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September 2022 Google Search Trends

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In our continuing series of examining Google Search Trends to gain insights into the top keywords queried in the USA, we present our findings for September 2022.

Every day, we capture the top three keyword phrases in terms of search volume as reported by Google Trends (US Only). Each term has an estimated query volume attached to it, which we also record. The number scale tops out at 10,000,000+ with a lower limit of 200,000+ (sometimes 100,000+). After the conclusion of the month, we look at the phrases we collected along with their volumes to get an understanding of what drove queries for the month.

Three Main Topics – September 2022

If we had to boil the month of search topics down to three (not that anyone is asking us to do that), we’d say: Hurricane Ian, The Queen, and Adam Levine. Beyond that trio, we had a couple of Google Doodles that drove queries.  We got a good sense of what people were watching on big and small screens.  Apple released a new phone, we celebrated coffee, and wanted to know how big the interest rate increase was.  We are still wondering if the Artemis rocket will launch and we love football on the professional and collegiate level.  Let’s examine the details.

Top Queries of the Month

There were four keyword phrases that were queried over 10 million times in a 24 hour period, according to Google Trends.  A couple were driven by Google Doodles:

  • Labor Day – 9/4/2022 – 10,000,000+ queries
  • How do i register to vote – 9/19/2022 – 10,000,000+ queries

Google Doodles are modifications to the Google logo where, when clicked, direct people to a results page.  The query that is attached to the result page gets recorded by Google Trends’ Daily Trend report.  We had some clicks on a Labor Day Doodle along with a call to register to vote.

Before you started reading this post, you probably knew that the biggest news story of the month was the death of Queen Elizabeth II.  Here’s the timeline of keywords throughout the month:

  • Queen Elizabeth – 9/6/2022 – 10,000,000+ queries

Two days before her death, the queen met with the new British Prime Minister Liz Truss and there was a photo taken at the meeting. This event led to lots of searches in Google.

  • Queen – 9/8/2022 – 10,000,000+ queries
  • Prince Charles – 9/8/2022 – 5,000,000+ queries
  • Princess Diana – 9/8/2022 – 1,000,000+ queries

On the day of her death, the top three most queried keywords were of the Queen, her son, and Princess Diana.

  • Queen Elizabeth funeral – 9/18/2022 – 1,000,000+ queries

People search for information about her funeral on the 18th.

Top Viewing Choices

Do you ever wonder what films or TV shows people are the most excited to see?  Search query volume is a good indicator of excitement levels.  Here’s the list of the most searched, video-based entertainment in September 2022:

  • Don’t Worry Darling – 9/5/2022 – 2,000,000+ queries
  • Ana de Armas – 9/28/2022 – 500,000+ queries
  • Hocus Pocus 2 – 9/30/2022 – 2,000,000+ queries

The opening weekend of Olivia Wilde’s film Don’t Worry Darling was certainly buzzworthy with two million queries behind it.  Ana de Armas plays Marilyn Monroe in the movie, Blonde, and it was released on Netflix on the 28th.  Finally, the sequel to the 1993 film Hocus Pocus made its debut on the 30th.

  • Cobra Kai – 9/9/2022 – 500,000+ queries
  • Emmy winners 2022 – 9/12/2022 – 1,000,000+ queries
  • Andor – 9/20/2022 – 200,000+ queries
  • Dahmer Netflix – 9/21/2022 – 500,000+ queries

For TV shows, Cobra Kai launched its 5th season on the 9th while Emmy winners were looked up on the 12th.  On the 20th, people were excited to see the Star Wars series Andor start streaming on Disney+ the next day and the release biographical series Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story drove people to search on the 21st.

Oh My – Adam Levine

We typically don’t include celebrity scandal news in these reports unless it just can’t be ignored. This timeline of queries over the course of four days made it difficult not to examine it.

  • Adam Levine – 9/19/2022 – 1,000,000+ queries
  • Adam Levine cheated on wife – 9/20/2022 – 200,000+ queries
  • Adam Levine messages – 9/22/2022 – 200,000+ queries

The AMP team thinks it’s fairly amazing that this story had such stay power. Furthermore, the list of keywords goes from a general query of the singer’s name to the specific messages he sent.  It’s like a real world example of a search keyword consideration funnel!

Celebrate Coffee

We do love our coffee in the USA and there is a day to celebrate it every year.

  • National Coffee Day 2022 – 9/29/2022 – 200,000+ queries

We predicted that interest in this special day would be high this Autumn.  Let’s see what the Google Trends chart shows on the search term “national coffee day” over the last 5 years.

