When The Dust Finally Settles  A Comprehensive Study Of The Actual Effects For Brands That Experience High-Profile Cultural Crises    More than ever, people are pressuring brands to improve society. And it’s not just about cleaning up their own act, it’s pressure to affect change on a wider scale. This leads to drama – sometimes high profile – when people think companies have misstepped. It results in bad press, boycotts, and more. We decided to tackle the topic from multiple angles with our own research. We selected a range of brands from diverse industries who have found themselves in hot water, and we did an in-depth analysis. The result of our research is significant. AMP Agency is now able to report how customer behavior actually changes after high profile incidents – from search and social media behavior to sales. For brands seeking to thrive in this new CSR environment – an endeavor that has lately felt like guesswork – we bring comprehensive, data-fueled guidance.   Download the full report here. 

  AMP Agency’s Top Trends of Summer 2022 Predictions Report   AMP Agency has published a report as a part of their Search Insights service. This report is available for download and provides audience insights to help inform your marketing and business decisions for the coming season.   AMP Agency’s VP of SEO John Krochune thinks that search interest is a strong indicator of future trends.  “My team and I dive deep into historical search query data, using a variety of tools, to uncover trends. I think this public set of audience data is being underutilized in marketing and we are publishing this report to provide a wealth of information that other sources may not provide.”   The Top Trends of Summer 2022 report has insights on 40 topics across 8 different categories including travel, fashion, and entertainment.  The data presented in the report is pulled straight from Google’s Keyword Planner (US only) and is paired with our analysis of why we think the topic will increase in popularity this summer.   Download our Summer Trends report and learn more about our hot predictions for this coming season.

2022: THE YEAR OF THE PODCAST It's hard to find someone who isn't plugged into at least one podcast. And the numbers support that. Podcast listeners have been steadily climbing, increasing by around 20 million each year. And according to Statista, forecasters are projecting podcast listeners will surpass 160 million in 2023. This rise in podcast listening is a significant opportunity for advertisers to reach listeners through the voices they know and trust. So we decided to look within, probing AMPers to share their all-time favorite podcasts. If you're in need of fresh, easy listening material or simply want to dive into the world of podcasts, here's a lineup of AMP's top picks of 2022:  The A-List Podcast: Origin stories about how some of your favorite ad campaigns came to life and how the people that made them got to making them.  This American Life: A weekly podcast around the American experience. Each week they choose a theme and gather different stories around that theme. What AMPers are saying: Love the storytelling. Sometimes delightful, and sometimes devastating. They always tell diverse and unique stories, doing their due diligence to research and interview a range of memorable characters.  The Experiment: A show about people navigating our country's contradictions. Hosted by the Atlantic.  What AMPers are saying: Love their unbiased and bite-sized deep dives into different fascinating and relevant topics about our ever-evolving country Getting Curious with Jonathan Van Ness: Curious about everything under the sun? JVN chats with experts in their respective fields to create awareness about topics that we may not have ever thought of digging into.  What AMPers are saying: Super open-minded and interesting topics from pop culture, animals, history, and events that have shaped the world as we know it.  HBR Ideacast: A weekly podcast featuring the leading thinkers in business and management. What AMPers are saying: I like how it's a quick podcast that covers some innovative ideas that often challenge the norms in modern business.  Hidden Brain: A conversation about life's hidden patterns. What AMPers are saying: I like the interesting psychological insights, plus they can be relevant to our work in marketing.  The Huberman Lab: Stanford professor and neurobiologist Andrew Huberman discusses science and science-based tools for everyday life.  What AMPers are saying: I like how they explain how different parts of the nervous system affect our bodies and everyday life and provide tips to improve things like sleep, skill learning, and more in a digestible format.  