Don’t you just love those map graphics that show what people call “soda” in every state? Or what the favorite local beer is? I do! That’s why I decided to create one for search. Behold: The top trending searches in every U.S. state from the past 12 months:
Note: This data was pulled before llamas and #thedress broke the Internet.
Top Trending Searches: Methodology
To determine the top trending searches, I used Google Trends data from the last 12 months (February 2014 to February 2015). In Google Trends, you can drill down to the state level and see both overall trends as well as rising trends (indicating a recent spike in search volume). For this graphic, I used the rising trends data. I also threw out the most common rising search terms that were common across all 50 states in the past 12 months. These included:
ebola
robin williams
world cup
iphone 6
iggy azalea
fb
google drive
amazon prime
ariana grande
For each state, I looked for the first unique trending search (a trending query that wasn’t part of a nationwide trend). You’ll see that some of the states in the map above feature one of the nationwide search trends. That’s because some states (such as Colorado) had no unique search trends.
Want to explore further? Go here.
Trends in the Trends: What Did We Search For in the Last Year?
There are some interesting trends in these rising search queries:
Technology and Media
Many of the rising searches were brand searches related to new or growing technology and media platforms, such as Sanford (a medical platform), Amazon Prime, Soundcloud, Twitch (a gaming platform), and VK (a Russian social network). Mobile phones (surprise, surprise) were also big – the new iPhone 6 and Galaxy S5 models both made appearances.
Education
Related to the above, a lot of new rising search trends were related to educational platforms, such as Google Classroom, Student Portal, and Cool Math Games.
Politics
The 2014 events in Ferguson, Missouri were of huge national interest, but naturally had the largest effect on searches locally in the Midwest. Isis, an Islamist rebel group, was also in the news a lot in 2014.
Foreign Language Searches
“Tiempo,” meaning “weather” in Spanish, made a splash in Texas, likely due to a large and growing Spanish-speaking population. And VK, a rising search in Oregon, is a Russian network, suggesting a growing Russian population in the state (the largest Russian community in the U.S. is in Washington).
Sports
A few states boasted high search volume for local or near-local sports teams (The Royals, The Brewers, the Patriots). The World Cup also stole a lot of search volume last year across the country.
Transactional Searches
Interestingly, a few rising search terms were transactional, or commercial, in nature – take Cabela’s in Delaware. “Black Friday 2014” in Kentucky points to a spiking interest in the annual sales.
Credit Scores and Banking
Credit Karma was a rising search in several states, including Georgia and South Carolina, while Santander (trending in both Massachusetts and Rhode Island) is a Spanish banking group which recently underwent an expansion and rebranding.
Earthquakes in the West
Both California and Alaska experienced earthquakes that led to tremors in the search landscape (haha).
Classifieds, Housing and Real Estate
Platforms to help people find jobs (BisManOnline) and housing (Zillow, Craigslist) were also popular.
Celebrities
The celebrities that sucked up the most of our attention this year included musicians (Iggy Azalea, Kevin Gates, and Ariana Grande), athletes (Lebron James) and actors (Jennifer Lawrence and also Robin Williams, who died in August of 2014).
What’s the Top Trending Search in Your State?
Here’s the alphabetical list of the top trending search in each state, with a brief explanation for search terms you might not be familiar with, as well as secondary and tertiary trending searches were applicable:
Alabama – Isis, Credit Karma
Alaska – Alaska earthquake, Cabela’s
Arizona – Jennifer Lawrence
Arkansas – Google Classroom, UArk Mail, Quizlet
California – Earthquake, Giants
Colorado – Amazon Prime
Connecticut – Soundcloud, Powerschool
Delaware – Cabela’s, UDSIS (University of Delaware student portal)
Florida – Soundcloud, Cool Math Games
Georgia – Credit Karma, Tiempo
Hawaii – Disneyland, Southwest
Idaho – Twitch (“the world’s leading video platform and community for gamers”), Khan Academy (a nonprofit educational organization)
Illinois – Student Portal, Xfinity
Indiana – Zillow, Blackboard
Iowa – Isis, Snapchat
Kansas – Royals
Kentucky – Black Friday 2014, Clash of Clans
Louisiana – Credit Karma, Costco
Maine – Zillow, Snapchat, Megashare
Maryland – Cool Math Games, Reddit, Orioles
Massachusetts – Santander, 2014 Calendar
Michigan – Google Docs, Reddit, Kate Upton
Minnesota – Craigslist MPLS (as in Minneapolis), Minnesota Wild
Mississippi – Kevin Gates, Lil Boosie (both rappers)
Missouri – Ferguson
Montana – Charter (telecommunications), D2L (Desire 2 Learn, an e-learning company)
Nebraska – Ferguson, Marcus Theaters
Nevada – Galaxy S5
New Hampshire – Calendar 2014, Market Basket
New Jersey – Google Drive, Google Docs
New Mexico – Calendar 2014, TMobile
New York – Accuweather
North Carolina – Powerschool
North Dakota – BisManOnline, Twitch
Ohio – Lebron James
Oklahoma – Isis, Costco
Oregon – VK (“the largest Russian social network in Europe with adult content”)
Pennsylvania – Groupon
Rhode Island – Santander, Aspen
South Carolina – Credit Karma
South Dakota – My Sanford Chart (University of South Dakota medical portal)
Tennessee – Divergent (2014 film, based on a YA series)
Texas – Tiempo, Spurs
Utah – Zillow, Canvas (a learning management system)
Vermont – Buzzfeed, Putlocker (free online movie platform)
Virginia – Tubidy (mobile video search engine), Waptrick (free music downloads), WhatsApp (mobile messaging)
Washington – Giants
West Virginia – EngradeWV (another educational portal), Destiny (a video game released in 2014)
Wisconsin – Brewers, Hobby Lobby
Wyoming – Charter, Katy Perry
Washington, DC – Patriots, Ferguson
Are you surprised by the searches that trended in your state? Did you notice any regional trends?
This post originally appeared on Wordstream, and is re-published with permission.
Featured Image: sergign via Shutterstock