Google Search Statistics & Facts to Consider in 2024

When you think of technology or the internet, it’s hard not to think of Google. For decades, Google has reigned supreme as the most popular search engine for desktop and mobile uses. 

Since 1998, people have been given the luxury of “googling” things they want to know, allowing Google to effortlessly become the number one search engine in the world.

Google is an American multinational technology company that developed internet-related services and products. The most popular is Google’s search engine, but the company also offers online advertising technologies and cloud software. 

Google is considered one of the “big five” technology companies globally, next to brands such as Facebook, Amazon, and Apple. 

Understanding Google searches can be important to your business’s growth as, in most cases, potential clients will be searching the web for products or services they need. Through SEO (search engine optimization) and other marketing tools you can put to use, your company will be found through any Google search using keywords, bringing more traffic to your landing page. 

This can be crucial to your company’s development, the customer base you create, and your business’s overall success.

The Ultimate List of Google Search Statistics & Facts

Let’s start at the beginning. Every business has to start somewhere. So, how did Google come to be the market-dominating search mammoth that it is today?

Google’s Origins and Growth

• Google began as a Ph.D. project at Stanford University, slowly gained traction, and is now the number one search engine globally. 
• Founded in 1998, Google is a multinational internet service corporation headquartered in California.
• Business was booming for Google almost immediately. In September 1999, a year after being launched, Google was already answering 3.5 million search queries per day. 

Google’s Popularity and Search Queries

• Google Search is one of the most popular websites in the U.S. Not only does pretty much everyone know what Google is, but just about everyone has used Google’s search engine.  
• It’s no surprise that “Google” has become a verb—yes, you can find it in the dictionary. It’s become commonplace to turn to the search giant any time you have a question. In fact, Google receives over 3.5 billion searches per day worldwide. 

Google’s Worldwide Market Share

Google owns the search market. Since the introduction of Google Search in 1997, all search engines’ worldwide market share has been lopsided, with Google taking over. 

Google’s Top Acquisitions and Products

• YouTube is one of the most prolific and expensive acquisitions Google has made. It has been integrated into the online presence Google has, helping to change the dynamics of user-generated content and online video curation. 
• Besides the popular search engine, Google also owns the world’s most popular web browser (Google Chrome), email service (Gmail), and GPS mapping service (Google Maps).

Top Google Trends to Consider

Next, let’s talk trends. You know what you use Google for, but what do other people use it for? Understanding Google search trends is crucial if you’re trying to build an online presence. You want to get into the mind of the modern customer—and more specifically, into the mind of your target customer.

Google Trending Searches

Using “Trending Searches” on Google will help you find search queries that have seen a spike in popularity over the past 24 hours. Trending searches won’t always be directly relevant to your business, but it’s important to stay in-the-know nonetheless. 

Google’s Top Search

As of September 2020, translation-related topics accounted for 13% of Google searches worldwide, while social networks totaled 11% of global Google Search queries. 

Google’s Most Popular Search Queries

Between January 1st and December 31st, 2021, “Weather” was the most popular search query on the Google search engine, while “Google” was ranked second.

Google’s Paid Click vs. Free Services

Search engines like Google typically provide search services for free and earn income when a user clicks on an advertising link; this is known as a “paid click.” 

Google’s Advertising Share

With a 44% share, it’s safe to say that Google Search has dominated Internet advertising in the U.S. 

Popular Searches During the COVID Pandemic

During the Covid-19 pandemic, the presidential election and the “Black Lives Matter” protests were the most popular trending Google searches.

Top U.S. Google Searches

According to the “Year In Search,” the top Google searches in 2022 in the U.S. were Wordle, election results, Betty White, Queen Elizabeth, and Bob Saget.

Mobile vs. Desktop Google Search Statistics

Internet Users Worldwide

A lot of people use the Internet. There are over 3.97 billion Internet users worldwide. This should come as no surprise—the Internet powers so much of our day-to-day lives in today’s digital world. 

Mobile vs. Desktop Users

Understanding where people are searching can be extremely useful if you’re a small business owner or marketer. 

• Mobile accounts for about half of the web traffic worldwide.
• Internet users are gradually switching to mobile devices to browse the web. 

Google Mobile App Popularity

Humans spend a lot of time on their phones, so it comes as no shock that having a mobile app is a great way to increase engagement. This is another way in which Google dominates. With 54% reach among mobile audiences, Google Search is one of the most popular mobile apps in the U.S.

Most Popular Mobile Search Categories

People search for just about anything and everything online these days, but the most popular categories of local search lookups via mobile are food and entertainment.

Google Traffic Insights

Knowing how many people are searching for a specific phrase, category, or industry on Google can help you take your online presence to the next level. Let’s talk about some tools and insights that will help you do it. 

Google Keyword Planner

Google Keyword Planner can be used to show absolute search volume data, while Google Trends would be used to show the relative popularity of a search query. 

Google Trends 

Google Trends can be used to understand how often people are searching for certain terms on Google. This tool can help you effectively understand the popularity of a certain topic among a targeted audience regarding search frequency. 

Google Trends provides access to an unfiltered sample of different Google search requests made to Google. This can be anonymous, categorized, or aggregated to display interest in specific topics. The data from Google Trends reflects searches people make on Google every single day. 

The two samples of Google Trends data that can be accessed are real-time data (a sample covering the last seven days) and non-real-time data (a separate sample from real-time data that goes as far back as 2004 and up to 36 hours before your search). 

Since the site handles billions of Google searches per day, it is easier to sample data and find insights that can be taken away regarding certain Google searches. 

Google’s Organic Search Results

Organic search engine optimization (SEO) is a term used to describe the process used to obtain a natural placement on organic search engine results pages. (SERPs).

Organic SEO Examples

Examples of organic SEO (search engine optimization) can be using keywords, keyword analysis, backlinking, link building, and writing content relevant for human readers. 

Search Engine Improvements

Search engines have gotten better at recognizing and understanding content while simultaneously working out what content is valuable to users. 

Keyword Research is Crucial

If you want to increase traffic to your website, one of the most important things you can do is select valuable search engine keywords that will draw traffic to your landing page.

To optimize your content for local Google searches, think of the most common keywords customers use when seeking your type of business. This can include keywords related to your city or town, region, and neighborhood. Think about how your customers will search. 

As of January 2020, 40% of all U.S. online search queries contained two keywords. Three-word search terms accounted for 22% of searches, and queries up to 3 words accounted for over 80% of all online searches. 

Google Organic Traffic Share

Google is the top dog as far as organic traffic is concerned, so if you’re going to place your focus on optimizing for one search engine, Google is the way to go. As of the fourth quarter of 2021, Google had the highest share of organic search traffic on mobile devices—a total of 63%.

Boost Your Business in 2024 and Beyond

By utilizing advancements in technology and prioritizing your business’s online presence—from adding Google reviews to driving traffic toward your landing page—success can be attainable in 2024. Make use of Google search statistics on mobile and desktop devices to reach your targeted audience and optimize search engine content to ensure traffic to your website. 

Your website is a reflection of your business and ultimately what will attract your audience. This is what will set you apart from others, increasing sales and revenue as a result. 

Podium has a suite of communication tools that can help you build your website, reach your targeted audience, and in turn, drive traffic to your website and business. By adding Podium to your digital toolkit, you can set your business apart and see major growth this year and beyond. 

You can get started for free with Podium today.