In Search of Hope Podcast: Inspiring interviews with people from all walks of life that endured and overcame hardships. The host, Ugo, and the people he interviews shed light on specific topics that can bring insight and hope to people that need it during dark times. What AMPers are saying: I like hearing how others go through things and hold their heads up high. It's helpful when I think I'm alone in hardships, and it's very open-minded and explorative. Ugo's also a great orator and storyteller! LORE: Frightening history on some good ol' folklore. What AMPers are saying: All the spooks are great for long car rides. Constantly on the edge of my seat. National Park After Dark: Their tagline is "A podcast for the morbid outdoor enthusiast," but it's more than that. It's terrific storytelling about crazy things that have happened in National Parks, and it's also educational, with a lot of great historical and safety content.  What AMPers are saying: Some of the episodes are pretty dark, but overall I've learned so much about nature, indigenous communities, animals, etc. It's such an interesting listen! The Secret Room: Interviews with guests about the deepest and darkest secrets they keep.  Smartless: Jason Bateman, Will Arnett, and Sean Hayes interview surprise celebrities guests. Hilarity ensues.   What AMPers are saying: The dynamic between the hosts is very entertaining, and they get great guests. Song Exploder: A podcast where musicians take apart their songs and, piece by piece, tell the story of how they were made. What AMPers are saying: Learning different musicians' creative processes and how they think and play is fascinating. Stuff You Should Know: Josh and Chuck, two writers from How Stuff Works, cover a different topic each episode. If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Niño, true crime, or Rosa Parks, then look no further.  What AMPers are saying: You learn something new each episode, and the hosts have a knack for making complicated ideas easy to understand. Even the most random topics (history of the ballpoint pen) are interesting. The hosts have great chemistry and banter.  Unlocking Us with Brené Brown: Brené Brown is a researcher and storyteller who's spent the past two decades studying courage, vulnerability, shame, and empathy. While many things remain uncertain, one thing is for sure, we love Podcasts here at AMP. Stay tuned for more of what AMPers are listening to in the coming future.  

In times of social distancing, how can we still connect with friends and play sports and games? We looked to Google Trends to find out which backyard games were more than just a COVID fad. We found that both cornhole and pickleball saw highs in search volume in the summer of 2020, and we predict that they will continue to trend up in 2021. Pickleball Pickleball had a spike in the summer months of 2020 and continues to rise in popularity through April 2021. According to Google Trends, the keyword “pickleball” had its highest search interest over the past 5 years in late April/Early May 2021. Users were mostly interested in the rules of the game and how to play. Some of the most popular pickleball keywords and questions were: Keyword April 2019 April 2020 April 2021 pickleball 246,000+ queries 201,000+ queries 550,000+ queries what is pickleball 22,200+ queries 18,100+ queries 60,500+ queries how to play pickleball 6,600+ queries 8,100+ queries 18,100+ queries pickleball court near me 6,600+ queries 6,600+ queries 40,500+ queries how to score in pickleball 320+ queries 390+ queries 880+ queries   Cornhole Looking at Google Trends over the last 5 years, we’ve seen seasonal spikes for cornhole searches in the summer months. However, cornhole saw its largest search interest in June 2020. As of the end of May 2021, this trend looks like it will continue – and potentially even pass – the volume of searches that we saw in 2020.  Keyword April 2019 April 2020 April 2021 cornhole 110,000+ queries 135,000+ queries 135,000+ queries how to make cornhole boards 5,400+ queries 18,100+ queries 8,100+ queries how to make cornhole bags 1,300+ queries 4,400+ queries 1,900+ queries bean bag toss 12,100+ queries 14,800+ queries 9,900+ queries custom cornhole board 8,100+ queries 12,100+ queries 14,800+ queries Yard Games Lastly, we found that people were searching for yard games in general, which may have led them to find cornhole or pickleball if they were previously unaware. Consumers were searching for any ways they could get outside and have some fun while social distancing. Some of the most popular keywords related to yard games we found were: Keyword April 2019 April 2020 April 2021 yard games 18,100+ queries 33,100+ queries 22,200+ queries lawn games 9,900+ queries 14,800+ queries 14,800+ queries backyard games 8,100+ queries 22,200+ queries 14,800+ queries backyard sports 1,900+ queries 6,600+ queries 2,900+ queries diy yard games 1,000+ queries 1,900+ queries 720+ queries   Game On What may have started out as a socially-distant, at-home activity novelty in the summer of 2020 has progressed into a behavioral change. These backyard games and sports have taken on a life of their own as more people become aware of the fun that could be had in their own yards. Will this trend continue beyond 2021? We can’t say for certain; but as for this summer, the popularity of these backyard games is increasing. Like how we pulled these insights from search data? Learn more about our SEO agency services.

