The Top YouTube Searches in 2023

‘YouTube’ itself was officially the most searched term on Google globally this year – and for the third year running – showing just how influential the platform is.

It also means that the top YouTube searches give us a window into the collective interests of millions worldwide... 

That’s why we’ve tapped into Similarweb’s first-rate search volume data – based on real user searches – to uncover the most searched keywords on YouTube.

We’ll dive headfirst into the top 100 YouTube searches globally in 2023, as well as for the US and the UK.

Spoiler alert: the most searched term on YouTube is ‘ASMR’, a sure sign that we’re all on a quest for anxiety-relieving content (and who can blame us?). But let’s see what else created some buzz on YouTube last year.

The top YouTube searches in the world

#	Search Term	Search Volume
1	asmr	79.48M
2	mrbeast	54.12M
3	sidemen	39.27M
4	lofi	39.03M
5	music	35.31M
6	skibidi toilet	27.84M
7	nba	25.19M
8	ufc	21.93M
9	mr beast	21.74M
10	markiplier	21.49M
11	xqc	20.31M
12	minecraft	19.94M
13	andrew tate	19.77M
14	wwe	19.70M
15	ukraine	19.46M
16	taylor swift	18.97M
17	dhar mann	18.84M
18	penguinz0	17.81M
19	ksi	17.63M
20	pewdiepie	17.42M
21	asmongold	17.32M
22	destiny	17.30M
23	gta 6	16.98M
24	ishowspeed	16.90M
25	study with me	16.71M
26	ign	16.15M
27	shakira	15.90M
28	phonk	15.82M
29	songs	14.83M
30	fortnite	14.81M
31	–∞4	14.58M
32	blackpink	14.50M
33	eminem	14.29M
34	f1	14.19M
35	starfield	14.05M
36	one piece	14.04M
37	cocomelon	13.96M
38	tanmay bhat	13.67M
39	valorant	13.58M
40	bts	13.27M
41	arsenal	13.27M
42	hamza	12.97M
43	dream	12.62M
44	sssniperwolf	12.57M
45	study music	12.21M
46	song	12.17M
47	msa	12.16M
48	beta squad	11.99M
49	cnn	11.86M
50	movie reaction	11.74M
51	white noise	11.51M
52	world affairs	11.50M
53	ludwig	11.48M
54	bad bunny	11.47M
55	genshin impact	11.42M
56	jubilee	11.19M
57	joe rogan	11.13M
58	roblox	11.07M
59	linus tech tips	10.78M
60	ben shapiro	10.71M
61	trailer	10.65M
62	drake	10.64M
63	musica	10.60M
64	podcast	10.51M
65	diablo 4	10.41M
66	cupid	10.41M
67	karaoke	10.36M
68	hasanabi	10.25M
69	nfl	10.02M
70	peso pluma	10.00M
71	—à–∞—Ä–∏–π	9.98M
72	ice spice	9.96M
73	jidion	9.92M
74	manchester united	9.92M
75	baldur’s gate 3	9.85M
76	gta 6 trailer	9.83M
77	logan paul	9.83M
78	smosh	9.69M
79	nopixel	9.67M
80	baby shark	9.66M
81	youtube	9.62M
82	the weeknd	9.47M
83	coryxkenshin	9.44M
84	jacksepticeye	9.42M
85	4k	9.41M
86	ukraine war	9.40M
87	hogwarts legacy	9.34M
88	memes	9.27M
89	twice	9.25M
90	espn	9.21M
91	news	9.21M
92	newjeans	9.07M
93	c	9.04M
94	lck	9.02M
95	gothamchess	8.99M
96	my mix	8.95M
97	lofi girl	8.95M
98	le sserafim	8.91M
99	squeezie	8.77M
100	reaction	8.75M

Key stats about the most searched keywords on YouTube worldwide

• • ASMR is the most searched keyword on YouTube globally by a long way with 79.5m total searches in 2023.
  • The 2nd most searched term is ‘mr beast’, a YouTuber with a mind-blowing 229 million subscribers, who is known for his daring video challenges and notable philanthropy. The video short ‘Would you fly to Paris for a baguette?’ is his most watched video and currently has a staggering 1 billion views and over 40 million likes!
  • NBA is the most searched sport-related term at 7, amassing over 25.2m searches. The UFC and WWE are the next most popular at number 8 and 14
  • Andrew Tate, a highly controversial figure in 2023, is the most searched person (who isn’t a YouTuber) with 19.8m total searches
  • Taylor Swift is the second most searched person at 16, with 19m searches in 2023. The pop Queen’s Eras Tour took the world by storm, as did her blossoming romance with NFL player, Travis Kelce
  • The top 100 is brimming with YouTube creators. 40% of the top 20 alone feature popular YouTubers like Sidemen, markiplier and pewpiedie, and they make up 22% of the total top 100
  • Football team Arsenal is the most searched for sports team on YouTube at 41
  • Ukraine is the 15th most searched term on YouTube with 19.5m searches, and ‘ukraine war’ is at 86, showing that the world is still keenly following the war in Europe

