Most searched thing on Google and other searches engines [2023]

Curious to see what the most searched things on Google, Bing, YouTube and Amazon are? 🔍

We created this extensive list to provide you with some general data, but also some lesser known trends on search engines and how to turn them into your advantage.

1. Important Google Trends of 2020
2. Top 20 most searched queries on Google in 2021 [Global]
3. Top 20 most searched queries on Google US in 2021
4. Most searched things on Bing [Global – 2021]
5. Most searched things on YouTube [Global – 2021]
6. Most searched things on Amazon [Global – 2021]
7. High volume low competition search queries
8. What’s the most asked question on Google in 2021?
9. How to use these insights for your own benefit?
10. What’s coming up in the rest of 2021?

1. Important Google Trends of 2020

At the time of writing this, 2021 just started and it’s a good moment for reflection and looking forward. Google already shared trending search terms in 2020 per category. That resulted in an interesting, but not so surprising list:

However, tools such as Ahrefs can also give you insights on what people are most searching for on a keyword level and per search engine. This means you can look into the most searched thing on Google, Bing, YouTube and other big search engines in 2021. Best of all, there are tons of filtering options that provide interesting insights, not only pure out of curiosity, but also from a business opportunity perspective.

Ahrefs provides the option of finding keywords from their database in the Keywords Explorer section:

Without presenting any search term, Ahrefs will just search within the entire database and show the entire list of keywords, which can be sorted on global search volume:

So let’s put that in practice and take a look at some of the most popular search terms in 2021:

2. Top 20 most searched queries on Google in 2021 [Global]

The volumes above are average estimates on a monthly basis and global scale. The table above also doesn’t show many surprises – except if you may have found it shocking that there are a few porn websites included as well. The list is pretty much filled with:

• Social media platforms
• Search engine service(s)
• Marketplaces
• Streaming services (including adult material)

However, nothing that you can personally directly benefit from for starting your own project. Is the list any different looking at the US data?

3. Top 20 most searched queries on Google US in 2021

Not extremely different from the global list, except for a few US focused services and shops. So what happens if we look at search behavior for other search engines:

4. Most searched things on Bing [Global – 2021]

The irony is that most people on Bing search for Google and have probably landed on Bing, because of some Microsoft product or default setting. There are actually 4 Google services listed in the top 20, which underscores Google’s extremely dominant worlwide market share of approximately 70%.

5. Most searched things on YouTube [Global – 2021]

Looking at YouTube, things are completely different, obviously because people use it for other purposes. The intent is not to find information about any given topic, but to find a particular video, channel, theme or person, which is reflected in the list of top global searches on YouTube:

Naturally there are way more searches around various artists, games and content types.

6. Most searched things on Amazon [Global – 2021]

The most popular search queries on Amazon (as far as the search volumes are correct estimates) are naturally way more focused on products. It is interesting to see though how the biggest marketplace in the world has also grown into a search engine of its own kind, where pretty generic keywords are used to get an overview of the best products:

These lists are nice out of curiosity and to get a rough idea of popular products, topics, artists etc. in 2020 and 2021. However, how can you use this for your own benefits?

Fortunately Ahrefs offers many different filtering options that help us to determine interesting trends that you could use for your own (eCommerce) websites and other side hustle ideas.

7. High volume low competition search queries

As also elaborately explained in the SEO niches article, key factors that you should be looking for are obviously high and/or relevant search volumes and relatively low competition. Although it’s only an indicator, it surely helps to determine the right topics.

So what are the most searched things on Google US with low competition in 2021?

For this list we have used a maximum Keyword Difficulty (KD) of 10. This means that in terms of site authority (linking quality domains), the search queries should be relatively easy to rank for. As you can see in the top 20 there are many things that you cannot do anything with, such as brand names and adult websites. Since many of the keywords are branded and consist of a single or two words, it’s also interesting to look at more long tail keywords containing 3+ words.