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 March 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. The Cruelest Month Is March We know that T.S. Eliot, in his poem “The Waste Land”, stated that April is cruelest month, but we beg to differ–and we aren’t the only ones. Here in the Northeastern part of the USA, winter sticks around too long and the thought of being cooped up in the house for another month is enough to make us loathe March. Last year, the lockdown started in March, so we can add to the list of bad stuff that happens in this month. Luckily, there were more things to distract us this year, like The Grammys, movie releases and NCAA basketball. Let’s take a look at what drove people to search last month. Here are the top Google Trends keywords of March 2021, as analyzed by AMP Agency. March 13th - Wha’ Happened? March is so cruel, Google Trends skipped a day. For some reason, Google Trends didn’t post any information for Saturday, March 13th. There appears to have been a glitch that lasted over 24 hours. From the screenshot, you can see that March 14th was also affected. Typically, for any date, the top 20 phrases are posted in the Trending Searches module. On the 14th, only the top 5 were reported. It’s a good thing we don’t use Google Trends in place of our calendar because we would be at least a day behind while writing this article.   Coming In Like A Lion Along with the March 13th glitch, we had a doubled query count on the first of the month. Dr. Seuss - 3/1/2021 - 2,000,000+ queries Dr. Seuss - 3/1/2021 - 1,000,000+ queries The announcement from Dr. Seuss Enterprises stating that they will stop publishing six of its books did stir users to search for more information but we’re not sure why this query had to be published twice. March is so cruel. What Keywords Were Searched The Most in March There were four phrases that drove over 10 million queries in March 2021.  Texas - 3/2/2021 - 10,000,000+ queries Meghan Markle - 3/7/2021 - 10,000,000+ queries St. Patrick's Day - 3/16/2021 - 10,000,000+ queries Spring season - 3/19/2021 - 10,000,000+ queries Texas was hit with extremely cold temperatures and massive power outages in the beginning of March. The Oprah Winfrey interview with Meghan Markle and Prince Harry was quite the bombshell and people wanted to learn more about it. This interview drove a number of related phrases that will be examined in the next section. The other two phrases were driven by Google Doodles where clicks on the altered logo are registered as queries.  About That Oprah Interview As stated, the Oprah Interview had some lasting effects in the daily top 3 most searched keywords: Meghan Markle - 3/3/2021 - 200,000+ queries Piers Morgan - 3/8/2021 - 500,000+ queries CBS Oprah interview - 3/8/2021 - 500,000+ queries Piers Morgan - 3/9/2021 - 1,000,000+ queries Piersmorgan - 3/10/2021 - 1,000,000+ queries Before the interview aired, Meghan Markle was in the news because an investigation was started into her alleged bullying of two personal assistants that forced them to leave their positions. After the interview aired, the UK broadcaster Piers Morgan reacted to the story Good Morning Britain, which led to him walking off the set and quitting the show. Other Holiday Queries St. Patrick’s Day and the first day of Spring were the most popular dates, driven by Google Doodles. Here’s the list of the other top searched March holiday related keywords. International Women's Day - 3/7/2021 - 2,000,000+ queries St. Patrick's Day 2021 - 3/16/2021 - 1,000,000+ queries St. Patrick's Day - 3/16/2021 - 1,000,000+ queries Leprechaun - 3/17/2021 - 200,000+ queries April Fools pranks - 3/31/2021 - 500,000+ queries International Women’s Day gained in search popularity year over year. Looking at the 5 year trend, there were more searches for the holiday in 2021 than in 2020 and 2019. AMP Agency celebrated the day this year and you can read more about it in this post. Entertainment There were a few movies that were released during March 2021 that made the daily top 3. Also, the Grammys were held last month, which is unusual because they are typically held in late January or early February. Raya and the Last Dragon - 3/5/2021 - 500,000+ queries Coming to America 2 - 3/4/2021 - 2,000,000+ queries Grammys 2021 - 3/15/2021 - 5,000,000+ queries Justice League Snyder Cut - 3/18/2021 - 2,000,000+ queries Godzilla vs Kong - 3/31/2021 - 2,000,000+ queries The four movies that are listed above had the highest search volumes in the month of March. We like to use the search interest in films on their opening days as an indication of how many people are going to watch, either in theaters or at home. It’s curious that Disney’s Raya and the Last Dragon did not make the 2 million plus query mark.  