What Americans Were Searching for Over the Past Year
Key Takeaways
- Halloween, major sporting events, and the $1.8 billion Powerball jackpot were among the events that sparked widespread Google search interest across the U.S.
- Regional interests, including wildfires, winter storms, and local sports teams, sometimes stood out even as national events dominated searches.
- During the summer of 2026, searches for the FIFA World Cup dominated large portions of the map for weeks before abruptly giving way to Spider-Man.
What captured America’s attention over the past year?
From billion-dollar lottery jackpots and blockbuster movies to major sporting events and celebrity deaths, the country’s biggest search trends changed dramatically from week to week.
This animated map above shows the top trending Google searches in every U.S. state from October 2025 to October 2026, offering a week-by-week snapshot of what Americans were curious about. It was created by Reddit user u/madredditscientist, based on data from Google Trends.
Holidays and a Billion-Dollar Powerball Jackpot
The October 2025 maps show Halloween dominating search interest across much of the country, while November and December brought renewed attention to Thanksgiving and other seasonal events.
These trends reflect changing search interest rather than total search volume, helping explain why holidays, breaking news, and unexpected events appear so prominently.
One of the clearest nationwide spikes came in December 2025, when Powerball searches spread across the map ahead of the Christmas Eve drawing.
The jackpot ultimately reached $1.817 billion, making it the second-largest U.S. lottery jackpot ever won, with a single winning ticket sold in Arkansas.
From the World Cup to Spider-Man and Dolly Parton
Some of the strongest nationwide trends came from sports and entertainment.
For weeks during the summer of 2026, the FIFA World Cup captured attention across much of the country. Then, almost overnight, Spider-Man took over, coinciding with the July 31 release of Spider-Man: Brand New Day.
Major geopolitical events also attracted significant eyeballs, with searches for Venezuela and Iran dominating much of the country during the U.S. military operation in Venezuela and the U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran.
Celebrity deaths also drew widespread attention. In August 2026, searches for actress Hayden Panettiere surged following her death on August 16, while country music legend Dolly Parton’s death on August 25 at age 80 sparked interest across the entire country.
In September, the phrase “Latin pop” surged nationwide for a different reason. Google featured its The Art of Latin Pop Doodle on September 23 for Hispanic Heritage Month, and clicking it generated related searches.
This illustrates how Google’s own Doodles can influence the search trends recorded on its platform.
Regional Searches Reveal Surprising Differences
Beyond the nationwide trends, some of the most interesting findings came from individual states.
During the August 2026 wildfires near Spokane, Washington, “Spokane fires” appeared as a leading search topic in neighboring Montana rather than Washington itself, potentially reflecting concerns about smoke spreading eastward.
Other curious examples included Wyoming’s interest in Ed Gein and searches for tax refunds in Louisiana and Mississippi while much of the country focused on the Winter Olympics.
Minnesota and Iowa also shifted toward blizzard and winter storm warnings while international developments involving Iran attracted attention elsewhere.
Local sports loyalties were another recurring theme, with Pennsylvania repeatedly searching for the Philadelphia Eagles and notable interest in the Chicago Bears and Kansas City Chiefs in their respective regions.
At the end of November 2025, while much of the country was searching for the final season of Stranger Things, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana were focused on college football coach Lane Kiffin amid speculation about his departure from Ole Miss to LSU.
These exceptions show how local weather, sports, and community interests can tell a very different story, even when a single event captures national attention.
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