Top Trending YouTube Topics (December 2025)

YouTube gets around 44.5 billion visits each month, making it one of the world's most popular websites. 

With the shift to short-form content, YouTube has experienced fierce competition from platforms like TikTok.

But YouTube still dominates the long-form video market and is the go-to place for educational, entertainment, and business content.

Here are some of the top trending topics on YouTube right now, with monthly search growth and search volume in the US from the Semrush Keyword Analytics for YouTube app: 

No.	Keyword	% Monthly Search Growth	Monthly Search Volume	Competitive Rate
1	Dispatch	96.52%	15 million	96
2	Where Winds Meet	95.86%	9.7 million	93
3	Arc Raiders	65.21%	14 million	96
4	Mizkif	92.44%	6 million	91
5	NBA	50.99%	7.8 million	92
6	Duet Night Abyss	76.63%	4 million	88
7	Hazbin Hotel	67.71%	4.1 million	89
8	Asmongold	27.79%	9.9 million	94
9	Coryxkenshin	15.38%	17 million	97
10	Steam machine	99.96%	2.5 million	86
11	Zohran Mamdani	81.2%	3.1 million	87
12	Spaghetti le sserafim	95.82%	2.6 million	86
13	Jackscepticeye	55.3%	4.4 million	89
14	Rosalia	87.64%	2.6 million	86
15	T1	71.68%	3.2 million	87
16	Stranger Things season 5 trailer	80.22%	2.8 million	86
17	Lakers	74.05%	3 million	87
18	Where Winds Meet gameplay	95.86%	2.2 million	85
19	3I Atlas	35.78%	5.7 million	90
20	Marvel Rivals	44.92%	4.5 million	89
21	Dispatch game	85.07%	2.3 million	85
22	RV There Yet	84.68%	2.3 million	85
23	Minecraft ARG	82.17%	2.4 million	85
24	Wifies	93.18%	2.1 million	85
25	Miss Universe 2025	97.72%	2 million	84
26	Michael Jackson	35.93%	5.2 million	90
27	Hazbin Hotel Season 2	71.49%	2.6 million	86
28	We Are Charlie Kirk	99.97%	1.8 million	84
29	La Casa de Alofoke	77.3%	2.3 million	85
30	UFC	30.58%	5.7 million	90

We’ve highlighted some of the most notable YouTube trends below, using Exploding Topics data to dive deeper into search trends. We’ll explain why they are trending and the level of viewership they generate.

Want to find even more trending YouTube topics? Read our guide to the top YouTube keyword tools.  

1. YouTube Shorts

5-year search growth: 5,700%

Search growth status: Exploding

Description: YouTube Shorts is a short-form content platform that displays vertical videos 60 seconds in length or less. The shift to short-form content to compete with platforms like TikTok has caused big brands like YouTube to innovate.

With TikTok facing an uncertain future in the US, many creators are cross-posting their short-form videos to YouTube. And viewers are starting to search out "shorts" specifically, like "dance shorts" and "wrestle shorts". 

Shorts crossed 70 billion daily views in February 2024. In July 2025, YouTube Shorts receives 200 billion daily views.

2. Try On Haul

5-year search growth: 28%

Search growth status: Regular

Description: A try-on haul is a video style where an influencer receives a “haul” of clothing from a brand to promote. In the video, the creator tries on the clothing and shares opinions about the brand. On YouTube, the creator places links to each clothing item in the video description so viewers can purchase an item they like. 

3. Lofi Music

5-year search growth: 110%

Search growth status: Regular

Description: Lofi music (low-fidelity music) is a subgenre of electronic music recorded with imperfections like background noise to aid with concentration and relaxation. Lofi music can increase focus while studying or performing deep concentration work tasks. Lofi Girl is the most subscribed Lofi music channel, with around 15 million subscribers.

4. YouTube Automation

5-year search growth: 345%

Search growth status: Exploding

Description: Streamlining the YouTube content creation process by automating certain parts of it, especially with the help of AI tools. Automation may occur at the research stage, e.g. gathering keywords, or even in the actual production of the content. 

5. Roblox YouTube 

5-year search growth: 16%

Search growth status: Regular

Description: Roblox playthroughs are hugely popular on YouTube. The sandbox nature of the platform means that new user-generated games are always appearing; the latest to spike in popularity is 99 Nights In The Forest, a survival challenge, which has received around 1 billion visits.  

Another Roblox game, Blox Fruits, is inspired by the anime series One Piece. It’s become popular on the YouTube platform as creators share game tutorials, progress, and other interesting clips to help viewers become better players. This popular game has reached over 52 billion visits since its 2019 launch.

6. VTubing

5-year search growth: 292%

Search growth status: Exploding

Description: VTubers (Virtual YouTubers) are content creators who use digital avatars while streaming to their audience. Instead of showing their face, they build their brand around the avatar. YouTubers watched 500 million hours of VTuber content in Q1 2025.

7. Faceless YouTube Channel

5-year search growth: 5200%

Search growth status: Regular

Description: A faceless YouTube channel is a channel that does not show the creator's face in the content. Creators remain anonymous for privacy and to avoid public exposure. It's also a way to put more focus on the content itself than the creator. 

Faceless channels are even more appealing to creators in the age of AI. They can be quick and easy to set up. 

8. Video Captions

5-year search growth: 241%

Search growth status: Exploding

Description: Textual representations of the audio content in a video, including dialogue, sound effects, and music. They provide additional or interpretive information for viewers, particularly those who are deaf or hard of hearing, and can be either closed (toggleable) or open (always visible).

Video captions are essential for accessibility and inclusivity, benefiting individuals with hearing impairments and those who prefer or need text-based content. AI generation of captions is getting considerably better, with tools like Semrush Social Content AI.

9. Virtual Court

5-year search growth: 90%

Search growth status: Regular

Description: A virtual court can refer to a judicial proceeding conducted online rather than in a physical courtroom, utilizing videoconferencing technology and other digital tools. Virtual courts enable judges, lawyers, and defendants to participate remotely, often using platforms like Zoom for hearings and YouTube for webcasting.

However, the growing popularity on YouTube is driven by fictional "courts", trying more trivial matters. "The Pink Courtroom" deals with social and relationship issues in a mock court setting, while "Animated Courtroom" is a series that puts comic book villains on trial. 

10. MSI

5-year search growth: 8%

Search growth status: Regular

Description: MSI, or "Micro-Star International", is a major player in eSports. It generates various items of gaming hardware, which are heavily reviewed on YouTube. 

In the year leading up to March 2025, MSI generated revenues of $6.26 billion. 

Key Takeaways

Despite competition from newer social media sites, YouTube remains one of the world's largest social media platforms, with 2.7 billion monthly active users.

For more YouTube statistics, check out:

• Top Searches on YouTube
• YouTube Content Creator Statistics