ICC Women’s World Cup win, Kumbh Mela make it to Google’s global Year in Search roundup

Google’s 15th annual global Year In Search report and anthem film have arrived, and where last year’s carried more of an emotional heft, this year’s “breakout” searches — determined when a term experiences a search increase of over 5,000% from the previous year — drove home a more somber overarching theme. This year, the searches indicate that users are seeking connection, community and fresh starts, alongside their interest in culture, creativity and, inevitably, controversy.

The annual campaign, typically one of the more popular end-of-year brand recaps, follows an aggressive run of content released since Thanksgiving week — notably the first without a Black-owned Friday campaign since the initiative began in 2020.    

Oliver Widger, the Oregon man who became a viral sensation after quitting his corporate job, liquidating his assets and buying a boat to sail around the world with his pet cat — all while documenting his journey online after a rare congenital diagnosis — is featured at the start of this year's nearly four-minute film. The film was once again produced by Google Brand Studio.

From Widger’s minimalism, we veer into Mayhem, Lady Gaga’s album and world tour to be exact, alongside other culturally notable breakouts including Labubus, and musical high notes from Bad Bunny, Benson Boone, Doechii, Tyler, The Creator, Katseye and Taylor Swift. Hitting both the cultural and musical sweet spot in the ad and in the report is KPop Demon Hunters, Netflix’s surprise animated hit and global phenomenon, whose song “Golden,” by HUNTR/X, plays in two versions throughout the spot.

Sports milestones such as the rise of F1, the yearlong volley of tennis grand slam titles between Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, the historic Women’s Cricket World Cup victory by India and the shocking (and upsetting) trade of Luka Dončić from the Dallas Mavericks to the Los Angeles Lakers grabbed headlines and pageviews. Meanwhile, driverless cars and AI innovation across healthcare and entertainment (ostensibly using the company’s new Veo 3 tools) provide a glimpse into the future.

But it's when the video segues into its “heart centre” that things get a bit weird. Visuals of the California wildfires and Texas flooding, paired with text prompts encouraging viewers to "support community" and "help see things in a new light,” are immediately followed by clips of US President Donald Trump greeting disaster responders and Erika Kirk, widow of the controversial right-wing political activist and podcast host Charlie Kirk, delivering his eulogy.

While the late Kirk was indeed the No. 1 trending passing and had the top trending podcast globally, the placements felt almost tone deaf, given the Trump administration previously expressing plans to eliminate the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, and Kirk’s often polarising rhetoric. 

The video then attempts to get back on track with motivational speeches from Dolly Parton, Sinners director Ryan Coogler and Doechii, as clips of communal celebrations, including the coronation of Pope Leo XIV and the NYC mayoral election of Zohran Mamdani, interspersed with feel-good moments before closing on Widget’s sailboat against the backdrop of the ocean … and the possibilities it holds.

Navigating the choppy waters of brand messaging 

Reactions to the video so far have been tepid, with one commenter calling it “the ‘Cloud Dancer’ summary of 2025,” an allusion to Pantone’s recently revealed colour of the year, which has sparked much conversation and criticism. Others are calling out the omission of the Israel-Palestine conflict, the “No Kings” protests and calls for the release of the Jeffrey Epstein investigation files. (Although searches for the conflict are neither globally nor regionally listed in the report, the protests and Epstein files are both fifth and eighth on the “News” searches in the US, respectively.)

Google, similar to Pantone and many other brands in the past 11 months, faces the challenge of balancing optimistic messaging with the current reality. Many Americans are increasingly frustrated by the Trump administration's handling of the economy, as evidenced by the president's recent drop in approval ratings and other concerns. For these increasingly sceptical consumers, campaigns such as Google's can be seen as corporate whitewashing.

Still, marketers can glean from the trending topics that while many curious searchers are drawn to controversial topics and figures, overall they find comfort in community, connection through shared causes and interests, and moments of escapism with travel, music, film, television, sports and live entertainment experiences involving some or all of the above.

A year on an (occasionally AI-powered) creative hot streak

Before deploying its hotly-anticipated-but-cooly received Year In Search campaign, Google released a slate of brilliant holiday spots featuring both human and AI-generated talent promoting its search and phone products and partnerships.

Pixel, Actually is a cheeky spot featuring two stars from the holiday classic Love, Actually, Thomas Brodie-Sangster and Martine McCutcheon, with Brodie-Sangster’s attempts at treating Pixel-toting fans to some of the film’s nostalgia falling comically flat and McCutcheon once again getting caught firing off an expletive. The video, part of a social campaign created to associate the phone’s “cinematic capabilities” with the top-third-most searched Christmas film since 2004, was released in the UK on November 24 and in the US and Canada on November 25. 

Also on the 25th, Google and NBCUniversal premiered The Naughty Lister, a holiday romantic comedy parody trailer. The trailer featured Love Island alum Nicolas Vansteenberghe, Summer House alum Ciara Miller and actress/comedienne Nicole Byer (Grand Crew).

This trailer was one of three featuring NBCU’s roster of talent created to demonstrate how Google's search feature can assist holiday shoppers. The other two trailers, Sleigh My Name and The Gift Exchange, are also available on YouTube and a dedicated site.

Both campaigns were produced by WPP Media Futures Group. 

In the past month, Google Creative Lab launched three Veo-generated advertisements, all of which are currently airing across broadcast, digital, social media and cinema for the holiday season. These spots include:

• Mr. Fuzzy’s Big Adventure: Desperate parents use Gemini's Veo and Nano Banana features to create an adorable, Amélie-inspired distraction to replace a lost plush toy.
• Big Night Out?: A stop-motion animation lookalike featuring Santa utilising the AI "Try On" feature to upgrade his wardrobe.
• Planning a Quick Getaway?: A hilarious ad with over 20 million views, showing Tom the Turkey employing the search tool to "get out of dodge" before Thanksgiving.

Released on Thanksgiving, a final series of three spots, developed in partnership with Monks, utilised the animal kingdom to illustrate the advantages of Google Fi Wireless. The campaign showcased a busy bee, a goose on the go and a security-conscious, fortress-building beaver, each happily promoting the tech giant's wireless service through the "magic" of its AI tools. The spots each accomplish the oddly respectable feat of all being unabashedly unserious about their usage of AI while also being totally serious about using the tool, which marketers are increasingly embracing for the creation of their ad campaigns.

This article first appeared on Campaign US and has been edited for India.