Research assessing the search traffic of over 800 million terms reveals the year’s top 100 YouTube search inquiries. Top YouTube Searches in 2022
YouTube does not provide this information. However, Ahrefs creates an annual report based on Keyword Explorer data.
The study’s top questions are divided by US and international searches.
First, let’s examine the most popular US searches.
Top YouTube Searches in 2022 in US
These are the top twenty YouTube searches in the United States. See the original report for a full listing of the top 100 questions.
- pewdiepie (3,770,000)
- ASMR (3,230,000)
- music (2,670,000)
- markiplier (2,380,000)
- old town road (2,040,000)
- pewdiepie vs t series (1,940,000)
- Billie Eilish (1,910,000)
- Fortnite (1,630,000)
- david dobrik (1,610,000)
- jacksepticeye (1,580,000)
- James Charles (1,560,000)
- joe rogan (1,560,000)
- baby shark (1,500,000)
- BTS (1,350,000)
- dantdm (1,330,000)
- SNL (1,260,000)
- game grumps (1,140,000)
- CNN (1,120,000)
- WWE (1,100,000)
- lofi (1,040,000)
Some observations:
Comparing this year’s top searches to those of the previous year reveals that more people are going to YouTube for music.
A quarter of this year’s top 100 US searches are connected to music. Even the keyword “music” is the third most-searched phrase.
Another auditory experience, ASMR, ranks second, dropping from last year’s number one spot.
Five of the top ten searches are branded, indicating that users are looking directly for the names of YouTube channels and artists.
Fifty percent of the top one hundred searches are for particular YouTube personalities and channels.
At first sight, gaming-related questions are still popular, although less so than the previous years.
This may indicate that Twitch is attracting a larger gaming audience.
Let’s compare these searches to the most popular searches globally.
Top YouTube Searches Worldwide
These are the top 20 YouTube searches globally. See the original report for a full listing of the top 100 questions.
- BTS (17,630,000)
- pewdiepie (16,320,000)
- ASMR (13,910,000)
- Billie Eilish (13,860,000)
- baby shark (12,090,000)
- badabun (11,330,000)
- blackpink (10,390,000)
- old town road (10,150,000)
- music (9,670,000)
- peliculas completas en español (9,050,000)
- Fortnite (9,010,000)
- pewdiepie vs t series (8,720,000)
- Minecraft (8,560,000)
- senorita (8,290,000)
- ariana grande (7,890,000)
- alan walker (7,560,000)
- Calma (7,390,000)
- tik tok (7,270,000)
- music (7,140,000)
- bad bunny (7,040,000)
Some observations:
According to Ahrefs, the whole globe seems to be utilizing YouTube for music more often.
“Searches for artists, bands, and songs dominate our ranking of the top 100 YouTube searches globally, accounting for a whopping 57/100 inquiries (almost two-thirds).
The rest of the world seems to utilize YouTube for music far more than Americans do.”
However, the rest of the world is not as fond of sponsored material since just two of the top ten global searches are branded.
Takeaways For Marketers
Perhaps the most valuable information for marketers is the knowledge of the most popular YouTube searches.
People use YouTube to seek music, video games, promotional material, and established YouTubers.
This provides a difficulty for smaller independent networks seeking to establish an audience.
It is not impossible, though, since there are techniques to create traffic to films outside search results.
