As COVID-19 remains a factor in our day-to-day lives, it continues to affect search interests differently by vertical. Below is a snapshot of the indexed search queries for consumer interest from 3/18-3/31 (as of 4/7 this is the most up-to-date data Google can provide.)
Advertisers should take the demand interest into account when evaluating their marketing strategy going forward. Some verticals will need to invest more heavily to keep up with increased demand, while others will need to evaluate and pivot based on recent trends.
- Verticals with strong period-over-period growth are Toys & Games (+35.6%), Games (37.1%), Computers (+19%), and Food & Groceries (18.5%)
- Similar to PoP areas of strong YoY growth were Games (+56.5%), Toys & Games (+53%), Food & Groceries (+37.6%), and Computers (+30.2%)
- Health Conditions & Concerns saw increased YoY (+54.9%) demand increases, however, remained flat PoP
- Verticals with areas of decreased demand period-over-period were Sports & Fitness (-19.1%), Education & Training (-7.5%), and Jobs & Education (-6.7%)
- Areas of decreased YoY demand are Sports & Fitness (-32.2%) and Jobs & Education (-0.6%) while Education & Training saw a slight (0.6%) increase.
- The chart below indicates that consumer interest decreases in Health, Computers, Education & Training, and Jobs & Education on the weekends
- Conversely, Music & Audio, Toys & Games see an increase in interest on Saturday and Sundays
- Business Categories can be broken down into 4 archetypes based on the difference in demand/interest and their response to shifting trends
- Areas with increased demand and interest are categorized by Google as Investing customer types
- Challenged Categories
- Sports & Fitness
- Assessing Categories
- Jobs & Education
- Pivoting Categories
- Education & Training
- Music & Audio
- Investing Categories
- Health
- Health Conditions & Concerns
- Toys and Games
- Games
- Computers
- Given that COVID-19 has affected business demand within various verticals, it is important for businesses to evaluate how their vertical is trending and which archetype they fall under. Please refer to the charts and data above in order to make the most informed decisions on marketing investment in the coming months.
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