The top YouTube searches in the USA

#	Search Term	Search Volume
1	asmr	21.56M
2	mrbeast	14.11M
3	lofi	11.22M
4	music	11.05M
5	markiplier	10.83M
6	nba	9.34M
7	penguinz0	7.37M
8	dhar mann	7.33M
9	destiny	6.51M
10	mr beast	6.19M
11	coryxkenshin	6.15M
12	sidemen	6.02M
13	wwe	5.98M
14	nfl	5.91M
15	ben shapiro	5.85M
16	ufc	5.79M
17	skibidi toilet	5.79M
18	sssniperwolf	5.70M
19	snl	5.67M
20	xqc	5.51M
21	fox news	5.37M
22	ludwig	5.23M
23	taylor swift	4.98M
24	minecraft	4.92M
25	jubilee	4.84M
26	ukraine	4.73M
27	msnbc	4.52M
28	my mix	4.49M
29	jidion	4.46M
30	asmongold	4.42M
31	dream	4.41M
32	espn	4.41M
33	sml	4.37M
34	fortnite	4.37M
35	ign	4.25M
36	andrew tate	4.23M
37	news	4.21M
38	cnn	4.13M
39	ishowspeed	4.09M
40	trump	4.09M
41	jacksepticeye	4.08M
42	pewdiepie	4.06M
43	starfield	3.90M
44	smosh	3.90M
45	lakers	3.82M
46	joe rogan	3.76M
47	movie reaction	3.74M
48	study music	3.70M
49	hasanabi	3.61M
50	cut	3.54M
51	ice spice	3.54M
52	gta 6	3.52M
53	colleen ballinger	3.45M
54	white noise	3.44M
55	aphmau	3.42M
56	kai cenat	3.40M
57	cocomelon	3.39M
58	helluva boss	3.38M
59	one piece	3.36M
60	vaush	3.29M
61	drake	3.28M
62	fresh and fit	3.27M
63	ksi	3.25M
64	linus tech tips	3.22M
65	brown noise	3.10M
66	msa	3.10M
67	moist critical	3.09M
68	songs	3.05M
69	ssundee	2.96M
70	logan paul	2.92M
71	valorant	2.84M
72	daily dose of internet	2.82M
73	undisputed	2.81M
74	game theory	2.78M
75	gothamchess	2.78M
76	flamingo	2.77M
77	memes	2.75M
78	lofi girl	2.73M
79	gmm	2.72M
80	rust	2.69M
81	diablo 4	2.69M
82	genshin impact	2.67M
83	aba and preach	2.63M
84	dude perfect	2.61M
85	youtube	2.56M
86	tyt	2.53M
87	matt walsh	2.51M
88	hamza	2.50M
89	hololive	2.50M
90	movies	2.49M
91	free movies	2.49M
92	gta 6 trailer	2.48M
93	mark rober	2.48M
94	first things first	2.47M
95	baldur’s gate 3	2.44M
96	wendigoon	2.44M
97	nikocado avocado	2.41M
98	roblox	2.39M
99	ukraine war	2.34M
100	cody ko	2.29M

Key stats about the most searched keywords on YouTube in the US

• ASMR was in the spotlight again as the most popular keyword on YouTube in the US with 21.6m total searches, and ‘MrBeast’ was at number 2
• America loves basketball , with the NBA as the 6th most searched thing with 9.3m total searches. The Lakers were the most searched-for basketball team at 45
• Entrepreneur-turned-YouTuber, Dhar Mann, made the top 10 thanks to the ongoing popularity of his inspirational and motivational short videos
• Gaming-related terms made up an impressive 29% of the top 100, which is more than 23% worldwide and 22% in the UK
• Among the most searched people, they were almost all surrounded by controversy this year: Ben Shapiro (5.9m), Andrew Tate (4.2m), Trump (4m) and Colleen Ballinger (3.5m)
• Fox News was America’s most searched news channel, just outside the top 20 with 5.4m total searches

