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 January 2024.
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.
Kicking Off The Year
Welcome to another edition of Google Trends report. We collect the top queried phrases of the day for January and we try to make sense of them all for you. Last month began with an earthquake in Japan and the public release of unsealed court records from the Jeffrey Epstein case. Movie awards are back as the Golden Globes made our keyword collection and the Oscar nomination announcements. The 2024 presidential election season started with a caucus, a primary, and a candidate dropping out. Lastly, the NFL playoffs were the big sports topic, and we followed all the phrases as the league followed its path to the Super Bowl.
The First Few Days
On the first of the year, Japan experienced an earthquake. A few days later, the Epstein list was released to the public.
- Japan earthquake – 1/1/2024 – 1,000,000+ queries
- Epstein list – 1/3/2024 – 2,000,000+ queries
A 7.5 magnitude earthquake struck western Japan and was officially named the Noto Peninsula Earthquake. The aforementioned Epstein list was actually dozens of documents from a 2015 court case filed by Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre against his co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell, who has been convicted of child sex trafficking. The documents did have mentions of politicians and celebrities but have not led to any further legal action.
MLK Day 2024
On the 15th, we observed Martin Luther King Day and people wanted to know more on the 14th.
- Martin Luther King – 1/14/2024 – 500,000+ queries
As we queried Google to learn more, this holiday calls us to reflect, join hands in service, and celebrate Dr. King’s lasting impact on the fight for civil rights.
Awards and Coachella
We saw a good list of keywords related to the Entertainment industry. First up, the Golden Globe Awards:
- Golden Globes 2024 – 1/6/2024 – 1,000,000+ queries
- Golden Globe winners – 1/7/2024 – 500,000+ queries
- Jo Koy – 1/7/2024 – 500,000+ queries
After a few years of low search interest, the award show’s search interest has increased:
It’s not at pre-pandemic levels yet, but it has recovered from its 2022 nadir.
The music festival Coachella released its lineup for this year’s festival.
- Coachella 2024 lineup – 1/16/2024 – 200,000+ queries
The Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival will be held over two weekends in April. The Academy Awards also had an announcement this month and people wanted to know who and what got nominated.
- Oscar nominations 2024 – 1/23/2024 – 1,000,000+ queries
- Greta Gerwig – 1/23/2024 – 200,000+ queries
From the inclusion of Greta Gerwig to our list, it was clear people were searching for who didn’t get nominated too.
Lastly, the one miniseries that was on the mind of Google searchers was Griselda.
- Griselda – 1/24/2024 – 200,000+ queries
- Griselda Blanco – 1/25/2024 – 500,000+ queries
The drama miniseries premiered on Netflix on the 25th which coincided with these two keyword phrase queries.
Palworld
The game known as “Pokémon with guns” had an early access release on the 19th.
- Palworld – 1/19/2024 – 200,000+ queries
Although this game was announced back in 2021, the first time its name made our list was last month. Queries were probably driven by the need to understand how this game could be accessed.
The Latest In Tech News
Besides Apple and Google, Samsung gets attention via search when they drop a new phone.
- Samsung – 1/17/2024 – 200,000+ queries
The Galaxy S24 launch spurred people to learn more via search. Beyond phones, how about a digital implant in your brain?
- Neuralink – 1/29/2024 – 100,000+ queries
News broke on the 29th of a successful surgery that implanted a Neuralink device on a living person’s brain. We’ll keep reviewing the search queries to see if there is more news on this topic.
Presidential Race
The first elections for the 2024 U.S. Presidential race kicked off in January. Here is the round up of phrases related to the subject.
- Iowa caucus results – 1/15/2024 – 2,000,000+ queries
- Ron DeSantis – 1/21/2024 – 500,000+ queries
- New Hampshire Primary – 1/22/2024 – 1,000,000+ queries
After the Iowa caucus, Ron DeSantis suspended his campaign. The first primary in the nation was held on the 23rd but the queries started to increase the day before.
College Football Championship
- Alabama vs Michigan – 1/1/2024 – 2,000,000+ queries
- Washington vs Texas – 1/1/2024 – 500,000+ queries
- Michigan vs Washington – 1/8/2024 – 2,000,000+ queries
After the college football season was over, a renowned coach announced his retirement.
- Nick Saban retiring – 1/10/2024 – 500,000+ queries
Nick Saban wasn’t the only football coach to make our list. Let’s talk through the NFL list and then get to all the coaching changes.
NFL Playoffs
As it happens every year, the NFL playoffs made a huge Splash in terms of Google’s daily trends reports for the month of January 2024. Below is the list of the NFL-related keywords that had 500,000 queries or more:
- NFL playoff picture – 1/6/2024 – 1,000,000+ queries
- Steelers – 1/6/2024 – 1,000,000+ queries
- Packers – 1/7/2024 – 500,000+ queries
- Eagles – 1/8/2024 – 500,000+ queries
- Chiefs – 1/12/2024 – 5,000,000+ queries
- Chiefs vs Dolphins – 1/12/2024 – 1,000,000+ queries
- Kansas City Chiefs – 1/12/2024 – 1,000,000+ queries
- Packers vs Cowboys – 1/13/2024 – 1,000,000+ queries
- NFL playoff schedule – 1/13/2024 – 1,000,000+ queries
- Cowboys – 1/14/2024 – 2,000,000+ queries
- Rams vs Lions – 1/14/2024 – 1,000,000+ queries
- Eagles – 1/15/2024 – 2,000,000+ queries
- Bills vs Steelers – 1/15/2024 – 1,000,000+ queries
- Jason Kelce retire – 1/16/2024 – 500,000+ queries
- 49ers – 1/20/2024 – 2,000,000+ queries
- Lions – 1/20/2024 – 2,000,000+ queries
- Ravens vs Texans – 1/20/2024 – 1,000,000+ queries
- Chiefs – 1/21/2024 – 2,000,000+ queries
- Raven vs Chiefs – 1/27/2024 – 5,000,000+ queries
- Lions vs 49ers – 1/27/2024 – 2,000,000+ queries
- Chiefs vs Ravens – 1/27/2024 – 1,000,000+ queries
- 49ers – 1/28/2024 – 2,000,000+ queries
- Super Bowl – 1/28/2024 – 500,000+ queries
- Travis Kelce – 1/28/2024 – 500,000+ queries
Even though most of these phrases were about games that set up the final two teams who will play in the Super Bowl, the queries related to the championship game appear only once both Conference Championship games are completed. Keep that in mind if you are prepping a Big Game promotion or campaign.
Coach Changes
After the end of the regular season, they were a bunch of different NFL head coaching news. Here is the list of coaches’ names that made our January 2024 collection.
- Pete Carroll – 1/10/2024 – 500,000+ queries
- Bill Belichick – 1/11/2024 – 500,000+ queries
- Jerod Mayo – 1/11/2024 – 500,000+ queries
- Jim Harbaugh – 1/24/2024 – 500,000+ queries
May all of these changes bring better performances next season.
Oh Yeah, Other Sports
Even though the NFL drove the most search interest, there were other sports that made our list.
- Real Madrid vs Barcelona – 1/13/2024 – 500,000+ queries
- Royal Rumble 2024 – 1/26/2024 – 500,000+ queries
- Doc Rivers – 1/23/2024 – 500,000+ queries
The other football had one entry, professional wrestle had one of their annual tournaments, and another coach change – this time, Doc Rivers taking the Milwaukee Bucks job – were all notable queries from last month.Thanks for reading. If you liked this article, we utilize search trends data for all of our clients and we invite you to learn more about our SEO services.