Most searched long tail (3+ query) keywords with low competition in 2021 (US)

It is striking that there are so many “near me” keywords in the top 20. This is an addition that is rapidly growing because of the rise of local seo and mobile usage. It probably means there is way more to find on “near me” keywords:

Most searched “near me” queries with low competition [US – 2021]

8. What’s the most asked question on Google in 2021?

Another type of keywords that is super interesting to look at are questions. They are super specific and can often lead to featured snippets in the search results, which take up a huge amount of the SERP if you rank well for them.

Top 10 questions starting with “what” on Google in 2021?

Top 10 questions starting with “why” on Google in 2021

Next to this options on a keyword level combined with location and keyword difficulty, it could also be interesting to look at different SERP options (in combination with KD), such as:

• Featured snippets
• Image pack
• Shopping results

9. How to use this for your own benefit?

The functionalities shown in this article obviously are very Ahrefs focused, but there are other possibilities such as using Google Keyword Planner and looking at Competition and/or avg cpc. However the reports and options in a tool such as Ahrefs or SEMRush (FREE TRIAL) are way higher.

Use it to define hyper specific products

The option to get Amazon data allows you to define interesting products to either sell on Amazon or to build a dropshipping business around. Using a couple of metrics, such as:

• Minimum word count: 4+
• Return Rate: max. 1.4 (which indicates a low return rate)
• CPC: max. $1.00

This will leave you to a super specific list of buying intent keywords that you can sort from high to low volume. From the filter options above, a few very good picks to sell would be:

1. Fitbit charge 2 bands
2. Dash camera for cars
3. Posture corrector for men

Use it to create your own website

To use the options for your website it is obviously best to look at keywords with high volumes and low competition and preferably have an upwards trendline. From that point there are two main options to proceed:

1. Create a “one issue” or “one keyword-focused” website.
2. Create a website on which many different high volume / low competition topics can be used

Next step would be to see if there’s a domain available on one of these exact match keywords. You could go to GoDaddy to do that.

A few interesting finds that still have an exact match domain name available or for sale for a relatively low price (January 2021):

• Why were cornflakes invented
• Maxi dresses for women
• Appliance repair near me
• Apartments for rent near me
• Shoe repair near me

Monetizing options

Then what are the most interesting ways of monetizing depending on the subject?

Adsense:
Interesting for high search volume keywords with low(er) selling potential. So this would work for highly informative topics and websites.

Affiliate:
For types of products that have a relatively high price and commission rate it works best. The more expensive home appliances are a good example.

Dropshipping:
The most important elements for dropshipping are margins and return rate. For return rate it could be good to use Ahrefs’ estimated score for Amazon.

Rank and rent:
Works best for local oriented services. The “near me” keywords provide a nice insight in what services people are looking for and have relatively low competition, such as [appliance repair near me].

Merchandising:
Especially for websites / brands with a passionate returning following. Interesting topics include pets and gaming.

10. So what’s coming up in 2021🔮

We don’t have a crystal ball, but there are some methods to get an idea if your desired niche or keyword is increasing or showing a downwards trend.

Google Trends
Trends can help you to spot trends in search behavior. This is also elaborately used for selecting our top seo niches. Pay attention to:

• Long term trends: what does the data show for year over year data?

• Country specific: get an idea if it’s a global trend or exclusive to a certain country.

• Related rising queries that allow you to find more niche related queries that have a “breakout”:

Ahrefs
Another option is to use a functionality within Ahrefs that shows data over a longer period of time. You could use it to get an idea of a trendline, but then with search volume estimates. Taking [oat milk] as an example, you’ll get an idea what that looks like:

Another option is to pay attention to search volume estimates for seasonal products. [Portable air conditioner] is a very good example of a product that has extreme peaks in summer when people are in need of some fresh air and have lows close to zero in winter months:

The list with most searched keywords won’t change too much in 2021, but there will definitely be some (new) trends that you should keep your eyes open for and use them to your advantage!