The 63rd annual Grammy Awards reportedly had less than half the audience tune in to watch the show live in 2021 vs. 2020.  The search volume was down year over year but not by 50%: According to the same reports, streaming of the event was up 83%. From our search data analysis, it appears that audience interest in the awards show is down but not dramatically so. Politics Thankfully, with no raid on the Capitol or impeachment trial this month, there were much fewer keywords related to politics making the daily top 3 in March 2021.  Kyrsten Sinema - 3/5/2021 - 500,000+ queries Covid relief bill - 3/10/2021 - 200,000+ queries Matt Gaetz - 3/30/2021 - 1,000,000+ queries The senior United States Senator from Arizona made headlines with her vote on the minimum wage bill last month. The H.R.1319 - American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 became law on the 11th and the announcement that Matt Gaetz is facing an inquiry from the Justice Department made headlines on the 30th. NCAA Basketball We guess they don’t call it March Madness for nothing. The NCAA Basketball tournament was back this year and queries related to it took up a lot of the top 3 this month. Check out the timeline of these 15 keyword phrases as the tourney progressed. Michigan basketball - 3/12/2021 - 200,000+ queries March Madness 2021 - 3/14/2021 - 1,000,000+ queries NCAA Tournament - 3/18/2021 - 2,000,000+ queries Oral Roberts - 3/19/2021 - 1,000,000+ queries Syracuse basketball - 3/19/2021 - 500,000+ queries Abilene Christian - 3/20/2021 - 500,000+ queries VCU basketball - 3/20/2021 - 500,000+ queries Oral Roberts - 3/21/2021 - 1,000,000+ queries Illinois basketball - 3/21/2021 - 1,000,000+ queries Michigan basketball - 3/22/2021 - 500,000+ queries Oral Roberts - 3/27/2021 - 5,000,000+ queries Syracuse basketball - 3/27/2021 - 5,000,000+ queries Alabama Basketball - 3/28/2021 - 500,000+ queries Gonzaga basketball - 3/28/2021 - 200,000+ queries UCLA basketball - 3/30/2021 - 1,000,000+ queries The maddest thing about the tournament? The champion isn’t crowned until April. We’ll have to wait until the next article to discuss it. So cruel. Thanks for reading. If you liked this article, we invite you to learn more about our SEO services. Until next month.

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. Thanks for reading. If you liked this article, we invite you to learn more about our SEO services. Until next month.  

Console wars were back in late 2020 with the release of the next gen systems. Although one console was the clear winner, both Xbox Series X and PS5 saw record numbers for units sold. We looked to Google search trends to see which console would come out on top. As we continuously look at search trends throughout the year, we noticed that one console stood out over the other. We wanted to see if we could use this data to predict which console would sell more units. Major Date Announcements On September 9th, Microsoft announced that the Xbox Series X would release November 10th. Microsoft also announced the price of both editions, $499 for the Xbox Series X and $299 for the all-digital Xbox Series S. Pre-orders were announced to go live September 22nd. Sony did not release their pre-order or release date info for another week. During the PlayStation Showcase on September 16th, Sony announced the PS5 would release November 12th and would cost $499 ($399 for the all-digital). Sony then ended the event with a surprise announcement that pre orders would go live the following day, September 17th. Pre Orders Google searches for both Xbox Series X and PS5 skyrocketed after the announcements. The search queries with the highest increase in volume were queries related pre orders, price, release date, and retailer availability. Comparing exact match queries, PS5 had almost 4 times as many searches as Xbox Series X for pre orders, price, and release date. According to search trends, the most popular retailer to pre-order an Xbox from was Amazon, and for PS5 was Walmart. Xbox searches September 2020: Xbox series x pre order – 1,800,000+ queries    Xbox series x price – 550,000+ queries    Xbox series x release date – 370,000+ queries Xbox series x pre order amazon – 110,000+ queries PS5 searches September 2020: PS5 pre order – 7,500,000+ queries PS5 price – 1,800,000+ queries PS5 release date – 1,500,000+ queries PS5 pre order Walmart – 300,000+ queries Post Launch According to Google trends, search interest for the PS5 pre orders was double that of Xbox Series X pre orders. The sales numbers confirmed these trends. Through the first 4 weeks of sales, the PS5 sold 1.5 times more units than the Xbox, both globally and in the US. Consoles