From this chart, you can see the interest (query volume) was larger last year. Not satisfied with these results, we looked at different queries, used the Google Trends topic “International Coffee Day to generate the data in the chart, and adjusted the category to Food & Drink and didn’t see anything that indicated the holiday was more popular this year.  Still, these national food and drink holidays can be a day on the calendar for brands to plan campaigns around.

A Brand To Save The World

Sometimes brand names make the daily trend top 3.  In September 2022, one of those brands was Patagonia.

  • Patagonia – 9/14/2022 – 500,000+ queries

On the 14th, the founder, Yvon Chouinard, announced that he was transferring ownership to a trust created to protect the firm’s values, as well as a nonprofit organization giving away all profits to protect the planet. AMP Agency had the pleasure of working with Patagonia and the details of our engagement are in this case study.

The Annual Apple Update

Another brand driving search queries last month was Apple. l

  • Apple event – 9/6/2022 – 500,000+ queries
  • iPhone 14 – 9/7/2022 – 5,000,000+ queries
  • Google Maps – 9/12/2022 – 1,000,000+ queries

At their event, they announced their latest iPhone.  Later on in the month, Google announced new features of their Maps app for iOS.  These changes enticed people to learn more via search.

Interest Rates Keep Rising…

To counter inflation, the Federal Reserve announced an increase to interest rates in September.

  • Fed rate hike – 9/21/2022 – 200,000+ queries

Queries related to the economy have been gaining popularity over recent months.  We’ll keep monitoring these phrases and will discuss them in these monthly posts.

…But The Rockets Stays Grounded

We thought for sure that the Artemis rocket was going to launch last month after the mission was delayed in August. Well, no, that didn’t happen.

  • Artemis launch – 9/2/2022 – 1,000,000+ queries
  • NASA – 9/26/2022 – 500,000+ queries

The NASA query was driven by the news the organization was postponing the launch again due to Hurricane Ian.

Hurricane Ian’s Path

Over the span of six days, people searched for more information about this destructive and deadly Category 4 hurricane.

  • Hurricane Tracker – 9/23/2022 – 1,000,000+ queries
  • Hurricane Ian – 9/24/2022 – 1,000,000+ queries
  • Hurricane Ian – 9/24/2022 – 1,000,000+ queries
  • Ian path – 9/25/2022 – 2,000,000+ queries
  • Hurricane Ian tracker – 9/26/2022 – 5,000,000+ queries
  • Florida Hurricane – 9/26/2022 – 500,000+ queries
  • Ian – 9/28/2022 – 2,000,000+ queries

The timeline of keyword phrases shows how the topic developed over time, how many queries there were about the topic (noting that it caused a glitch in Google Trends reporting as it listed the same phrase twice on the 24th, and the importance of search in times of crisis. It’s clear the Google is trying to understand the motivation behind these keywords related to emergency situations as we can see from this Opinion Rewards question:

College Football Teams

With the calendar change, people’s attention turns to the gridiron. Take a look at the list of College Football queries last month:

  • Ohio State football – 9/3/2022 – 2,000,000+ queries
  • LSU football – 9/3/2022 – 500,000+ queries
  • LSU football – 9/4/2022 – 1,000,000+ queries
  • Clemson football – 9/5/2022 – 1,000,000+ queries
  • Texas A&M football – 9/10/2022 – 500,000+ queries
  • Ohio State football – 9/10/2022 – 500,000+ queries
  • Florida State football – 9/16/2022 – 200,000+ queries
  • App State football – 9/17/2022 – 500,000+ queries
  • Nebraska football – 9/17/2022 – 200,000+ queries
  • Syracuse football – 9/17/2022 – 100,000+ queries
  • Clemson football – 9/24/2022 – 500,000+ queries

Did your favorite team make the list?  If not, did your favorite NFL team make this list?

Another NFL Season

  • Dallas Cowboys – 9/11/2022 – 2,000,000+ queries
  • NFL – 9/11/2022 – 2,000,000+ queries
  • Steelers – 9/11/2022 – 1,000,000+ queries
  • Chiefs – 9/15/2022 – 2,000,000+ queries
  • Packers – 9/18/2022 – 1,000,000+ queries
  • Eagles – 9/19/2022 – 2,000,000+ queries
  • Steelers – 9/22/2022 – 2,000,000+ queries
  • Packers – 9/25/2022 – 1,000,000+ queries
  • Buffalo Bills – 9/25/2022 – 1,000,000+ queries

Teams weren’t the only part of the NFL that drove queries.  Unfortunately, injuries to starting quarterbacks did as well.

  • Justin Herbert Injury – 9/15/2022 – 500,000+ queries
  • Trey Lance – 9/18/2022 – 1,000,000+ queries
  • Tua Tagovailoa – 9/29/2022 – 5,000,000+ queries

More NFL queries will fill our reports until February.  That’s a prediction you can bet on.

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