The top YouTube searches in the UK

#	Search Term	Search Volume
1	sidemen	7.43M
2	asmr	5.77M
3	ksi	3.64M
4	arsenal	3.05M
5	beta squad	3.02M
6	nopixel	2.96M
7	mrbeast	2.61M
8	music	2.40M
9	ufc	2.32M
10	manchester united	2.19M
11	andrew tate	2.11M
12	united stand	2.04M
13	aftv	1.85M
14	lofi	1.72M
15	wwe	1.71M
16	moresidemen	1.67M
17	destiny	1.63M
18	talksport	1.58M
19	dhar mann	1.53M
20	sky news live	1.49M
21	f1	1.43M
22	liverpool	1.40M
23	sky sports	1.39M
24	ign	1.34M
25	hamza	1.31M
26	xqc	1.31M
27	movie reaction	1.31M
28	mr beast	1.31M
29	sky sports football	1.30M
30	ukraine	1.23M
31	markiplier	1.18M
32	linus tech tips	1.11M
33	ishowspeed	1.10M
34	fortnite	1.09M
35	gta 6	1.05M
36	sky news	1.03M
37	starfield	1.02M
38	jidion	1.02M
39	gb news	1.00M
40	penguinz0	999,749
41	man city	983,010
42	chelsea	976,523
43	asmongold	971,356
44	logan paul	971,144
45	sssniperwolf	965,339
46	joe rogan	948,144
47	skibidi toilet	942,558
48	minecraft	933,760
49	nba	915,402
50	pewdiepie	907,952
51	piers morgan	888,567
52	jubilee	885,892
53	russell brand	856,025
54	ukraine war	828,406
55	osrs	819,353
56	man utd	801,750
57	songs	801,685
58	bt sport	784,122
59	mark goldbridge	780,851
60	fresh and fit	775,924
61	critical drinker	771,672
62	jacksepticeye	754,736
63	ice spice	754,709
64	fpl	742,302
65	news	741,197
66	taylor swift	710,854
67	kai cenat	708,422
68	smosh	706,494
69	central cee	703,148
70	my mix	699,944
71	hasanabi	698,681
72	trailer	693,477
73	sidemenreacts	692,374
74	gothamchess	691,434
75	dream	687,074
76	bbc news	680,407
77	ben shapiro	680,393
78	msa	678,295
79	drake	676,929
80	aew	664,406
81	boxing	660,760
82	jake paul	651,360
83	eminem	651,025
84	love island	631,607
85	cut	619,684
86	study music	610,734
87	white noise	610,295
88	speed	609,767
89	one piece	600,420
90	jordan peterson	594,226
91	doctor who	592,565
92	peppa pig	589,223
93	cocomelon	581,231
94	gta 6 trailer	580,707
95	tyson fury	580,370
96	jj olatunji	577,795
97	aba and preach	576,368
98	norris nuts	570,974
99	trump	564,742
100	colleen ballinger	561,840

Key stats about the most searched keywords on YouTube in the UK

• • The group of YouTubers, Sidemen, is the most searched term on YouTube in the UK with 7.4m total searches this year. The British group that have become hugely popular for their videos of challenges, comedy sketches and video game commentaries. One of the group’s members, KSI, is also 3rd on the list.
  • ASMR takes the 2nd spot with 5.8m total searches.
  • The most searched person (who isn’t a YouTuber), Andrew Tate, really got Brits flocking to YouTube, making the top 10 and getting 2.11m searches.
  • It’s no secret that Brits love soccer, with soccer-related terms making up 10% of the top 100, including Arsenal at 4 and Manchester United at 10.
  • They’re also known to be generally sports crazy: 18% of all searched terms on YouTube in the UK are to do with sport, and Sky Sports is the favorite sports channel with 1.39m searches.
  • While ‘gothamchess’, a successful chess channel on YouTube, features on every list, it was the most popular in the UK at 74 with 691.4k searches.
  • Brits love rap music more than any other type. Ice Spice is the top artist on the list at 63, followed by fellow rapper Central Cee at 69

What do the top searches on YouTube tell marketers?

Uncovering the most popular searched keywords on YouTube is not only interesting (who doesn’t love to spy on people?) but also super useful for marketers looking to boost their content strategies.

By looking into the psychological triggers and viral sensations creating buzz on the biggest platform in the world, you can tap into the minds of a global audience to understand what captivates them. You can then leverage these insights to create superior video content and more engaging experiences for your target audience.

Key points on search behavior and current trends on YouTube:

1) People love gaming content ️ 

A clear sign that immersive content is the present and the future. People will watch gaming-related videos even if it’s just watching others play, listening to their commentary or experiencing the gameplay before buying.

To incorporate elements of gaming into your strategies, turn to more experiential marketing tactics that will stimulate and engage your target audience’s senses in a similar way. Using virtual/augmented reality and interactive storytelling is a great way to do this.

