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 May 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.
May 2022 Overview
Looking through the top searched phrases in May 2022, it is difficult not to fixate on the topics that may upset our safety. From the JIF Peanut Butter recall to the outbreak of Monkeypox to the Cryptocurrency crashes, there were many top queries where information was needed to understand the issue and take proper courses of action.
On the flip side, there are many phrases that reinforce our desire to learn more about events. The Met Gala was a top queried topic for two days in a row to start off the month. Two horse races and two car races also made the daily top 3 in May – another sign that these annual events are reestablishing their hold on our attention like they did before the pandemic.
Lastly, we cannot ignore that the tragic mass shooting events in both Buffalo and Uvalde, TX drove people to Google to learn more. Both events claimed the top queried phrases on the days they occurred and we’ll analyze what Google Trends reported on May 14th and 24th.
Five Wonderful Holidays In Month Number 5
Holidays always propel search volume from users seeking more information about the day. Here are the top 5 from May:
- May the 4th be with you – 5/3/2022 – 500,000+ queries
- Cinco de Mayo – 5/4/2022 – 2,000,000+ queries
- Mother’s Day – 5/7/2022 – 10,000,000+ queries
- Happy Mother’s Day – 5/8/2022 – 2,000,000+ queries
- Memorial Day – 5/29/2022 – 10,000,000+ queries
The unofficial Star Wars day starts the list on the 4th, even though Trends reported it on the 3rd. Mother’s Day gets two appearances on our list. The one on the 7th was driven by clicks to a Google Doodle. Memorial Day finished off the month with a Doodle of its own.
The team dug a little deeper into Cinco de Mayo since it also made the list. Here’s the chart of search interest into this holiday over the last 5 years:
With a dip in popularity in 2019, the topic has seen increasing search volume since then. AMP Agency wrote a blog post about Recalibrating Cinco de Mayo with information about the holiday and how we as marketers can promote celebrating the holiday responsibly. This notion may be driving some increased search interest in the holiday as people seek more information about it.
Top Queried Video Entertainment
It was a low month for the number of film titles or TV shows making the daily top 3 in May 2022. Here are the three queries that made it.
- Dr Strange – 5/5/2022 – 2,000,000+ queries
- Stranger Things season 4 – 5/26/2022 – 2,000,000+ queries
- Fantastic Beasts – 5/30/2022 – 200,000+ queries
The latest installment of the Marvel movie franchise was released near the beginning of the month. We don’t think Dr. Strange will be the subject of the biggest money making film of the summer. That honor, we predict, will go to Thor. Check out this prediction and more in our Summer 2022 Trends report.
The long awaited Stranger Things Season 4 debuted on May 27th and Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore started streaming on the 30th.
Met Gala
After a cancellation in 2020 and a delayed to September event last year, The Met Gala returned to its typical May timeframe and drove users to see the latest in haute couture.
- Met Gala 2022 – 5/1/2022 – 1,000,000+ queries
- Met Gala 2022 – 5/2/2022 – 5,000,000+ queries
Comparing the daily query numbers to years past, the 5 million plus reported on May 2nd is the largest of the past 4 years. This event’s popularity has hit a new high if we use search volume as our measure.
News Items
Since there were a large number of queries for news items, we decided to include this list in our report for May 2022.
- Buffalo – 5/14/2022 – 2,000,000+ queries
- Shooting – 5/14/2022 – 500,000+ queries
- Monkeypox – 5/18/2022 – 2,000,000+ queries
- Texas school shooting – 5/24/2022 – 10,000,000+ queries
- News – 5/24/2022 – 2,000,000+ queries
- Mona Lisa – 5/30/2022 – 200,000+ queries
- Johnny Depp Verdict – 5/31/2022 – 5,000,000+ queries
Looking at this list, the majority of the topics are horrific. Note that the same day of the Robb Elementary School shooting, the second most queried phrase was “News”. We are not sure if that is an accurate query report or a glitch in the Daily Trends reporting but we present the data as we recorded it.
There was an attempt to vandalize The Mona Lisa painting on the 30th and the verdict of the Johnny Depp/Amber Heard trial was handed down on the 31st.
Keywords Related to US Politics
Along with News Items, topics aligned to the world of US Politics were also a popular category of queries:
- Roe v. Wade – 5/2/2022 – 5,000,000+ queries
- J. D. Vance – 5/3/2022 – 500,000+ queries
- Jen Psaki – 5/5/2022 – 500,000+ queries
- Pennsylvania primary – 5/17/2022 – 1,000,000+ queries
- Madison Cawthorn – 5/17/2022 – 1,000,000+ queries
- Beto O’Rourke – 5/24/2022 – 1,000,000+ queries
The keyword with the most search volume of this list is Roe v. Wade, which was queried because of a leaked draft opinion that suggests the court will overturn the 1973 decision. It is reported that a decision will be made in June 2022 so we will report on what Google Trends published in our next report.