sold globally through first 4 weeks: PS5 Global sales – 3,368,098 units Xbox Series X global sales – 1,817,303 units Consoles sold domestically through first 4 weeks: PS5 US sales: 1,389,963 units Xbox Series X US sales: 988,641 units After launch, we saw “restock” queries skyrocket as retailers everywhere were completely sold out. We saw similar trends here as we did with pre order queries, with PS5 restock queries outnumbering Xbox Series X queries almost 4 to 1. “Restock” searches November 2020: PS5 restock – 2,200,000+ queries Xbox series x restock – 500,000+ queries “Restock” searches December 2020: PS5 restock – 5,000,000+ queries Xbox series x restock – 800,000+ queries Overwhelming Demand Crashes Retailer Websites Both consoles saw an unprecedented demand online due to COVID-19 restrictions at physical retail locations. This caused retail websites to struggle to keep up with the demand. In some cases, the demand was too much, and the websites went down temporarily. When these sites were down, consumers turned to Google search for answers. During the month of September, the Best Buy website went down multiple times. The queries “is best buy website down” and “best buy site down” had the most volume during that time. “is best buy website down – 5,400+ queries “best buy site down – 2,400+ queries During November, the Walmart website went down on multiple occasions. The queries “Walmart website down” and “Walmart site crash” had the most volume during that time. “Walmart website down” – 6,600+ queries “Walmart site crash” - 5,400+ queries As we continued to track search interest daily, we found there was more buzz for the PS5 over the Xbox Series X. When we compared the most popular keywords for each, PS5 queries had over twice as much volume as Xbox queries. We were able to accurately predict that PS5 would outsell the Xbox Series X, as the search trend data directly correlated to sales. All brands should be paying attention to search trends in order to have a better understanding of the marketplace, their own brand health, and the search interest in their competition. If you liked this article, we invite you to learn more about our SEO services.

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 January 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. The First Month of 2021 Well, we’re off to quite a start in 2021. There was a notion that with the flip of the calendar year the entire world would improve automatically. Now, we should all realize that years are a human construct and large changes to society don’t happen overnight. With that stated, we saw many historical developments in the month of January and the phrases we collected from Google Trends reflected those changes. One of the biggest shifts was related to how we categorized the search terms. We had to create a category called “Stocks” because of actions that people wanted to know more about that occurred in the later half of the month.  Here’s is the month that was by top Google Trends keywords, as analyzed by AMP Agency. January’s Top Queried Phrases There were a good number of phrases that were queried more that 10 million times over the course of a day in January.  Not all of them were driven by Google Doodles, most were driven by the need to know more about an event. Georgia Senate race - 1/4/2021 - 10,000,000+ queries Georgia election - 1/5/2021 - 10,000,000+ queries James Naismith - 1/14/2021 - 10,000,000+ queries Patrick Mahomes - 1/16/2021 - 10,000,000+ queries Martin Luther King Day - 1/17/2021 - 10,000,000+ queries Conor McGregor - 1/23/2021 - 10,000,000+ queries GameStop stock - 1/27/2021 - 10,000,000+ queries The first two keywords in our list are related to the United States Senate special election that was held in Georgia on January 5th.  These phrases were the most queried of all the politics-related keywords of the month, although there were a large group of them driven by political events that are examined in the next two sections.  The two Google Doodle driven keywords were James Naismith, the inventor of the game of basketball, and Martin Luther King Day, which celebrated the national holiday and day of service that honors the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.  