In our continuing series of examining Google Search Trends to gain insights into the top keywords queried in the USA, we present our findings for February 2021.
Every day, we capture the top three keyword phrases in terms of search volume as reported by Google Trends (US Only). Each term has an estimated query volume attached to it, which we also record. The number scale tops out at 10,000,000+ with a lower limit of 200,000+. After the conclusion of the month, we look at the phrases we collected along with their volumes to get an understanding of what drove queries for the month.
What Drove People To Search In February 2021
With record cold in parts of the country and a pandemic still raging on, it was clear from Google Trends that we were staying home and watching TV. Looking back at the month, we saw many of the phrases that made the daily top 3 were geared towards learning more about programming on our home screens. Bookended by the Super Bowl and the Golden Globes, there was a large percentage of phrases in our collection that were categorized as Entertainment keywords. Sure, there were some phrases related to holidays, politics, and stocks, but it was mostly about what we wanted to watch or had just watched.
Here are the top Google Trends keywords of February 2021, as analyzed by AMP Agency.
The Ten Million Plus Club
The number of phrases that drove over 10 million queries was more modest in February as compared to January 2021.
- Super Bowl 2021 – 2/6/2021 – 10,000,000+ queries
- NFL – 2/7/2021 – 10,000,000+ queries
- Valentine's Day – 2/13/2021 – 10,000,000+ queries
- Tiger Woods – 2/23/2021 – 10,000,000+ queries
As is typical for any year, the Super Bowl drives a large amount of search activity. The first two phrases in the list occurred during the weekend of the big game. We'll examine the rest of the phrases that made the top 3 that were related to that sporting event in the next section.
Google posted a Doodle for Valentine's Day and every click on it was recorded as a query of “Valentine's Day”. As we have seen before, the dates sometimes shift for holidays/Doodle due to how Google Trends reports the data. Lastly, Tiger Woods was in a car accident and people sought more information about it. Let's hope for a quick recovery.
Super Bowl Weekend and The Popularity of The NFL
When we first started collecting Google Trends data on a daily basis back in 2019, we noticed early on that the Super Bowl was a topic that garnered a large number of queries. Most of the interest was about the game itself, but there's also search volume for related events like the halftime show. Outside of the phrase that made the 10 million plus club, these are the top queries from Super Bowl weekend in the order they were reported.
- Super Bowl time – 2/5/2021 – 500,000+ queries
- Puppy Bowl 2021 – 2/5/2021 – 200,000+ queries
- Shailene Woodley – 2/6/2021 – 2,000,000+ queries
- Aaron Rodgers – 2/6/2021 – 1,000,000+ queries
- The Weeknd – 2/7/2021 – 5,000,000+ queries
- CBS – 2/7/2021 – 1,000,000+ queries
Although the game has been played at the same time for as long as we can remember, people do search to make sure it hasn't changed. Certainly the Puppy Bowl is very important to learn more about as the query volume shows. We're taking a little bit of liberty with the inclusion of Shailene Woodley and Aaron Rodgers in this list since they weren't a part of the “Big Game”, but after Aaron thanked his fiancée in his NFL MVP award acceptance speech, Google search was set afire. We're not sure if the announcement of his engagement was planned to be a part of his speech, but Aaron's good about being a part of the conversation during Super Bowl weekend even if he isn't playing in the game. Finally, on the day of the game, people sought more information about The Weeknd because of his performance during the halftime show and, for some reason, the network that carried the game.
Now that the NFL season is over, we thought we'd look at the search popularity of the league as compared to previous years. The pandemic reduced the sports audience's search interest in all major sports leagues, but the NFL seemingly fared the best based on what we see in these charts:
In the 5 year timeframe view, the 2020-2021 season looks more like the 2018-2019 in terms of search volume.
In the 16+ year view, you can see that the peaks are different. With no pre-season, the buzz was dampened at the beginning of the season, but the playoffs drove a slightly larger peak of search volume as compared to the one seen in early 2019.
The Other February Holidays
Besides Valentine's Day, there were other holidays in February that people were compelled to use Google to conduct searches.
