From “Gemini AI” to “Earthquake Near Me”: What Were Filipinos Searching in 2025?

(SPOT.ph) It’s that time of the year when the world looks back on what transpired over the last 12 months. In the Philippines, 2025 brought a wave of difficult events—from earthquakes to political controversies to unexpected losses—shaping much of the national conversation.

This showed up in our Google searches, too. If our 2025 Year in Search is anything to go by, things seemed to have gotten a little darker—both in real life and in the online worlds we turned to for a break.

The Maguad siblings, involved in the 2021 killing of two teenagers in North Cotobabo, resurfaced among the top news searches this year after Maalaala Mo Kaya aired a dramatization of the incident, which renewed public interest in the case. Among male personalities, two of the three most-searched names were linked to violence in some form: notorious serial killer Ed Gein and singer d4vd, who has been associated with a murder case involving his ex-girlfriend. On the entertainment side, darker franchises like Final Destination and Squid Game led the most-searched movies and series on Google, respectively.

Even so, Filipinos continued to turn to familiar forms of escape. Viewers still gravitated toward comforting picks like When Life Gives You Tangerines, while movies like Kpop Demon Hunters and Superman offered lighter, hopeful storylines. Music trended the same way, with tracks like "Tibok" by Earl Agustin, "Marilag" by Dionela, and "Golden" by Huntrix leaning more positive than the usual sawi anthems we’ve gotten so used to over the years.

Games are no different with "Grow a Garden" topping the list—the simple planting-and-harvesting game on Roblox became a popular way to unwind.

Also read: 'Heat Wave' Is PH’s Most Searched Term on Google in 2024 

So what else were Filipinos searching for in the realm of news, music, and entertainment? From important news updates like "Halalan 2025 results" and "National ID" to the latest farewells from "Emman Atienza" to "Pope Francis," Filipinos continue to turn to Google to stay in the loop.

It’s worth noting, though, that Google wasn’t the only place they turned to. "Gemini AI" topped the overall trending list in the Philippines, showing how central artificial intelligence (AI) has become in everyday life. AI has become so widespread this year that Google even added a separate category for it in its Year in Search for the first time, which you can find at the bottom of this article.

Also read: Google's Top Searches Prove the Philippines Is More Chismosa Than Ever in 2023

1. Gemini AI

2. Halalan 2025 results

3. Grow a Garden

4. earthquake near me

5. women in STEM fields

6. Squid Game

7. digibooth

8. National ID

9. OKC vs Indiana

10. Khan Academy

1. Halalan 2025 results

2. earthquake near me

3. Maguad siblings

4. National ID

5. Senatorial candidates 2025

6. International Criminal Court

7. earthquake safety information

8. new Pope

9. LET results 2025

10. eGovPH

1. Final Destination

2. Kpop Demon Hunters

3. Superman

4. Thunderbolts

5. Minecraft Movie

6. The Gorge

7. 28 Years Later

8. Conjuring

9. How to Train Your Dragon

10. Weapons

1. Squid Game

2. When Life Gives You Tangerines

3. S Line

4. Bon Appétit, Your Majesty

5. Ang Mutya ng Section E

6. Monster: The Ed Gein Story

7. Friendly Rivalry

8. How To Tame A Silver Fox

9. Head Over Heels

10. Forever After, Never Again

1. Tibok

2. Marilag

3. Golden

4. Multo

5. Nandito Ako

6. You’ll Be In My Heart

7. Dive

8. Die with a Smile

9. Gnarly

10. Opalite

1. Andy Byron

2. Ed Gein

3. d4vd

4. Pope Leo XIV

5. Dionela

6. Tyrese Haliburton

7. Vince Dizon

8. Bronny James

9. Travis Kelce

10. Kendrick Lamar

1. Alexandra Eala

2. Bea Borres

3. AJ Raval

4. Twice

5. Katherine Luna

6. Andi Eigenmann

7. Jo Yuri

8. Claudia Barreto

9. Jessica Sanchez

10. Mika Salamanca

1. Grow a Garden

2. Sprunki

3. Blue Lock: Rivals

4. Arise Crossover

5. Minecraft

6. Jujutsu Infinite

7. Volleyball Legends

8. Hunty Zombie

9. Anime Adventures

10. The International 2025

1. Barbie Hsu

2. Emman Atienza

3. Pope Francis

4. Kim Sae Ron

5. Nora Aunor

6. Gloria Romero

7. Juan Ponce Enrile

8. Ricky Davao

9. Michelle Trachtenberg

10. Pilita Corrales

1. Gemini AI

2. DeepSeek

3. Claude

4. BLACKBOX.AI

5. LMArena AI

6. Verse

7. “Humanize this” prompt

8. ChatGPT

9. Veo 3

10. Nano Banana