Exploding Topics
Exploding Topics is a trend intelligence SaaS platform that uses proprietary machine learning to detect emerging trends 12+ months early. Acquired by Semrush in 2024, it serves e-commerce leaders, agencies, investors, and researchers with Pro subscriptions, free SEO tools, and a Trends API.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2019
- HeadquartersSan Francisco, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Exploding Topics does
Exploding Topics is a trend intelligence SaaS platform that helps businesses identify emerging market, product, and consumer trends before they go mainstream. The company was founded by Brian Dean (CEO) and Josh Howarth (CTO) and was acquired by Semrush in 2024; it now operates as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Semrush Inc., headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. The platform's core technology is a proprietary machine-learning trend identification algorithm that monitors millions of unstructured data points across social media, search engines, online forums, news and blogs, e-commerce sites, and podcasts, supplemented by historical pattern analysis, spike detection, and human curation to filter fads.
The product portfolio is anchored by Exploding Topics Pro, a paid subscription priced from $1.29/day that provides full access to a database of over 1.1 million trends along with weekly Pro Trend Reports. A Trends API offers programmatic access to the dataset. The platform also offers a broad suite of free tools covering keyword research, SEO audits, competitor analysis, rank checking, backlink analysis, keyword difficulty scoring, website traffic analysis, and an AI Visibility Checker that benchmarks brand presence across ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini. Platform features include Trending Products, Channel Breakdowns, Meta Trends, and TikTok Insights.
The business runs on a product-led growth model, with free tools and SEO-driven content marketing serving as the primary acquisition channel and a 14-day free trial converting users to Pro. Target segments include e-commerce leaders, marketing agencies, investors, market researchers, and enterprise clients. Following the Semrush acquisition, distribution also extends through the Semrush platform ecosystem, and the company reports a base of over 1.1 million users.
Exploding Topics firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Exploding Topics
- Legal name
- Semrush Inc.
- Website
- https://explodingtopics.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2019
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Exploding Topics is a trend intelligence SaaS platform that uses proprietary machine learning to detect emerging trends 12+ months early. Acquired by Semrush in 2024, it serves e-commerce leaders, agencies, investors, and researchers with Pro subscriptions, free SEO tools, and a Trends API.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Exploding Topics industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Trend Intelligence Software
- NAICS
- Information (51), Software Publishers (5132), Web Search Portals and All Other Information Services (51929), Periodical Publishers (513120)
- SIC
- Services-Prepackaged Software (7372), Periodicals: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2721)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Topic/Interest-Based Content Discovery Apps (MPACAKAB)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Enterprise Search, Indexing & Content Discovery (HDAEAGAH)
Keywords
Where Exploding Topics is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- San Francisco
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Exploding Topics business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations
Revenue model
- Pro Subscription: Subscription-based access to full trends database, search/sort capabilities, and weekly Pro Trend Reports with trend insight and analysis. Free tier with limited access available for user acquisition.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Monthly | Pro Plan - Full access to trends database with $1.29/day starting price |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels2 records
Marketing channels9 records
Exploding Topics product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Exploding Topics is a trend intelligence platform that uses proprietary machine learning algorithms to monitor millions of unstructured data points across social media, search engines, forums, news, blogs, e-commerce sites, and podcasts to surface emerging trends 12+ months before they go mainstream. The core paid product is Exploding Topics Pro, a subscription giving full access to a 1.1M+ trend database with search/sort capabilities and weekly Pro Trend Reports, supplemented by a Trends API and a suite of free SEO and AI-visibility tools.
Product overview
Exploding Topics is a trend intelligence platform that helps companies discover emerging trends before they go mainstream. The core offering is Exploding Topics Pro, a paid subscription providing full access to a trends database of over 1.1M trends with search/sort capabilities and weekly trend reports. The platform is complemented by the Trends API for programmatic data access. A suite of free tools supports SEO and marketing workflows including Keyword Research, SEO Checker, Competitor Analysis, Keyword Rank Checker, Backlink Checker, Keyword Difficulty Checker, Website Traffic Checker, SERP Checker, and an AI Visibility Checker. Platform features include Trending Products, Channel Breakdowns, Meta Trends, and TikTok Insights. The company was acquired by Semrush in 2024 and leverages Semrush's data infrastructure for enhanced capabilities.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Exploding Topics Pro
Quantifiable outcome
- Discover trends 12+ months before competitors
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use Exploding Topics
Customer profileNamed customers1 record
Segments5 records
Ideal customer profiles5 records
Exploding Topics technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
AI capability7 records
Feature4 records
Exploding Topics partnerships and signals
Strategic signalScale indicators4 records
Recent moves5 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Exploding Topics competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- AnswerThePublic: Search listening and keyword/topic research tool that visualizes rising questions and queries. Comparable as a topic-discovery and PLG SEO toolset aimed at content and marketing teams, with overlapping use cases in trend ideation and keyword research.
