By mid-November 2024, a rumor propagated that there was a notable increase in Google search for the expression “change my vote” And similar following Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential election. This spike would have indicated a sense of remorse among those who voted for Trump.

The complaint propagated on social media platforms, including X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, TopicsAnd TikTok. Similar claims also appeared in several press articles. For example, a Newsweek article from November 13, 2024 on the subject claimed “Queries about ‘how to change my vote’ increased the morning of Election Day.”

What Google Trends data says

Social media posts on the topic often included screenshots of Google Trends, a tool that analyzes the relative popularity of search terms over a specified period. It assigns a value from 0 to 100 to indicate search interest for a term, where 100 represents peak popularity during the chosen time period.

On November 20, 2024, we carried out a Google Trends analysis research for three requests mentioned most frequently in social media posts (in the last 30 days):

• how to change my vote;
• change my vote;
• can I change my vote.

Below you can see the resultsindicating that there was a significant increase on Election Day, as well as on November 13, 2024:

(Google Trends)

On November 14, 2024, a user note “There may be some level of Streisand effect here because people are looking for it to verify the claim that it’s a trend,” referring to a phenomenon in which an attempt to draw attention away from something only serves to draw more attention to it.

Additionally, all-time data revealed that the peak of searches for the terms mentioned occurred in October 2020.

(Google Trends)

Indeed, Trump himself tweeted in late October 2020: “Highly trending (Google) because immediately after the second debate CAN I CHANGE MY VOTE? This refers to me. »

Google Trends is not the same as “Trends”

Another rumor that broadcast on social media, searches for terms like “can I change my vote” were trending in Google search. However, it is important to clarify that in this case, the phrase “trending on Google” can be misleading.

Google Trends, which shows relative search interest over time, can be confused with “Current trend” functionality. The latter highlights a curated selection of popular topics and queries in real-time, based on absolute search volume and other contextual factors. Just because a term sees a spike in Google Trends data doesn’t mean it appears in the “Current Trending” section, as the two tools serve different purposes.

Unprecedented increase in searches?

“People already seem to be regretting their vote for Trump. Google searches for “Can I change my vote” have increased since the election,” wrote a user

(User X @krassenstein)

This assertion has also gained ground on TikTok. Meanwhile, on Threads, another user common a screenshot purportedly showing a 950% increase for the same search term.

When searching for a term on Google Trends, users can see a “associated queries” section at the bottom of the page. Rising search terms, like those mentioned above, are those that have experienced the most significant growth in search volume during a specific period compared to the previous period. Percentages displayed, such as 700% or 950%, indicate relative growth, not absolute search volumes.

Given the nature of how the “related queries” feature works, it is difficult to independently verify the information contained in screenshots circulating on social media without knowing when they were captured. The data displayed on Google Trends is dynamic, meaning that results can change depending on when a search is performed, the query selected, the time period, and other variables. Therefore, the screenshots likely reflect searches made at different times.

Red states versus blue states

Another set of complaints center on states that largely voted Republican, alleging a significant increase in Google searches from these regions. A message on Reddit declared“People in red states Googled ‘How to change my vote’ in droves after Trump won.”

When you review data from the last 30 days, search results for queries “change my vote,” “how to change my vote,” And “can I change my vote” reported that they had gained popularity both in the states and vote Republican and Democrat.

However, as noted previously, interpreting search popularity in each state is highly dependent on the time period selected for analysis in Google Trends, as search interest can change significantly over time.