There were two sports-related keywords with over 10 million queries: Patrick Mahomes suffered a concussion in a NFL playoff game and Conor McGregor got knocked out during his bout at UFC 257. The world of sports was a main driver of search interest in January and we’ll explore the keywords that drove over 5 million queries in a section below. Lastly, actions in the US stock market drove more search volume in January 2021 than any other month since the beginning of 2019. The top query was GameStop stock on the 27th, but there were several others that piqued the interest of users trying to learn more and understand why certain stock prices were soaring. The End Of One  Presidency... The Georgia special election keywords were the most popular and they were a precursor to the keywords queried related to political events that happened in the last days of Trump’s Presidency. The following list presents the phrases of what people were searching before, during, and after the storming of the United States Capitol. Trump - 1/5/2021 - 5,000,000+ queries 25th Amendment - 1/6/2021 - 5,000,000+ queries Capitol - 1/6/2021 - 5,000,000+ queries News - 1/6/2021 - 5,000,000+ queries Brian Sicknick - 1/7/2021 - 500,000+ queries Parler - 1/8/2021 - 2,000,000+ queries Insurrection Act - 1/10/2021 - 1,000,000+ queries Trump impeachment - 1/11/2021 - 500,000+ queries 25th Amendment - 1/11/2021 - 500,000+ queries Impeachment - 1/12/2021 - 2,000,000+ queries The one interesting note from a search keyword/Google Trends reporting standpoint is the phrase of “News” from the 6th of January.  It’s as if we didn’t have any words to help guide our search. ...And The Beginning Of Another. With the new administration getting sworn in, there was increased search volume around the new President and Vice President and the Inauguration. Garth Brooks - 1/18/2021 - 500,000+ queries Inauguration - 1/19/2021 - 5,000,000 + queries Amanda Gorman - 1/19/2021 - 2,000,000+ queries Joe Biden - 1/19/2021 - 2,000,000+ queries Kamala Harris - 1/20/2021 - 2,000,000+ queries Poet Laureate - 1/20/2021 - 1,000,000+ queries Lady Gaga - 1/20/2021 - 1,000,000+ queries Jill Biden - 1/21/2021 - 1,000,000+ queries With all respect to Garth Brooks and Lady Gaga, the real big star coming out of the Inauguration was Amanda Gorman according to Google Trends. Fanatical About Finances As we stated in the beginning of this post, we had to create a new category for our keyword collections because of the number of keywords related to stocks. The highest queried phrase was “GameStop stock” on the 27th with over 10 million queries but here are the other stock-related keywords that made the daily top 3: GameStop - 1/21/2021 - 1,000,000+ queries GameStop stock - 1/25/2021 - 1,000,000+ queries GME - 1/25/2021 - 1,000,000+ queries GameStop stock price - 1/28/2021 - 1,000,000+ queries American Airlines stock - 1/28/2021 - 200,000+ queries Robinhood - 1/27/2021 - 5,000,000+ queries AMC Stock - 1/31/2021 - 5,000,000+ queries Along with the GameStop inquiries, the other companies mentioned are American Airlines and AMC. Certainly Reddit and Robinhood have changed the game of individual stock trading. Another financial topic that has been rising in search interest over the past few months is Cryptocurrency.  Here are the top terms from January 2021:  Bitcoin price - 1/2/2021 - 500,000+ queries Bitcoin - 1/11/2021 - 500,000+ queries Dogecoin - 1/27/2021 - 5,000,000+ queries Bitcoin’s price hit new highs twice in January along with Dogecoin, which is another cryptocurrency that was introduced in 2013, saw its price skyrocket as Reddit members and Elon Musk brought attention to it amid the GameStop short squeeze.  Lastly, many people were also interested in making a lot of money for low effort the old fashioned way - the Lottery: Mega Millions - 1/12/2021 - 2,000,000+ queries Powerball - 1/13/2021 - 1,000,000+ queries Mega Millions drawing - 1/15/2021 - 1,000,000+ queries Mega Millions - 1/22/2021 - 5,000,000+ queries With prizes ranging from 100s of millions to 1 billion dollars, users were very interested in the results of these lotteries. GridIron Football Dominates When we looked past the 10 million plus queries that were sports-related, we found that the 5 million plus queries were all North American football-related (not to be confused with football that we call soccer. People search for that type of football a lot in the USA), Ohio State Football - 1/1/2021 - 5,000,000+ queries Steelers - 1/9/2021 - 5,000,000+ queries Drew Brees - 1/17/2021 - 5,000,000+ queries Green Bay Packers - 1/24/2021 - 5,000,000+ queries Chiefs - 1/24/2021 - 5,000,000+ queries Ohio State won the College National Championship game this year as the Steelers took an early exit in the playoffs.  Drew Brees called it a career and the Green Bay Packers lost to Tom Brady’s Buccaneers.  Lastly, the Kansas City Chief made their way to the SuperBowl for the second year in a row. Next month, we’ll showcase how the major sports leagues fared in the times of COVID-19.  We’ll have a 12 month sample set by the time we’re writing up the February 2021 post. Thanks for reading. If you liked this article, we invite you to learn more about our SEO services. Until next month.

