Official Google Canada Blog: Search Trends

From top dresses to Leo’s big win, Google Trends from the Oscars

Monday, February 29, 2016

As millions of people tuned in to watch the 88th Academy Awards, many also turned to the web to keep up with the action. In fact, Canada was the number one country searching for the Oscars worldwide, followed by the United States and Chile.
We took a look at search interest in across the night’s biggest moments. The award for “most-searched”goes to Leonardo DiCaprio whose acceptance speech for Best Actor was the most-searched moment of the night and most searched speech following the ceremony. Top Searched Oscars Moments.jpg

The 88th Academy Awards also featured several performances showcasing the nominees for Best Original Song. While Sam Smith took home the Oscar for "Writing's on the Wall" from Spectre, Lady Gaga’s performance for "Til It Happens to You" from The Hunting Ground was the most-searched in Canada.
And despite not winning a statue, global search interest for Canada's The Weeknd increased by 488% following his performance. Most searched performances.jpg

The red carpet is many people's favorite part of the show and we wanted to know which gowns caught people's attention. Afterall, Canadians tend to search for the looks they love, more than the looks that fell flat -- “best dressed” is searched 91% more on Google than “worst dressed” in Canada.
The results are in, and this year’s fashion winners are... Most Searched Red Carpet Dresses (1).jpg

Most Searched Red Carpet Dresses (1).jpg

Congratulations to all the winners - both online and offline! For the latest Canadian Google Trends, check back here weekly or follow along.
Posted by Jenn Kaiser, Communications Manager, Google Canada

And the (search) envelope goes to…

Saturday, February 27, 2016

Time to brush up on your movie trivia -- it’s almost Oscar night! Out of the major entertainment awards shows, the Oscars are the most popular in Canada in terms of search volume, and as we discovered in previously patterns in search behavior can help us predict which stars will go home with shiny gold statues.
Best Picture Want help with your Oscar pool? There’s no telling which film will win, but over the past year, the title of top film in Search is The Revenant.

Best Actor and Best Actress All of the Best Actor and Best Actress Nominees have all shown an upward trend in search volume since nominations were announced. When you compare search query volumes for this year’s nominees over the past year, Leonardo DiCaprio (The Revenant) and Jennifer Lawrence (Joy) appear to be Canada’s favourites to win their categories.

Best Supporting Actor and Actress Among this year’s nominees, Kate Winslet saw a huge surge in search volume in January following her nomination. But it is Canada’s sweetheart Rachel McAdams (Spotlight) is the most popular—searches for Rachel in the last 12 months outpace any of the other leading ladies. In the Best Supporting Actor category, Tom Hardy leads in search popularity in Canada, for his role in The Revenant.

Of course, we don’t have a Magic 8-Ball or access to the names in those top-secret envelopes, so our predictions are just that -- but it’s always enjoyable to look at how what people are interested in online plays out in the real world.
Stay up to date on what’s trending on Google in Canada, as we release real-time trends before, during and after this year’s awards ceremony!
Posted by Jenn Kaiser, Communications Manager, Google Canada

Tributes and Trends: the 58th Annual Grammy Awards through the lens of Search

Tuesday, February 16, 2016

As millions of people tuned in to watch the 58th Annual Grammy Awards, many Canadians also turned to the web to keep up with the action. Here's a look at the Grammy nominees and moments that captured Canada’s imagination and brought people to Google Search.
Artists in the spotlight This year’s most searched performance was Broadway musical Hamilton, as Canadians turned online during the cast’s live performance to learn more about the show, the cast and tickets. In fact, searches for Hamilton tickets increased 9X following the performance and 50X following their win for Best Musical Theatre Album.
Sam Hunt and Carrie Underwood’s duet early in the evening was a search favourite, while the Eagles’ tribute to Glenn Frey was also at the front of the search pack. Canadians went to Google to learn more about the band following their performance, many asking “Who are the Eagles?”
Lady Gaga’s tribute to David Bowie was also a top-searched performance, with Gaga roaring through nine of Bowie’s best-known songs in six minutes. During the performance, Canadians searched for the lyrics to many of the favourite hits being performed on stage, but searches were highest for ‘Heroes.’
Here's a look at the nominees and moments that captured Canada’s imagination and brought people to Google Search.

