Coronavirus through the eyes of Google Trends
In March, a coronavirus pandemic swept around the world. Its consequences were felt in virtually every place on earth. The March-May period was a time when thousands of companies in Poland closed or reduced their operations to a minimum. However, there were also those that benefited from the coronavirus. By which for some the restrictions spelled disaster, while for others they represented an opportunity for short-term or sustainable growth. Things were changing at lightning speed before our eyes, so we decided to analyze the recent changes. To do this, we used the Google Trends tool, which provides extensive analysis capabilities on the Internet.
Who gained and who lost?
Since the beginning of the pandemic’s occurrence in Poland, the media have been talking loudly about closed restaurants, entertainment centers, theaters and galleries. Then, on the other side like mushrooms after the rain, companies began to appear offering masks, disinfectant fluids, as well as all kinds of online systems for learning and working remotely. That’s why we decided to take a few well-known brands from different areas under a Googled magnifying glass. This allows us to get a more accurate picture of the changes that have taken place in recent months. The first juxtaposition we would like to present is the level of interest in the Uber Eats service worldwide. The closure of eating establishments has led to many more people opting for takeaway meals. As you can see, the phrase Uber Eats has seen a significant drop in searches in the last 2 months. In contrast, comparing the results from May 2019 to May 2020, a 40% increase is evident. Such a result helps illustrate the role this service has played in recent times and the impact of the closure of eating establishments.
Growth in demand for masks
In the first half of April, the Ministry made the wearing of masks mandatory. Such a situation unequivocally increased the demand for this type of protective equipment. Virtually everyone started looking for this type of product, as reflected in the following data:
For the query “masks” at first glance there is an apparent increase of 100% from April 12-18, 2020. However, the interesting moment here is the beginning of the increase in searches, which occurred on February 23-29, 2020. This was just a week before the official announcement of the first case of coronavirus in Poland. So this could be interesting information about the preparations of many people before the pandemic.
Classic training pushed out by online
During the March-May period, many people probably experienced a mass mailing regarding online training. We receive such emails every day. So, we decided to see what Google shows about it and whether there is also interest in online training from the demand side. The chart below clearly shows the increase in inquiries over the last 2 months.
The increase is, of course, due to the cancellation of classical training. This was therefore an opportunity for online solutions not only to take advantage of the situation in the short term, but also to convince their customers to use online solutions in the long term.
Hairdressers are back in the game
Hairdressers are the next industry that is currently in great demand. Unlike gastronomy, almost everyone uses the services of hairdressers, and practically everyone can see the effects of neglecting a haircut. The hairdressing industry, as a result of the lockdown, has also lived to see its underground functioning during the closure of establishments. We will check what Google tells us on this subject.
The chart below is a good indication that Poles like the appearance and comfort that hair salons offer us. Therefore, you can see how interest in the case of this industry has rebounded from the proverbial “bottom.” This theory is also confirmed if we use the Google ads keyword planner. This is a tool from Google that is used to analyze and select words for, among other things, ongoing Google Ads campaigns. After the standard entry of the general phrase hairdresser we will hit such a graph:
It shows total data (blue bars) and data from smartphones (red bars). It is not without reason that we chose the period from 04.2019 – 04.2020 as the date range, as April shows a more than threefold decrease in searches for this phrase. This is, of course, due to the general awareness of the closure of such services in the recent period.
Tourism during home office and home schooling
The situation was similar for the travel industry, which had been eagerly awaiting its time to return to normality since the border blockade. For the query foreign tours, there was a significant drop in searches in April. Comparing year-on-year results in April 2020. Google recorded 75% fewer queries.
Summary
The Google Trends tool gives you a wide range of options for analyzing the trends of various queries. This is especially important if you care to study trends that are taking place at the current time compared to historical data. On a daily basis, you can check, for example, such data as seasonality or popularity of a particular industry, product or brand. Depending on the purpose, it is also worth using other tools like the keyword planner used, which will allow us to get more accurate data.