- Groundhog Day – 2/1/2021 – 2,000,000+ queries
- Groundhog Day 2021 – 2/2/2021 – 2,000,000+ queries
- Lunar New Year – 2/11/2021 – 1,000,000+ queries
- Ash Wednesday 2021- 2/16/2021 – 1,000,000+ queries
Clearly, a large number of searchers believe that a groundhog named Punxsutawney Phil can really predict the weather as seen by the 2 day query volumes. Lunar New Year showcased as a Google Doodle this year (Happy Year of the Ox) and Ash Wednesday 2021 made the top three on Fat Tuesday.
Impeachment Trial and Politics-Related Keywords
January 2021 had more keywords related to politics with the Capitol riot and the Inauguration being the biggest drivers. We still had an impeachment trial and a weather emergency to stoke search interest in February:
- Liz Cheney – 2/3/2021 – 200,000+ queries
- Impeachment trial – 2/8/2021 – 1,000,000+ queries
- Ron Wright – 2/8/2021 – 200,000+ queries
- Stacey Plaskett – 2/9/2021 – 500,000+ queries
- Stacey Plaskett – 2/10/2021 – 500,000+ queries
- Ted Cruz – 2/18/2021 – 2,000,000+ queries
Liz Cheney and Stacey Plaskett were queried because of their involvement in the Impeachment trial. Ron Wright, the US representative from Texas, died of COVID-19 and Ted Cruz, a senator from that state, made the news because of his trip to Mexico while the majority of his constituents were dealing with a power outage and freezing temperatures.
More Stock Market Phrases
With the meme stock movement that hit a peak last month, AMP has started a new keyword category called “Stocks”. Here are the 3 most popular terms from last month:
- Tilray stock – 2/9/2021 – 200,000+ queries
- Bumble stock – 2/11/2021 – 500,000+ queries
- GME – 2/24/2021 – 2,000,000+ queries
Tilray is a Canadian pharmaceutical and cannabis company that got a boost in its stock price with the deal to import and distribute medical cannabis in the UK. The company behind the dating app Bumble went public and GameStock was back in the top 3 most queried terms on the 24th with more support from Reddit users.
Stay Home and Watch Something
During the pandemic, the number of phrases making the daily top 3 that are related to television shows and movies increased. February 2021 had a long list of phrases:
- Firefly Lane – 2/3/2021 – 500,000+ queries
- Malcom and Marie – 2/5/2021 – 5,000,000+ queries
- Britney Spears documentary – 2/8/2021 – 500,000+ queries
- To All The Boys I Loved Before 3 – 2/11/2021 – 500,000+ queries
- Judas and the Black Messiah – 2/12/2021 – 500,000+ queries
- Cruella – 2/16/2021 – 200,000+ queries
- Nomadland – 2/19/2021 – 200,000+ queries
- Spider-Man: No Way Home – 2/23/2021 – 200,000+ queries
- Golden Globes 2021 – 2/26/2021 – 500,000+ queries
- Tom and Jerry – 2/26/2021 – 500,000+ queries
- Golden Globes 2021 – 2/28/2021 – 2,000,000+ queries
The AMP team wholeheartedly believes the popularity and financial success of a TV or Film production can be predicted by its search interest. Did any of the shows or movies that you streamed last month make this list? Are you excited about any of the upcoming films that had a trailer drop (Cruella) or a title revealed (Spider-Man: No Way Home)? If so, you're part of a large group.
Phrases related to a particular Disney+ show made the daily top 3 numerous times in February. Due to the show's mysterious nature, it was a good fit for Google as viewers went to the search engine to learn more (Warning: spoiler-ish phrases ahead).
- WandaVision episode 5 – 2/4/2021 – 200,000+ queries
- Agatha Harkness – 2/18/2021 – 1,000,000+ queries
- Scarlet Witch – 2/25/2021 – 500,000+ queries
Hopefully soon, we won't be cooped up in the house too much longer. Warmer weather and a larger vaccinated population should help.
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Until next month.
