This article includes several lists with YouTube search data, including:
- Top YouTube searches in 2022
- Top YouTube searches of all time
- Most subscribed YouTube channels in 2022
Plus, information about how to get more insights into your YouTube SEO.
Let’s dive in.
Top YouTube Searches in 2022
These are the top 20 searches on YouTube in the United States and worldwide.

In the US, music takes the win—40% of the top 20 YouTube trending searches are related to music.
American rapper GloRilla makes the top of the list, followed by Yeat and PGF Nuk.
And interestingly, children’s TV comes in at a close second, taking 20% of what is most searched on YouTube in the US.
MSA (previously My Story Animated) takes first place. Closely followed by Ms. Rachel and Disney’s Encanto.

It’s an entirely different story for the worldwide stats.
TV is the obvious leader, with 35% of the top global YouTube searches.
As a country, Turkey wins with TV show Duy Beni.
Closely followed by India with four TV shows in the top YouTube searches worldwide — Naagin 6, Pushpa, Bhagya Lakshmi, and Madam Sir.

Top YouTube Searches of All Time
What is the most searched thing on YouTube?
These are the top 20 searches of all time on YouTube in the United States and worldwide.

Games and entertainment take center stage with all-time top searches on YouTube.
Fortnite and Minecraft make it to the top of the list, both in the US and worldwide.
TikTok comes in at a close second. And that’s no surprise. The platform has grown steadily to over 90 million users and shows no signs of slowing down.
As for the rest of the list, music still takes center stage. Both in the US and worldwide.
Most Subscribed YouTube Channels in 2022
These are the top 10 most subscribed YouTube channels:

Out of the top 10 most subscribed channels, the dominant categories are:
- Music
- Children’s
- Sports
- Entertainment
Makes sense based on the top searches. It’s clear users head to YouTube for mostly one thing: entertainment.
Get More Insights Into YouTube SEO
Now that you know what the top YouTube searches are, you can take things a step further.
If you want to find the most searched things on YouTube, you can use Google Trends. First, set the filter to “YouTube Search.”

And then you can filter by country, time frame, and category.

Here are other tools you can use:
- Semrush’s Keyword Magic Tool can filter for keywords that trigger a video snippet in the SERPs
- The YouTube Rank Tracker app to match YouTube rankings with keywords
- YouTube’s Trending page to see what’s trending today
And if you’d like to dive deeper, check out our YouTube keyword research guide.