2021 Edelman Trust Barometer Reveals Brand Leaders Expected to Take Lead on Social Issues Each year, global communications firm Edelman releases its Trust Barometer — a survey-driven report of how trusted governments, NGOs, businesses, and media are around the world. The 2021 Edelman Trust Barometer draws on survey responses from 33,000 individuals in 28 countries. It reveals insights about both the general population (ages 18+) and informed public (college-educated, ages 25-64, in the top 25% of household income in their country’s age group). This year’s Edelman Trust Barometer notably uncovers a growing distrust of government in the U.S. and China, and increased expectations for business leaders. Here are 10 key takeaways for brands, marketers, and advertisers: Business is more trusted than government, NGOs, and media in 18 of 27 countries surveyed. Community organizations, local leaders, and scientists are more trusted than government leaders, religious leaders, journalists, and CEOs. CEO credibility has dramatically declined in India, Brazil, Indonesia, Argentina, Russia, France, and Japan during the past year. Trust in search engines, traditional media, owned media, and social media has declined. People are placing more importance on information literacy. 68% of those surveyed believe CEOs should step in when the government does not fix societal problems. 66% think CEOs should take the lead on change rather than waiting for the government to impose change on them. 65% believe CEOs should hold themselves accountable to the public and not just to the board of directors or stockholders. 86% expect CEOs to speak out publicly about one or more of these societal changes: pandemic impact, job automation, societal issues, and local community issues. 68% agree that consumers should have the power to force corporations to change. So what does this mean for your brand? With consumer trust in business and expectations for brand leaders steadily rising, it is essential that you understand how to build trust with your audience. Read on to learn how you can inspire confidence and loyalty among your current and potential customers.   Get involved with grassroots organizations that your community cares about. Partner with local non-profits, small businesses, and community leaders to engage with social causes that matter to your audience. Make sure you’re reaching out to organizations and influencers who can authentically connect with your brand. For example, during International Women’s Month,  AMP helped create PUMA’s “Do You” campaign, which sparks conversation around female empowerment. The campaign features professional basketball player Skylar Diggins-Smith and New York City Ballet principal dancer Lauren Lovette, athletes who volunteer with programs that uplift young women. When you have a great brand-cause and brand-influencer fit like this, authenticity is sure to follow. Invest in influencer partnerships. According to Business Insider, brands are projected to spend $15 billion on influencer marketing by 2022. And that’s no surprise given that 1 in 5 Gen Zers and millennials in the U.S. and UK makes purchases inspired by influencer or celebrity social media posts, as evidenced by a 2019 survey from GlobalWebIndex. Influencer partnerships are so much more than the stereotypical pastel aesthetics and travel photos we often associate them with. They are powerful resources that can humanize a brand and give your company access to a devoted, loyal fanbase. And fortunately, influencers are not one size fits all. Smaller companies might consider micro influencers (1K to 100K followers) or nano-influencers (under 1K followers), who have the power to attract niche audiences on a lower budget. You don’t need a Hadid sister to make a splash in this industry!  Be transparent and hold your brand accountable. It is no longer enough for brands to exclusively talk about their products and services. Consumers want to know that the companies they buy from have values that resonate with their own. In fact, up to 83% of millennials say it’s important to them to buy from companies that align with their beliefs and values, per the 5W PR’s 2020 Consumer Culture Report. When you’re planning your marketing strategy for the 2021-2022 year, consider how and where your brand might appropriately express its values. Which social media platforms are your customers most present on? Which current events are they following? Keep in mind that what matters to the average Gen Z customer may be different from what the average baby boomer cares about. Research and relevancy are essential. Diversify your workforce. Representation among brand leadership teams has been a hot topic this past year. A new Instagram account called True Colors highlights the lack of diversity among top brand leadership by re-imagining logos based on the whiteness of their leadership teams. Beyond enriching your brand with new ideas, skills, and perspectives, diversifying your workforce can also improve your standing with consumers. In fact, 38% of consumers are more likely to trust brands that do well with showing diversity in their ads, according to a 2019 Adobe research report. Creating nuanced, inclusive representation in your marketing requires diverse leadership and supporting teams. Consider who your audience is and who is creating their ads. It may take time to increase diversity among your brand’s teams, but it’s an effort well worth making. Click here to discover more insights from the 2021 Edelman Trust Barometer. And remember, with great brand, comes great responsibility.