- SparkToro: SaaS audience and market research platform that surfaces where audiences spend time and what they care about. Directly comparable to Exploding Topics in serving marketers, agencies, and researchers with curated, data-driven discovery of trends, audiences, and emerging topics.
- BuzzSumo: Content discovery and trend research platform that analyzes what topics, articles, and formats are gaining traction across the web. Highly comparable in product concept (trend discovery) and in serving marketing agencies, content teams, and brands seeking early signals of rising topics.
- Glimpse: Niche trend and demand forecasting platform surfacing rising search queries and product categories for brands and agencies. Directly comparable to Exploding Topics in identifying under-the-radar trends before they hit mainstream, with similar PLG/free-tier positioning for marketers.
Broad incumbents
- Similarweb: Web and app analytics platform that surfaces traffic, engagement, and trend data across digital properties. Comparable as a source of trend and competitive intelligence used by investors, agencies, and market researchers, though focused more on site/app traffic than topic-level trend detection.
- Ahrefs: Large incumbent SEO platform offering keyword research, content explorer, and trending topic features. Overlaps with Exploding Topics' SEO tooling, competitor/keyword research, and content ideation capabilities, though operating at much larger scale across the broader SEO stack.
- Semrush: Parent company and broad incumbent in SEO and digital marketing software. Comparable as the encompassing SEO platform that now owns Exploding Topics and offers overlapping keyword research, competitive intelligence, and trend-adjacent features within a much wider product portfolio.
- Google Trends: Free, broad incumbent trend-discovery surface from Google, exposing search interest trajectories over time. Comparable as the baseline trend-discovery reference against which paid tools like Exploding Topics differentiate on speed, curation, and cross-source synthesis.
Emerging players
- Crayon: Competitive intelligence platform tracking competitor moves, messaging, and market changes. Comparable as a data-driven intelligence tool used by marketing and strategy teams to detect early signals — overlapping with Exploding Topics' trend and competitive positioning use cases.
- Tubular Labs: Video and social trend analytics platform measuring audience attention across YouTube, TikTok, and other video surfaces. Comparable as a trend-intelligence solution for brands and agencies, particularly overlapping with Exploding Topics' TikTok Insights feature and social listening scope.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Exploding Topics social profiles
Digital presenceExploding Topics financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Exploding Topics leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
Exploding Topics funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Exploding Topics M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Exploding Topics
What does Exploding Topics do?
Exploding Topics is a trend intelligence platform that uses proprietary machine learning algorithms to monitor millions of unstructured data points across social media, search engines, forums, news, blogs, e-commerce sites, and podcasts to surface emerging trends 12+ months before they go mainstream. The core paid product is Exploding Topics Pro, a subscription giving full access to a 1.1M+ trend database with search/sort capabilities and weekly Pro Trend Reports, supplemented by a Trends API and a suite of free SEO and AI-visibility tools.
Is Exploding Topics a public or private company?
Exploding Topics is a private company. It is classified as corporate owned and is currently operating.
When was Exploding Topics founded?
Exploding Topics was founded in 2019. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Exploding Topics based?
Exploding Topics is headquartered in San Francisco, United States, in the North America region.
How does Exploding Topics make money?
One revenue line is on record: pro Subscription.
Who are Exploding Topics's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are AnswerThePublic, SparkToro, BuzzSumo and Glimpse. Broad incumbents are Similarweb, Ahrefs, Semrush and Google Trends. Emerging players are Crayon and Tubular Labs.
Does Exploding Topics have an API?
Yes. Trends API that allows users to pipe trend data into their own tools and systems. It enables programmatic access to Exploding Topics' trend database for integration with external applications.
What industry is Exploding Topics in?
Exploding Topics's product category is Trend Intelligence Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is MPACAKAB, Topic/Interest-Based Content Discovery Apps, with a secondary code of HDAEAGAH, Enterprise Search, Indexing & Content Discovery. Its NAICS code is 51 and its SIC code is 7372.