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 July 2020.
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.
July 2020 Overview
Last month, as we predicted, we saw an increase in sports-related terms making the daily top 3 queries across the month. As the major sports leagues resumed live games, search interest grew around general phrases about the leagues and players in the leagues. The Fourth of July drew people to search for information about the holiday along with the name of a competitive eater, which over the past two years has been a top searched keyword phrase on July 4th. Lastly, there was an uptick in technology terms, driven wholly by news related to TikTok.
Top Keyword Searches
Here's a rundown of the top searched keywords in July 2020. There were 6 phrases that drove over 10 million queries as reported by Google Trends:
- Fourth of July – 7/3/2020 – 10,000,000+ queries
- Naya Rivera – 7/8/2020 – 10,000,000+ queries
- John Travolta – 7/12/2020 – 10,000,000+ queries
- Naya Rivera – 7/13/2020 – 10,000,000+ queries
- Dilhan Eryurt – 7/19/2020 – 10,000,000+ queries
- Pacita Abad – 7/30/2020 – 10,000,000+ queries
Three of the phrases (Fourth of July, Dilhan Eryurt, and Pacita Abad) were driven by clicks on a Google Doodle. The remaining queries are associated with celebrity deaths (although it is curious that “John Travolta” was reported as the top query on July 12th even though it was news of Kelly Preston's death that drove the query volume). While we don't typically report on keywords related to celebrity deaths, we saw an uptick in 10 million+ queried keywords last month, with six in July 2020 and just one in June 2020.
July Holidays
Outside of the big Fourth of July holiday, there were other holidays that cracked the daily top 3 last month:
- 4th of July – 7/4/2020 – 1,000,000+ queries
- National Tequila Day – 7/24/2020 – 200,000+ queries
- National Girlfriends Day – 7/31/2020 – 500,000+ queries
With many Fourth of July events cancelled because of the pandemic, we theorized the search volume would not be as high on the holiday name this year. We pulled this chart to learn more:
The data backed up our notion – the search volume for this phrase was at its lowest volume when compared to the last 5 years.
One traditional brand event that is connected to the Fourth is Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest. The event's name may not drive top 3 keyword level queries for the day, but for the last 2 years, one of the contestants has.
- Joey Chestnut – 7/4/2020 – 500,000+ queries
Joey Chestnut won the contest in 2019 and 2020, and looking at the chart for the last 5 years, the query volume peak occurred in 2018.
Will future generations refer to things being “as American as baseball, apple pie, and Joey Chestnut”?
Potentially.
Another holiday we have been tracking trends over the past two years for is National Tequila Day. With alcohol sales up over the past few months, we thought that we would see a big jump in query volume this year.
Coincidentally, like Joey Chestnut, the query volume peak occurred in July 2018. We theorize that the popularity of these lesser known holidays are dependent on brand promotions. It does show there is opportunity for brands to own relevant, lesser-known holidays with the proper strategy.
The final holiday of our July collection is National Girlfriends Day. Although Google Trends reported the phrase in its top 3 on July 31st, the actual holiday happens on August 1st. The holiday did not make the top 3 in 2019, but it appears the popularity of the phrase has hit a peak in 2020.
Sometimes when we look at the charts, we will see “echos” that are attached to a different date. When we look into the data further, in the case of holidays, it may be that another English speaking country celebrates the same holiday on a different date. For instance, the UK celebrates Mother's Day in March rather than in May like the USA. In this instance, the echoes we see in the chart above are related to National Boyfriends Day (October 3rd). It appears that on Oct. 3rd, there is a spike in queries related to “National Girlfriends Day”. Let's take a look at the trends from last year.
As you can see in 2019, there was more search volume for the phrase “National Girlfriends Day” during the week of National Boyfriends Day than during the week of National Girlfriends Day. You can draw your own conclusions, but we think there are some users who are wondering if there is a corresponding holiday to the Boyfriend one.
Live Sports Are Back and So Are The Queries
Of the 93 queries we recorded for July 2020, 17 of them were related to sports (18 if you count Joey Chestnut – competitive eating is a sport). Here's the rundown of the most popular ones:
- NBA – 7/30/2020 – 2,000,000+ queries
- Joe Kelly – 7/28/2020 – 1,000,000+ queries
- Patrick Mahomes – 7/6/2020 -1,000,000+ queries
- Washington Redskins – 7/12/2020 – 1,000,000+ queries
- Seattle Kraken -7/23/2020 – 1,000,000+ queries
- Washington Redskins – 7/16/2020 – 500,000+ queries
- MLB – 7/27/2020 -500,000+ queries
The NBA resumed play on the 30th and people want to know more. Joe Kelly, a pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers, may have thrown at some Astros hitters intentionally. The NFL had a couple of top keywords: Patrick Mahomes signed a big contract and the Washington Redskins announced they are going to think about – and then later confirmed – they were changing their name. Seattle has a new hockey team – the Kraken – and will join the NHL in the 2021-2022 season. Lastly, MLB started their season, but looking at the numbers, it's clear there wasn't as much interest as the NBA.
With live games resuming, sports-related queries are up. What we haven't seen yet, which was common before the pandemic, were game-related queries; i.e. ‚Äòteam vs. team” queries. We may see those as the leagues continue to play.
TikTok
TikTok hit the headlines a number of times in July. There was a glitch that happened on the 8th where TikToks were shown without likes or views in the U.S. and the U.K for a time that drove queries. The other top keywords were driven by users seeking information about the platform's ban in the USA.
- TikTok ban – 7/31/2020 – 5,000,000+ queries
- TikTok – 7/7/2020 – 1,000,000+ queries
- TikTok – 7/8/2020 – 1,000,000+ queries
- TikTok Banned in US – 7/8/2020 – 500,000+ queries
Beyond being a short video social media platform, it's also an advertising platform that AMP Agency's clients are using for their media buys. Our media team is keeping a close eye on the developments with TikTok and have started plans for media budget reinvestment options for the clients live on platform right now.
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Until next month.