Crypto Collapse
We can mark May 2022 as a month where the value of cryptocurrency took a tumble.
- Luna crypto – 5/10/2022 – 200,000+ queries
- Coinbase – 5/10/2022 – 200,000+ queries
- Bitcoin – 5/11/2022 – 500,000+ queries
Each of these phrases is related to a drop in the value of these coins/companies. We will continue to monitor the trends related to this subject in the months ahead.
NBA Playoffs and Finals
The NBA playoffs has been a hot topic throughout the month of May 2022. Here we present only the phrases that received 1 million queries or more that are NBA related – there are 19 of them:
- Warriors vs Grizzlies – 5/1/2022 – 1,000,000+ queries
- Celtics – 5/9/2022 – 1,000,000+ queries
- Warriors – 5/9/2022 – 1,000,000+ queries
- Warriors – 5/11/2022 – 1,000,000+ queries
- Miami Heat – 5/12/2022 – 1,000,000+ queries
- Celtics – 5/13/2022 – 2,000,000+ queries
- Warriors – 5/13/2022 – 1,000,000+ queries
- Suns – 5/15/2022 – 2,000,000+ queries
- Celtics – 5/15/2022 – 2,000,000+ queries
- Celtics – 5/17/2022 – 2,000,000+ queries
- Dallas Mavericks – 5/18/2022 – 1,000,000+ queries
- Celtics – 5/19/2022 – 1,000,000+ queries
- Celtics – 5/21/2022 – 1,000,000+ queries
- Warriors – 5/22/2022 – 1,000,000+ queries
- Celtics – 5/23/2022 – 1,000,000+ queries
- Celtics – 5/25/2022 – 1,000,000+ queries
- Warriors – 5/26/2022 – 2,000,000+ queries
- Celtics – 5/27/2022 – 1,000,000+ queries
- Celtics – 5/29/2022 – 2,000,000+ queries
Trying to stay objective here, but as Celtics fans, we’re totally caught up in the search interest of this topic this year.
What We Call Soccer
What the rest of the world calls football is popular here in the States, at least from a search perspective.
- Real Madrid vs Man City – 5/4/2022 – 1,000,000+ queries
- Liverpool – 5/14/2022 – 500,000+ queries
- Liverpool – 5/22/2022 – 500,000+ queries
- Champions League – 5/27/2022 – 2,000,000+ queries
- Argentina vs Italy – 5/31/2022 – 500,000+ queries
Since the World Cup is scheduled for November of this year, we predict that month will be filled with football-related queries. You have been warned.
Horse Racing
With in-person sports events back to full capacity, the query volumes for the famous horse races in May have recovered:
- Kentucky Derby 2022 – 5/6/2022 – 5,000,000+ queries
- Kentucky Derby 2022 horses – 5/6/2022 – 500,000+ queries
- Preakness 2022 – 5/20/2022 – 1,000,000+ queries
We found it interesting that there was a specific keyword about the horses in this year’s Kentucky Derby. Then again, with online gambling becoming legal in more states, this instance may not be so surprising.
Car Racing
Not just horses but also cars, racing was popular in May 2022.
- Miami Grand Prix – 5/8/2022 – 200,000+ queries
- Indy 500 – 5/28/2022 – 1,000,000+ queries
The Formula One Miami Grand Prix had its debut and the Indy 500 had its 106th running this year. Again, with people back in the stands, these events have regained their search popularity.
Odds & Ends
Finally – we present this category of phrases that we felt were worth showcasing in our report but didn’t fit nicely into an established category:
- Jif peanut butter recall – 5/21/2022 – 1,000,000+ queries
Most times, we are excited to see food related queries make the daily top 3 in Google Trends. Um, not this month.
- Lunar eclipse – 5/15/2022 – 2,000,000+ queries
The Lunar eclipse spurred people to seek more information about the astronomical event.
- ATOLL – 5/29/2022 – 500,000+ queries
We weren’t sure what to make of this query when we saw it on Google Trends but with some investigation, we found that this word was the solution to Wordle 345. We guess that people hadn’t seen that word before and didn’t know what it meant (a ring-shaped island).
We think it is fitting to end this report of the 5th month of 2022 with a 5 letter word. Wait a minute – how did we end April 2022?
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.
Until next month.
