Misspelled in search, spelled right in writing
Research
For 1,959 misspellings measured both ways, the wrong spelling takes a median 3.7% of searches for the word but a median 0.07% of its written uses: in the median case a misspelling is 47 times more common, relatively, in the search box than on the published page.
Wrong far more often in search than in writing
| Wrong | Right | Share in search | Share in writing |
|---|---|---|---|
| tehy | they | 5.2% | 0.001% |
| whitch | which | 4.5% | 0.001% |
| sinse | since | 5.5% | 0.002% |
| verion | version | 22.8% | 0.010% |
| smae | same | 4.4% | 0.002% |
| coult | could | 2.1% | 0.001% |
| furher | further | 12.0% | 0.006% |
| whn | when | 3.9% | 0.002% |
| thn | then | 12.9% | 0.007% |
| whitin | within | 17.4% | 0.010% |
| inot | into | 3.0% | 0.002% |
| durring | during | 8.3% | 0.006% |
| alse | else | 10.7% | 0.008% |
| unitl | until | 4.8% | 0.004% |
| corect | correct | 24.2% | 0.022% |
| esle | else | 5.7% | 0.006% |
| likly | likely | 7.0% | 0.008% |
| secound | second | 3.4% | 0.004% |
| wnat | want | 2.9% | 0.004% |
| surley | surely | 25.2% | 0.035% |
| buring | during | 5.7% | 0.008% |
| amongs | among | 5.6% | 0.008% |
| useing | using | 7.9% | 0.013% |
| easyer | easier | 13.3% | 0.022% |
| opion | option | 10.2% | 0.017% |
Source: Bing searches in the United States, the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); writing: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Closest to their share in writing
| Wrong | Right | Share in search | Share in writing |
|---|---|---|---|
| opthalmologist | ophthalmologist | 3.8% | 2.563% |
| recompence | recompense | 9.7% | 6.197% |
| fitler | filter | 0.1% | 0.076% |
| jewelery | jewelry | 2.1% | 1.135% |
| feret | ferret | 2.4% | 1.215% |
| doesnt | doesn't | 7.3% | 3.205% |
| cameleon | chameleon | 3.4% | 1.491% |
| indispensible | indispensable | 10.3% | 4.371% |
| sheeps | sheep | 2.4% | 0.990% |
| butterly | butterfly | 0.9% | 0.354% |
| assing | assign | 4.8% | 1.956% |
| tekst | text | 0.1% | 0.036% |
| clearence | clearance | 0.5% | 0.195% |
| breastroke | breaststroke | 6.7% | 2.506% |
| cappucino | cappuccino | 10.2% | 3.582% |
Source: Bing searches in the United States, the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); writing: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Method and limits
Search share: the wrong form's monthly Bing searches divided by both forms' searches. Writing share: the same ratio from wordfreq's frequencies, which pool edited text (Wikipedia, books, news) with subtitles and social media, so written text is partly spell-checked before it is published. Search boxes are not; the gap is the point, and it also shows which misspellings survive spell-checkers. A wrong form that is written relatively more often than it is searched is not published as a misspelling: it is a word or a name of its own (a surname, a brand, a word in another language).
How this was written
The text of this analysis was written with AI tools; its figures are queries on PlainSpell's database, and the text was checked against them. No figure is typed by hand. Editorial policy · Report an error.