We looked at questions around the globe that peaked during a specific season. Here are the most popular ones:
Spring
Summer
Many new AI models were released in 2024, but none captivated the Perplexity community more than Kling, a new text-to-video model developed by Chinese tech giant Kuaishou Technology.
Our search community has recently been fascinated by Willow, a new chip that could represent a monumental leap in quantum computing. Perhaps most interestingly, Google’s Willow announcement sparked a heated debate in the scientific community about the potential existence of parallel universes.
OpenAI's ChatGPT has been noted for its unusual behavior of refusing to process prompts containing certain names, such as "David Mayer." This story inspired more curiosity on Perplexity than any other tech story in 2024.
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Nearly 30% of trending searches in the US were election-related in 2024.
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Some of the most popular searches related to the election this year.
Election Night on Perplexity
Leading up to election night, Perplexity launched an election hub that TechCrunch called “the other election night winner.” Around 1 in 10 Perplexity users used our Election Information Hub for their coverage on election night, and thousands of users generated a custom guide to learn about local candidates and issues.
The impact of the election was felt far beyond the United States. “US election results” was one of the top trending searches in 2024 across nearly every country, a reminder of the continued global attention of US politics.
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🇩🇪 Germany
A viral sensation that took the internet by storm, the Dubai Chocolate Bar features a crispy knafeh filling and creamy pistachio paste wrapped in milk chocolate. This creation has inspired many variations and tributes from chocolatiers around the world.
Talahon is a trend on TikTok characterized by young men with a passion for German hip hop and luxury clothing. It attracted widespread attention, sparking discussions about racism and classism online.
🇯🇵 Japan
A new tax reduction program implemented in June 2024 led to a surge in searches asking for details on the program.
Typhoon Shanshan, the 10th typhoon of the 2024 Pacific typhoon season, significantly impacted Japan. Over 2.25 million residents were evacuated, and the typhoon reached peak winds up to 175 km/h.
🇮🇳 India
One of the largest search moments of the year was the passing of Ratan Tata, a billionaire businessman and highly influential figure in India's business landscape.
Cloud computing was the most popular tech search trend in India as the sector experienced rapid growth, new entrants, and new government initiatives to support the industry.
🇧🇷 Brazil
A controversial figure in Brazilian business and politics, Marçal became a popular search term during the 2024 São Paulo mayoral election after he was assaulted by fellow candidate José Luiz Datena with a metal chair during a televised debate.
Brazil’s most popular football club was featured in many search trends this year. Their search queries spiked on November 10 when they won the Copa do Brasil.
🇰🇷 South Korea
Korean users were especially curious about finance-related questions, with nearly 50% of the trending searches in South Korea being related to finance or stock prices. The most popular stock and crypto tickers in the region are Samsung, Palantir, Tesla, Bitcoin and Dogecoin!
More people used Perplexity for financial research this year than ever before, aided by the launch of our first advanced features for finance queries.
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Top Sellers
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Our Favorite Purchases
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IN AUGUST
“What does very demure, very mindful mean?”
IN SEPTEMBER
“What is Founder Mode?”
Days after Y Combinator founder Paul Graham published an essay about different types of founders, over 2,700 users asked Perplexity, “what is founder mode?”
IN NOVEMBER
Lookalike Contest
Weekly searches for “lookalike contest” have steadily increased over time (6x since the beginning of the fall). The most popular day for this search was Nov 14th, when a Jeremy Allan White lookalike contest was announced.
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The most popular Olympians by search volume
🦖 BREAKDANCING
Raygun went viral for her unique "kangaroo" breakdancing style at the 2024 Olympics but faced intense online backlash.
🤼♂️ Wrestling
An Indian wrestler and politician who was disqualified from the Olympics for being ~100 grams over the weight limit
🤸♂️ GYMNASTICS
Her comeback was particularly notable after withdrawing from most events at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics due to "twisties," a dangerous mental block where gymnasts lose spatial awareness mid-air
⛳️ GOLFING
A golfer from Northern Ireland who made headlines after he chose to represent Ireland, not Great Britain, in the Olympics
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Most student searches were in-depth research queries, the most common ones being focused on companies or comparisons for reports.
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We also began to see universities integrate Perplexity directly into their curriculum, including the MIT Biology department.
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Thank you to everyone who searched on Perplexity this year, whether for the first or thousandth time. We’re working on next-level features to ensure that, no matter what you’re looking for, Perplexity is the smartest way to search. We’re just getting started!
