20 most profitable Google queries revealed during antitrust trial

Ever wondered which search queries drive the most revenue for Google? It turns out that iPhone, insurance and cheap flight queries drove the most revenue for Google in the U.S., at least for one week in September 2018.

The list of search terms appeared on a heavily redacted slide that was included in a PDF released this week as a trial exhibit during the ongoing U.S. vs. Google antitrust trial.

Why we care. We know Google makes a lot of money (a modest $116.46 billion in 2018, when compared to the $224.47 billion Google made in 2022) and know which CPCs are most expensive. But we’ve never known which search terms were the most lucrative for Google because Google has never before revealed this information.

The 20 most profitable Google searches. The top search terms for the week of Sept. 22, 2018 in the U.S., ordered by revenue, were:

1. iPhone 8
2. iPhone 8 plus
3. auto insurance
4. car insurance
5. cheap flights
6. car insurance quote
7. direct tv
8. online colleges
9. at&t
10. hulu
11. iPhone
12. uber
13. spectrum
14. comcast
15. xfinity
16. insurance quotes
17. free credit report
18. cheap car insurance
19. aarp
20. lifelock

All other information was redacted on the slide – specifically:

• Revenue (how much Google made off each search term).
• Queries (number of).
• RPM (ad revenue per thousand impressions).

The slide. It appears in this PDF. Here is a screenshot:

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