Feb
17
Google releases Valentine’s Day Search Data
Fri Feb, 2012 by Derek Mehraban
Google is releasing data about searches done on Valentine’s Day. Because of the nature of the holiday we should expect it to be a heavy day for local searches (mainly for restaurants and for products that can be bought immediately). Google’s data supports the expectations, with some surprises.
Of all the searches for national restaurants on February 14, 62% were from high-end mobile devices. Google is only claiming the numbers for national restaurants because of the variance from local to local and the difficulty in identifying what is and is not a restaurant in unfamiliar areas. It is quite likely, however, that the number is across the entire restaurant category and not just applicable to national chains.
Clicks for directions to florists also showed a predictable jumped. Another metric Google did track was the clicks to call a location. The numbers on these clicks rose dramatically on February 14 especially in the late morning hours probably as people were lining up their lunch plans.
The lesson for digital marketing was already guessed at but the data confirms. Brands, especially restaurants and florists and other vendors of Valentine’s Day appropriate products, need to have a robust local presence. When people are looking for goods they are more likely to do so on their mobile devices. There are a couple of reasons for this. First, people are likely to be out of the house and not around a desktop, or at least a personal computer they are allowed to conduct such searches from. Second, people are interested in finishing their search with a phone call to confirm availability with the vendor. And finally, people need directions to retrieve the product. A local search on a mobile device is the easiest way to satisfy all of these needs. The digital agency needs to make sure its clients are positioned properly for such moments.
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