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 November 2021.
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+. 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.
What Were The Takeaways For November 2021?
Looking back at last month, we’re reminded that elections happen somewhere in the country in November. There were a few elections that gained national attention and we saw that in the top searches near the beginning of the month. Two criminal trials were big news and people were interested in them enough to search for details related to the cases. Holidays and holiday shopping are always big in November and we’ll showcase this year’s keywords. Lastly, there were a few interesting odds and ends to discuss to wrap up our examination of the month.
Oodles of Doodles
The month of November had special Google logos that drove more than 10 million queries each. Here’s the list of the queries attached to those Doodles in chronological order:
- Day of the Dead – 11/2/2021 – 10,000,000+ queries
- Dr. Kamal Ranadive – 11/7/2021 – 10,000,000+ queries
- Veterans Day – 11/10/2021 – 10,000,000+ queries
- Johannes Vermeer – 11/11/2021 – 10,000,000+ queries
- History of Thanksgiving – 11/25/2021 – 10,000,000+ queries
Day of the Dead was a multi-day Doodle and we also recorded the 10 million plus queries at the end of October too. Dr. Ranadive was honored on what would have been her 104th birthday for her research on links between cancers and viruses. The Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer got a Doodle that celebrated the 26th anniversary of the exhibition that opened at Washington D.C.’s national Gallery of Art. Lastly, Veterans Day and Thanksgiving received Doodles that sent people to learn more about these holidays.
State Governor Elections
Right at the start of the month, search interest in U.S. elections grew and was captured by the AMP SEO team:
- Glenn Youngkin – 11/1/2021 – 5,000,000+ queries
- N.J governor race – 11/2/2021 – 5,000,000+ queries
- Virginia election results – 11/2/2021 – 2,000,000+ queries
- Election day 2021 – 11/3/2021 – 200,000+ queries
The Governor races in New Jersey and Virginia were the elections that drove the most queries, including the winner of the VA election, Glenn Youngkin. This list is a reminder that important elections happen every year and not just every four years.
The Criminal Trials of November
A couple of high profile court cases drove search volume over many days in November 2021.
- Kyle Rittenhouse – 11/8/2021 – 500,000+ queries
- Kyle Rittenhouse trial – 11/10/2021 – 1,000,000+ queries
- Rittenhouse – 11/15/2021 – 2,000,000+ queries
- Kyle Rittenhouse – 11/15/2021 – 1,000,000+ queries
- Rittenhouse – 11/19/2021 – 5,000,000+ queries
- Ahmaud Arbery – 11/22/2021 – 1,000,000+ queries
- Ahmaud Arbery – 11/24/2021 – 2,000,000+ queries
From the lists above, queries related to the Rittenhouse trial made the daily top 3 in Google’s Daily Trends across five days. Queries related to the Ahmaud Arbery murder trial only appeared on two days. The AMP SEO team pulled some charts from Google Trends to see a visualization of the query volume.
This chart represents query volume (interest) for the names of Kyle Rittenhouse and Ahmaud Arbery. The blue line shows that the volume was much higher for Kyle’s name.
Curiously, a slightly different take on the same subjects revealed a different story. By switching the categorization of each of their names from “Search term” to “Topic”, we saw this chart:
In this chart, you can see that queries related to the topic of Ahmaud Arbery appear to be larger than those of Kyle Rittenhouse. From our understanding, topics are set up to include more phrases than just the singular keyword inputted into the tool. It appears that Google Trends Daily report is more in line with exact keywords and not topics.
Queries From The World of Entertainment
Moving to a lighter subject, here are the queries related to what Americans were interested in watching in November.
- Eternals – 11/4/2021 – 1,000,000+ queries
- Yellowstone season 4 – 11/7/2021 – 2,000,000+ queries
- CMA Awards 2021 – 11/10/2021 – 1,000,000+ queries
- Spider-Man: No Way Home – 11/16/2021 – 1,000,000+ queries
- King Richard – 11/19/2021 – 1,000,000+ queries
- Hawkeye – 11/23/2021 – 500,000+ queries
- Spider-Man: No Way Home – 11/28/2021 – 2,000,000+ queries
The Spider-Man movie queries were driven by trailers. The film isn’t hitting theaters until December 2021 but it’s clear people are excited about it. Even though The Beatles documentary was released in November, search interest was not big enough to appear in the daily top 3.
Interest in two singers was captured in November 2021:
- Britney Spears – 11/12/2021 – 500,000+ queries
- Adele – 11/14/2021 – 2,000,000+ queries
Yes, Britney’s conservatorship finally ended on the 12th and Adele performed on national television on the 14th ahead of her 30 album release.
Holidays and Holiday Spending
Besides Thanksgiving, there were other holidays including some shopping holidays:
- Diwali – 11/3/2021 – 500,000+ queries
- Thanksgiving – 11/24/2021 – 2,000,000+ queries
- Happy Thanksgiving – 11/24/2021 – 2,000,000+ queries
- Black Friday deals – 11/25/2021 – 5,000,000+ queries
- Best Buy – 11/26/2021 – 2,000,000+ queries
- Cyber Monday deals – 11/28/2021 – 2,000,000+ queries
Diwali drove search interest on the 3rd and that search interest has grown over the last 5 years. You can see how it has grown in this chart:
After Thanksgiving, holiday shopping starts traditionally and the deals you can find on both Black Friday and Cyber Monday had people searching. In years past, retailer names also made the daily top 3. This year, Best Buy was the lone brand with that distinction.
So Why Were People Searching Urban Dictionary So Much?
Sometimes, keywords will appear in our daily capture and we’ll be left scratching our heads. This keyword in particular not only had us guessing about the reason why people were querying it so much but also had us feeling a bit tentative about the prospect of learning more
- Urban Dictionary – 11/21/2021 – 2,000,000+ queries
Thankfully, the reason was fairly innocuous. Because of a trending topic on Twitter, people were driven to search the online slang definition provider to learn more about their names as defined by Urban Dictionary. The AMP SEO team warns that your first name’s definition may not be safe for work.
Saving Time and Natural Phenomena
Oh, turning our clocks back an hour always makes people search and sometimes, if there’s something to look at in the sky, people will search for that event too.
- Daylight Savings – 11/6/2021 – 2,000,000+ queries
- Lunar Eclipse 2021 – 11/18/2021 – 2,000,000+ queries
We have to guess that some of those Daylight Savings queries are from people who wonder why we change our collective understanding of what time it is twice a year.
Omicron Variant
Just when you thought we’d had enough of COVID-19 variants, there’s reports of a new one named Omicron.
- Omicron variant symptoms – 11/27/2021 – 200,000+ queries
This query shows us how people are seeking to understand the symptoms of this new variant rather than just general information about it. We’re keeping positive thoughts that this variant is the last one that we need to know about.
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.
