Google has released its annual “Year in Search” report, revealing the most trending global topics of 2025, with major political events, technological innovations and security concerns dominating the list.
The report, published on Thursday, highlights the terms that recorded the highest surge in search traffic compared to the previous year. On top of the list is Charlie Kirk, whose assassination on September 10 at Utah Valley University triggered a massive wave of global interest. His death also made his Wikipedia profile one of the year’s most-visited pages.
The passing of Pope Francis and the historic election of Pope Leo XIV, the first American Pope, on May 8 also drove significant global search activity.
On the technology front, artificial intelligence continued its rapid rise, with major spikes in searches for tools like Google’s Gemini and China’s DeepSeek. Apple’s iPhone 17 also made it into the top trending queries, reflecting consumers’ ongoing appetite for cutting-edge devices.
Geopolitical tension contributed to the surge in searches, especially the proposed United States TikTok ban, which led millions of users worldwide to look for updates on possible restrictions, national security debates, and the deal that eventually mandated the sale of TikTok’s U.S. operations to an approved investor.
Global Top 10 Trending Searches (2025)
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Gemini
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India vs England
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Charlie Kirk
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Club World Cup
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India vs Australia
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DeepSeek
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Asia Cup
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Iran
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iPhone 17
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Pakistan and India
Global Top 10 News Searches (2025)
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Charlie Kirk assassination
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Iran
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U.S. Government Shutdown
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New Pope chosen
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LA fires
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Hurricane Melissa
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TikTok ban
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Zohran Mamdani elected
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USAID
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Kamchatka earthquake and tsunami
Google noted that the 2025 search trends reflect a year heavily shaped by political uncertainty, global conflict, rapid technological advancement and significant leadership transitions.
