Online search terms provide further proof of recession
Still need proof the recession is biting hard? Look no further than the latest trends in search terms, which show a massive swing towards terms related to the recession.
We’re now deep enough into the recession, economic downturn, or credit crunch (depending on your favored choice of words) that almost everyone has been affected in some way or another. Whether it be by way of job loss, a pay cut, house price reduction, or the inability to get credit, we’re all now in this together.
Online search terms and search trends are influenced by a number of different factors. But the biggest influencer has to be what is going on in real life. Which celebrity is hot? Which politician has been up to no good? What public holiday is it soon? And with the recession being the biggest thing happening in the world right now, search trends were bound to start heading that way.
ComScore, a company which keeps track of the latest trends in the digital world, recently released “an analysis of changes in Americans’ searching behavior resulting from the economic downturn.” The results, collected during the month of December, 2008, show how much the recession is cutting into all our lives.
The analysis of several terms related to the economic downturn shows how searches for these issues have increased massively over the course of 2008. “Unemployment” rose 206 percent, from 2.6 million to 8.2 million searches. While “Unemployment Benefits” rose from 215,000 to 748,000 searches.
Interestingly, the analysis also looked at terms which could indicate how people are coping with having less disposable income. Searches for “Coupons” rose massively from 7.6 million to 19.9 million. While “Discount” also saw an upturn in search trends.
ComScore chairman Gian Fulgoni said:
Online behavior has come to reflect the interests or concerns of Americans, and we are certainly seeing this manifest itself with respect to the economic downturn. Search volume using terms relating to the economy has ballooned over the past year as Americans have become increasingly concerned over their economic wellbeing.
I find these results ultimately very interesting. They show the real costs of the economic downturn, with terms such as “Bankruptcy” and “Foreclosure” seeing huge spikes. Hopefully, we’ll be able to use the monitoring of these same terms over the next few years to see signs of the first green shoots of recovery.
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