Trends Takeaways this Week

Published May 17, 2024

For more insights and data storytelling on how the world is searching, follow us on Twitter @GoogleTrends and Instagram @googletrends. All data is correct at the time of writing.

Jenny Lee

Lead Trends Data Analyst

with Sabrina Elfarra and Katie Seaton

** Data from this newsletter is based on the U.S. over the past week unless otherwise noted

1. “northern lights tonight” was the top trending search

• “how to see northern lights tonight” was the top trending “how to”, followed by “how to photograph northern lights”

• Long-exposure photography and “iphone night mode” reached all-time highs while aurora was viewable in the US

• “what is a geomagnetic storm” was the top trending “what is a…”

Top cities searching aurora

past week, worldwide

1. Redmond, WA

2. Bothell, WA

3. Richmond, BC

4. Bellevue, WA

5. Bend, OR

2. “red lobster” was the top trending restaurant

• Red Lobster and Chili’s were the top trending restaurant “closing” searches

• Searches for “red lobster near me” are currently at a five year high; Biloxi-Gulfport MS and Utica NY were the top metro areas searching it over the past week

• “red lobster closing list” was the top trending “list”

MAP: Alaska, Hawaii and most east coast states are searching fine dining over fast–food restaurant

3. “Bridgerton season 3” was a breakout search this week

• Colin Bridgerton was the top trending Bridgerton character in the past week

• Eastern Time Zone, Pacific Time Zone, and Central Time Zone all spiked over +2,000% in the past week as people searched for the hour the new season would be released in their region

• “what did whistledown write about eloise” was the top trending Lady Whistledown question this week

GRAPH: Search interest in Bridgerton vs. the Crown over the past five years

4. “flower lockscreen” is the top trending "trend" this week

• Search interest in “flower letters” and “flower name” are at all time highs in the US

• “calendula flower” is the top trending “what does ___ flower mean” in the past week

• May flower is the most searched flower month in the US since 2004 and is also being searched at an all-time high

MAP: top flower months searched by state since 2004

5. “enemies to lovers” trope is currently at an all time high

• “maxton hall movie” and “maxton hall books” were the top trending “enemies to lovers” related searches

• Fake dating was the top trending “book trope” and “the deal elle kennedy” was the top trending fake dating book

• Literature trope was over 3x more searched than cinema trop

Top searched tropes

past week, US

1. Found family

2. Black cat golden retriever

3. Who did this to you

4. Grumpy sunshine

5. Friends to lovers

Top searched enemies to lovers types

past week, US

1. Fantasy

2. High school

3. Historical

4. Dark

5. Kidnapped

If you are a newsroom or media organization with a data request, email us at trendsdatateam@google.com

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Notes

• "Breakout" means the search term had a tremendous increase, in some cases  because these terms are new and had few (if any) prior searches

• Top or Most Searched: search terms that rank highest by search volume for a given timeframe and location

• Trending Searches: search terms that had the highest spike in traffic over a given time period as compared with the previous equivalent period 

• For more information about our methodology and how to interpret the data, please read our FAQs and learn more here