The most searched red carpet looks The red carpet is many people's favorite part of the show. While no Grammy is awarded for "best dressed," we wanted to know which looks caught Canadians attention this year. The results are in and the most searched styles, in the hour after the red carpet show were: Red Carpet.png

Trending questions and artists we’re curious about Canadians also turned to Google to ask questions throughout the Grammy Awards. One of the night’s biggest moments came from an artist that wasn’t even present -- searches for ‘where is Rihanna?’ were trending in Canada, after RiRi dropped out of performing and attending over the weekend. We also saw searches for “Who is…” spike in the Best New Artist category, particularly for country musician Sam Hunt and Tori Kelly, the 23-year-old California pop singer who her start on YouTube. Grammy Qs.png

Search Predictions Before the ceremony started, we shared our “picks”- who would win if the Grammys were determined by search volume in Canada alone. Out of our three Google Search Picks, all three actually won! Best New Artist (1).png

This year's searches during the 58th Annual Grammy Awards and Red Carpet reveal the artists, albums and performances that Canadians love and those we turned online to learn more about. Afterall, Google's users are intrinsically curious. Why else would you search?
Happy searching!
Posted by Jenn Kaiser, Communications Manager, Google Canada

Super Bowl 50: Beyonce, Doritos and the hand jive

Monday, February 8, 2016

This year’s big game was filled with action, nostalgia and lots of star power. With all the excitement on the field, Canadians turned to Google to search for their favorite moments of the game - from going Gaga over the national anthem to an end-zone hand jive. Many of us couldn't get enough of the much-awaited halftime performance and went searching for more: Searches for Coldplay, Beyonce and Bruno Mars spiked dramatically during the halftime show, but the most searched performer during the course of the game was Beyonce.

Sunday's Halftime Show also featured some of the most iconic halftime shows of the past fifty years including the Rolling Stones, Stevie Wonder, Bruce Springsteen, Paul McCartney, Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson, U2 and Katy Perry. Canadians turned online to search for their favourite past performances, with Michael Jackson’s halftime show performance leading the search pack.

In the meantime, football fans in Canada found themselves searching more for the Carolina Panthers than the Denver Broncos during the game, until the Broncos' win when Canadian searches for the Broncos surged.
Big Game Ads
During the game, globally we spent 300k hours watching the big game ads and teaser videos on YouTube and we’ve seen nearly 4 million hours of watch time overall so far. Big game ads and teasers have been watched over 330 million times, with 60% of that coming from mobile devices — the first time the majority of views happened on mobile phones. And that game ain’t over yet. From a witty and sharable PSA to a startling ultrasound, here are the advertisers that Canadians searched for most during the Big Game.

In the years past, we've seen a big spike the day after the game as people get to work on Monday morning and reminisce about their favorite big game Big Game moment. In fact, last year more than 40% of total watch time for big game ads happened in the weeks after the game. So don't forget to vote for your favorite before February 10th at Midnight ET.
The big game might be over, but there's always overtime online! Posted by Jenn Kaiser, Google Canada Communications Manager

Planning Election Day with Google in 4 easy Steps

Sunday, October 18, 2015

Here’s a timely phrase that’s on the mind of a lot of Canadians this year: how to vote.

This election day, Google has the answer to this important question and a whole lot more! From the ballot box to watching live results, here’s what you need to know to participate in your democracy on October 19th.

Step 1: Make sure you know how and where to vote—and who’s on your ballot!

For the first time ever in Canada, simple searches for [how do i vote], [register to vote] and [my election candidates] will confirm what you need to bring to the polls, and will show you who is running in your riding on Monday.

Step 2: Pledge to Vote

You’ve found all the information you need for Monday, but have you pledged to vote yet? Visit our interactive tool and make your pledge to vote today. And don’t forget to challenge your friends and remind them how important it is to head to the polls!

Go to CBCNews.ca/pledge and share why you are turning out to vote.

Step 3: Track the results

After the polls close on Monday, you can track all the real-time election results by searching [election results]. If you use Google Now, you’ll get updates on the winners straight from the app to your smartphone!

Step 4: Watch election night coverage

Tune in to the latest live news coverage from Canadian broadcasters at YouTube.com/elxn42.

Throughout the election, Canadians have turned to YouTube as a source of news, commentary and insight. We’ve tuned into YouTube to watch our leaders debate live, and for the latest election trending videos.

Starting at 5PM on October 19th, tune into the YouTube Canada Elections Hub at youtube.com/elxn42 for live election coverage from Canadians news organizations such as Global News, CBC, RadioCanada and Vice News.

All set Canada? Happy Voting!

Posted by Kate Sokolov, Program Manager, Politics & Elections Google

How Canada searched the #Elxn42 Campaign

Friday, October 16, 2015

As voting day fast approaches, let’s take a step back to look at the issues, stories and leaders Canadians searched over the 78 day election.

