By Jenna Sundel
Publication Date: 2026-02-19 20:16:00
A Google spokesperson told Newsweek that a spike in a Google Trends chart is not “definitive evidence” of a search—after Fox News claimed that Google Trends data appears to show searches for Nancy Guthrie’s address before her disappearance.
Fox News claimed that Google Trends data appeared to show searches for Guthrie’s address between June 21 and 28, 2025, and again on January 11 of this year.
Newsweek was unable to verify this Google Trends data.
“Google Trends is designed for understanding trends in large datasets. For topics with low or no searches, a Google Trends chart will often mix in random noise to protect people’s privacy. That means that a Google Trends chart showing a spike for an uncommon topic is not definitive evidence that a search actually happened,” a Google spokesperson told Newsweek.
Why It Matters
Nancy, the 84-year-old mother of Today show co-host Savannah Guthrie, has been missing for over two weeks, prompting a multiagency…
