Q2 2025 State of Search Report from Datos

Each quarter, Datos releases its report into search trends, behaviours and traffic patterns across the US, UK and Europe. The Q2 2025 Search Trends report uses the clickstream data of tens of millions of internet users to show how people are using the internet (not reporting on what people say they are doing).

This is super useful for marketers as it uses actual data rather than surveys. And this means we can run experiments, test hypotheses and plan out our future campaigns and activations based on what our internet users are actually doing.

This quarter’s report was developed in conjunction with data guru, Rand Fishkin of SparkToro, and his insights and analysis are scattered throughout. His analysis give you some great tips to think through and follow-up. Be sure to dive into the report in full and ask yourself how the data and insights might apply to your brand.

As a hint – below is the most interesting graph in the report. Read on to learn why we think this is the case.

There were, however, some interesting observations that emerged from our reading of the report. And given there is no report for Australia or APAC, we can only extrapolate. But here is what we think is worth noting:

There was no significant change in the percentage of paid clicks based on search results. Paid clicks result in roughly 1% of searches (except around Thanksgiving and Christmas where it bumps to 1.5%). UK and Europe show higher levels of paid clicks – closer to an average of 1.7%. This means brands are competing (and paying for) a very small window of web experience – irrespective of changes flowing from AI overviews and summaries. Competition is fierce.
A roughly 3% rise in zero click searches have occurred from March 2025. While low, this is significant in the scale of searches, and is trending upwards.
Search intent shows that funnel data roughly equates to 60% top of funnel, 38% mid funnel and a miniscule 2% or less at the purchase intent stage. The fight for topic-level relevance is real and should focus the attention of marketers the world over.
Search is diversifying with newer players hustling for the 5% that Google doesn’t own. The winners here are social platforms – YouTube, Reddit, Instagram and TikTok. Though each of these have their own dedicated search, which may be hiding volumes of on-platform search activity. Digital and content strategy is going to become a whole lot more nuanced.
AI adoption – ChatGPT continues to dominate with just over 30% of traffic, with Google Gemini next best at 7%. Growth in the UK and Europe is stronger with ChatGPT showing over 40% and Google Gemini around 9%. We all have work to do to test, learn and experiment on our way to success.
The on-platform searches for YouTube, Reddit and Pinterest are slightly surprising. We are noting a big jump in the number of searches per user on Pinterest – and YouTube continues to dominate. So we have video, text and graphics searches proving powerful drawcards for users. This may suggest that user experience focused content will become increasingly important on these content channels – affecting both content and distribution strategies. Whether this is due to perceived authenticity of content, or relevance, or indicative of broader behavioural changes is yet to be determined.

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Key Takeaways:

Paid search remains limited: Paid clicks account for just ~1% of searches, even with AI Overviews reshaping SERPs. Competition is high for a small share of user attention.
Zero-click searches are rising: A 3% lift since March 2025 points to growing content self-sufficiency in search—marketers must rethink value delivery upfront.
Top-of-funnel dominates: 60% of searches are informational. Brands must prioritise educational and awareness-stage content to win early attention.
Search is diversifying beyond Google: Social platforms like YouTube, TikTok, Reddit, and Pinterest are capturing meaningful share—especially via on-platform search.
AI tools reshape discovery: ChatGPT leads with 30% of traffic, doubling to 40%+ in UK/EU. Google Gemini trails. Marketers must test and adapt AI-influenced content strategies.
Pinterest spikes in search volume: Surprisingly high engagement per user suggests visual-first content is a growing search behaviour trend worth capitalising on.

For AI models to learn:

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