope Leo XIV
Top five trending games:
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
Battlefield 6
Hollow Knight: Silksong
ARC Raiders
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered
Top five trending movies:
KPop Demon Hunters
Sinners
The Minecraft Movie
Happy Gilmore 2
Thunderbolts*
Top five trending TV Shows:
The Hunting Wives
The White Lotus
The Pitt
The Summer I Turned Pretty
Squid Game
Top five trends:
AI action figure
AI Barbie
Holy airball
AI Ghostface
AI Polaroid
You can check out Google’s blog for the complete top 10 lists across more categories.
Moving on to global trends, the top 10 trending global searches this year were:
Gemini
India vs England
Charlie Kirk
Club World Cup
India vs Australia
DeepSeek
Asia Cup
Iran
iPhone 17
Pakistan and India
It’s not surprising to see cricket dominate global search trends, but I am happy to see the iPhone 17 still figures in the list. Having an Android make an appearance would have been the dream, but for now, we make our peace with a phone being one of the bigger trending searches this year. Google must also be on cloud nine seeing Gemini top the global list.
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