Leader Searches

At the outset of the election we looked at the most searched federal leader in each of Canada’s 338 ridings. In the month of July, Stephen Harper was the most searched federal leader in 56% of Canada’s ridings. The number didn’t change much after the campaign got underway, when Stephen Harper remained the most searched leader in 54% of ridings. Justin Trudeau was the top searched leader in 33% of ridings and Thomas Mulcair was the top search in 10% of ridings.

We just ran the numbers for October and have seen a different pattern emerge as the election continues. In October, Justin Trudeau has become the top searched leader in 50% of Canadian ridings, Stephen Harper in 45% of ridings, and Thomas Mulcair in 3%.

A riding-by-riding breakdown of search interest for the federal leaders over the course of the campaign.

#MansbridgeBump

In early September CBC’s Peter Mansbridge sat down with each of the federal leaders. And, with each interview came a jump in searches as Canadians went online to learn more about the various party leaders

Issues

In terms of the issues that have generated the most search interest over the course of the campaign, the refugee crisis and niqab saw the largest spike in searches along with several issues associated with Canada’s economy.

The refugee crisis generated strong search activity across the country. To see what was the top searched issue in your riding, explore this interactive map.

#ComeTogether

The only real competition for Canadian search attention during the campaign was Canada’s own Toronto Blue Jays. So with two big October showdowns looming on the calendar, we took a look at how interest in the Jays compared with interest in our democracy. Looks like a dead heat!

Issues aside, Canadians are clearly passionate about participating in their democracy and making an informed decision come voting day. The top question Canadians searched about the election: When is the election? The answer is, of course, Monday October 19th.

Mark your calendar… and see you at the polls!

Posted by Aaron Brindle, Google Canada

The First Debate of #Elxn42 - Canadians were curious about surpluses, the Senate and separation

Friday, August 7, 2015

Last night, Canadians had their first opportunity to hear directly from Conservative Leader Stephen Harper, NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair, Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau and Green Party Leader Elizabeth May in the inaugural leaders’ debate of #elxn42.

Canadians turn to Google for all sorts of reasons, but the trending questions we saw last night point towards a sense of curiosity about the big issues including the economy and the health of our democracy.

In terms of real-time search interest, we saw the highest number of searches for Justin Trudeau, followed by Stephen Harper. The peak moment for search volume related to the leaders was around 8:50, as Mr. Trudeau and Mr. Mulcair squared off about support for expanded pipelines into eastern Canada.

Mr. Trudeau generated a high volume of search interest across the country, as seen below:

There is still a long way to go before election day, but these searches show us that even on day four of the campaign, Canadians are eager to look beyond the sound bites and to learn more about the issues.

The Google Trends team will share regular updates throughout the election, so follow us at @googlecanada, or check back here for updates!

Posted by Aaron Brindle, Communications & Public Affairs, Google Canada

Google Canada’s Back-to-School Trends Report

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Ahhh, summer. Time to shop for bathing suits, beach towels and… backpacks? That’s right. July is almost over and it’s already time to start shopping for school. But before they step inside a store, today’s back-to-school shoppers do their homework, heading online to find out what trends are hot, where to get them, and how to get the best deals.
And where are we getting inspiration for what to buy? A quarter of Canadian university students saying that they go to YouTube to find out what’s cool to purchase. In fact, Canadian searches for “back to school” on YouTube grew 67% last year, and this year we’ve seen a 120% growth in watchtime of back-to-school videos globally.
It’s only July, and we’ve already seen twice as many back to school videos posted on YouTube as last year, including perennial favourites like hair tutorials and dorm room tours, along with rising trends like nail art (which we’ve already watched 2 million hours of on YouTube this year!)
So what items are likely to be on Canadians’ back-to-school shopping list? We looked at search trends year-over-year and identified three distinct patterns:

Rising stars - you can think of these as fast fashion trends, they’re things that get really hot quickly, but can fizzle out; we’re searching for them a lot.

Seasonal Growth - these are trends that last for several seasons, they have staying power; these searches are steadily increasing year-over-year.

Seasonal Decline - these are trends that are slowly on their way out; we’re searching less for them now than we used to.

Canada’s Back-to-School Hot (and Not) List

Happy shopping!
Posted by Jenn Kaiser, Communications Manager, Google Canada

2014: Canada’s #YearInSearch

Tuesday, December 16, 2014

2014 was the year Canadians searched for gold in Sochi. We searched for scores in Brazil. We searched for answers on Ebola. We searched for our favourite movies starring Robin Williams. In 2014 the world searched Google two trillion times. And Google’s 14th annual Year In Search offers a revealing look at the people, places and events that sent Canadians searching for answers this past year.

Official Canada Blog