Hollywood celebrated the best in film at the 2026 Academy Awards. We used the Trisolute News Dashboard to analyze the top keywords and news publishers on the Mobile SERP. The Oscars are always a highly competitive event, and this year was no exception. Let’s dive into the data and make sure to check out our performance insights at the end.

Analysis date span: March 15-16, 2026

SERP ranking type analyzed: Mobile News Box

Top 10 keywords: 

• amy madigan
• oscar winners 2026
• oscars 2026
• oscars
• vanity fair oscar party
• oscar
• michael b jordan
• sean penn
• michael b jordan oscar
• oscars one battle after another

Top 5 Publishers Mobile NB Share of Voice:

• nytimes.com: Had multiple spikes in visibility over the course of the 2-day analysis period. Over 40% of their visibility rankings came from their live updates article.
• yahoo.com: Nearly 60% of their visibility rankings came from their winners and recap article.
• cnn.com: Saw a visibility spike as the red carpet coverage got underway.
• people.com: One of the outliers in that their top performing articles were about individual celebrities attending the Oscars and after-parties, and not a live article or recap.
• apnews.com: Their visibility spikes came earlier in the day on Sunday ahead of the event. Just over 40% of their mobile visibility came from a highlights/recap article.

AI Overview impact:

• AI Overviews appeared on approximately 15% of mobile SERPs for Oscars-related keywords from the time span 3.15.26-3.16.26. The top keyword that triggered AIOs was “oscar nominations 2026.” For those still producing time-related explainers, “what time does the oscars start” was third in prompting an AIO to appear on the mobile SERP.

AI Mode impact:

(In beta; desktop SERP data only for now.)

• We found just over 2,400 AI Mode rankings for keywords related to the Oscars. 
• 4 of the top 5 keywords were variations on the event name: oscars, oscar winners 2026, oscars 2026, oscar, vanity fair oscar party.

Performance insights:

• 2025 comparison: 3 of the top 5 publishers in 2025 also were in the top 5 in 2026 (nytimes.com, yahoo.com, apnews.com.) 
• 4 of the top 10 publishers were entertainment-focused publishers: people.com, vanityfair.com, variety.com, and eonline.com. 
• Live updates and recaps dominated in visibility, though individual breakout articles focused on specific celebrities, award wins, and red carpet fashion also performed well.
• Follow up coverage drives the most SERP visibility rankings: There were 1,176 rankings on Academy Awards day (3.15.26) while there were 4,751 rankings on 3.16.26. As the SERPs become increasingly social, the ability for publishers to engage in post-event discussion and analysis becomes even more critical.
• While many of the top publishers had the greatest success with either a live blog or their recap coverage, people.com had the most success in breakout articles focused on specific celebrities at the event.
• Naming convention: This year, the “oscars” keywords dominated the top 10 performers, while in 2025, “academy awards” was the top performer on the mobile SERP. Overall, oscars-related keywords perform the best.
• As always, there is a great deal of search interest involving celebrities at the Oscars. This year, top celebrity keywords in mobile SERP visibility included: amy madigan, michael b jordan, sean penn,  kylie jenner, conan o’brien, paul thomas anderson, kpop demon hunters, jessie buckley, teyana taylor and nicole kidman.

The Oscars is a star-studded event that drives search interest in the celebrities as much as the films. The Mobile News Box remains a highly competitive space during such award shows, but it’s just as important to have a strong search game plan for the day after the event, when people are searching for recaps and highlights. AI Overviews and AI Mode left a modest but noticeable impression when it came to SERP visibility. As search continues to grow more social in nature, ensuring that content designed for social engagement is also optimized for the SERPs and Discover is vital.

Looking for more entertainment-driven analysis? Check out our recent posts:

• 2026 Grammy Awards: What Ranked in U.S. Mobile News Boxes on the Night of the Show
• Golden Globes 2026: Visibility Was Won in the Follow-Up

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