2) Video is King

Obvious, we know. But we can’t forget that video content remains the preferred way of consuming content, particularly on social media. A key takeaway from the most searched terms above is that people really engage with inspirational and motivational content (Dhar Mann featured on every list).

Audiences connect best with videos that tell a story, evoke emotions (whether positive or negative), educate them or solve their problems. Here’s a guide on how to up your video marketing game.

3) Keeping up with trends is key

Keeping a tab on current trends means you’ll be on the pulse by creating the most engaging and captivating content possible. You’ll be giving your audience exactly what they want (and ideally quicker than the competition.) So, capitalize on trending keywords, events and viral sensations to tailor content to be even more relevant and shareable.

4) Authenticity and reliability rule

YouTube creators dominate the most searched terms lists because they’ve gained huge, loyal followings by streaming unscripted content that often features their most raw, honest and unfiltered moments. This builds deep connections with subscribers and makes their content relatable and trustworthy.

While this may not be as easy to achieve in a business sense, it shows that authenticity and reliability are crucial in connecting emotionally and building brand loyalty. Invest more in authentic storytelling, user-generated content, live Q&A sessions and behind-the-scenes content to give your audience a glimpse into the human side of your business.

5) Collaborations = greater reach ✅

Based on their widespread popularity, businesses can partner with YouTube creators to gain more market share on the platform and tap into a large, engaged audience. With collaborations, you leverage the trust creators have built with their subscribers to make their endorsements of your product or service super effective.

But how do you know who to work with? To find the right YouTuber to collaborate with, start by using Similarweb to validate their popularity by seeing how many searches they are getting every month. Here we’ve used Mr Beast as an example, but you should find a YouTuber that suits your product or service.

We’ve used Similarweb’s YouTube Keyword generator to look into the keyword volume related to Mr. Beast from January to December 2023. This data will help you validate their popularity as well as identify trending topics and gauge audience growth trends, which is particularly helpful when targeting niche audiences

Methodology

To gather the most searched terms on YouTube we analyzed keyword data from Similarweb Digital Marketing Intelligence for January – December 2023. We ordered the list based on the search volume for each term across the 12 month period.

Similarweb’s monthly search volume for YouTube is based on real-user data, not like most tools, which get averages from publicly sourced data.

How can you find YouTube keywords?

We already know that video marketing is important, and as we can see from the data, YouTube is at the very forefront of the video world. It’s also the second most popular search engine after Google. Talk about a powerhouse platform!

That’s why finding the right YouTube keyword data can really boost your engagement levels, help you capture trends and offer new ideas to freshen up your content.

Enter: Similarweb’s YouTube Keyword Generator! With this tool, you can pull accurate, targeted, and trending YouTube-specific keywords to energize your video marketing strategy.

Get started by heading over to Similarweb’s Digital Marketing Intelligence platform. Find the YouTube keyword tool under Search > Keyword Opportunities > Keyword Generator.

Select the YouTube option, add in your seed keyword, and start generating thousands of YouTube keywords!

Once here, you’ll see a load of phrase-matched and related keywords, and the associated search volume and volume trend, so you can hit your target audience with the right thing at the right time.

To sum up…

There’s no denying that YouTube is kind of a big deal. By exploring and analyzing real-user YouTube search data on one of the biggest platforms in the world (and with a little help from Similarweb’s YouTube Keyword Generator) marketers can get their hands on the trends that are captivating a global audience.

Just by looking at the top 100 YouTube searches here, we’ve learned the types of videos that people respond to, and that emotionally-led, authentic content is the key to building genuine (and lasting) connections with a target audience.

Learn more about how YouTube search data can supercharge your digital strategies with some extra reading:

YouTube Keyword Research and Optimization Done Right

YouTube SEO Guide: How to Rank on YouTube and Attract Viewers

How to Get More Views on YouTube

7 Little-Known Tips for YouTube Competitive Analysis

FAQs

What are the most searched keywords on YouTube in 2023?

The most searched thing on YouTube in the world was ‘ASMR’ with 79.5m total searches. YouTuber ‘mrbeast’ was the second most searched term with 54.1m searches.

What are the most searched keywords on YouTube in the USA in 2023?

‘ASMR’ was the US’ most searched term on YouTube, with 21.6m total searches. The second most searched term was ‘mrbeast’ (14.1m) followed by ‘lofi’ (11.2m)

What is the most searched term on Youtube in the UK in 2023?

‘Sidemen’ was the UK’s most searched YouTube term, with 7.4m total searches. The second most searched term was ‘ASMR’ (5.8m) followed by ‘KSI’ (6.3m)