What Do Capricorns Hate? The Burning (with hatred) Questions We Google About the Twelve Signs of the Zodiac For Valentines Day 2021 we decided to explore the top "hate" queries associated with every astrological sign according to their Google search volume. Since we're SEOs and not astrologers, in addition to our search intelligence insights we'll also include the top image associated with every query. Also make sure to check out our companion piece to this article, The Most Loved Zodiac Sign, Search Listening, and Why I’m Glad I’m not a Gemini, for more Zodiac search volume fun! What Do Capricorns Hate "What do Capricorns hate" was tied with "Scorpio hates" for the position of most searched “sign” + “hate” query. According to the highest ranking image for this query, Capricorns dislike it when negative and critical people are discouraging and disparaging to others. They understandably dislike self-important people along with moochers, liars, flakes, and gossips. Capricorns can easily tell the difference between clever and obnoxious behavior and dislike the latter. There were eight instances where Google showed search volume for a sign plus the word “hates”. We thought it would be interesting to share the most common “hates” queries by MSV along with some other bonus insights. Keyword Volume scorpio hates 140 virgo hates 110 taurus hates 90 sagittarius hates 90 libra hates 40 aries hates 10 capricorn hates 10 aquarius hates 10 Scorpio Hates Self sufficient Scorpios hate relying on others, not being in control and being left unaware. They despise disloyalty, dishonesty, and greed. They aren't fond of the dispassionate and people who can't take a joke, but also don't you dare tell a Scorpio to "get over it". Scorpios don't like emotionally closed off behavior and having to explain or justify their own emotions. You can be assured that if you've just met a Scorpio, their guarded nature means they probably don't trust you yet. If you are an unmotivated freeloading failure, don't expect any sympathy from a Scorpio. Virgo Hates Keep your hands to yourself around a Virgo! They don't love touchy people who fiddle with objects around them. Virgos also don’t care for incompetent, careless, and stupid people. Boasting and whining around a Virgo is not a key to their heart. If you have a stubborn personality you might have a hard time getting along with a Virgo. Taurus Hates If you would describe yourself as a nitpicker then there is a good chance a Taurus will perceive you as pestering. Hypocritical behavior and flip flopping is especially annoying to a Taurus who values sticking to your guns. Loud and impatient behavior is a sure way to get under a Taurus's skin. Sagittarius Hates Nothing irks a Sagittarius more than assuming they are lying to you. Like Scorpio, Sag hates it when people can't take a joke. They are disinclined towards unenthusiastic people and cynical people. They don't want anyone trying to control them and hate it when folks don't play fair. Being a sore loser and not accepting when you are wrong is a sure way to get a Sagittarius on your bad side. Libra Hates Selfish, inconsiderate, and unfair behavior is extremely annoying to a Libra. Don't plan on rushing them into making a decision and always offer to return a favor you owe them. If you take advantage of a Libra's friendly nature they might not forgive you and they revile it when you bring chaos and uncertainty to their life. Aries Hates Sluggish time-wasting behavior is bothersome to Aries. Don't get in the way of a motivated Aries and don't be indirect with them either. You won't succeed in tempering their relentless optimism with cautiousness or pessimism but you'll bug them if you try. Capricorn Hates Like we said, Capricorns hate dream-crushers and the overly negative. They also reserve extra dislike for fake people and obnoxious people. Aquarius Hates Nothing turns off an Aquarius more than pushy, showy, or overbearing behavior. Give an Aquarius plenty of space and always demonstrate open mindedness when you're around them. An Aquarius considers themselves a dedicated friend so it can be extra hurtful to them if you question their friendship and authenticity. Bonus Insights "Why do people hate Capricorns" gets 110 searches a month, it's safe to say lots of other signs find this sign ornery. "Virgo man hates being ignored" also gets 110 searches a month so don't do that if you're trying to win one over. "I hate Virgo men" was the top "I hate" query with 90 searches a month. Tied for second place for this undistinguished prize with an MSV of 50 is Taurus women, Libra men, Tauruses in general, and "being a Pisces", which hits us right in the feels. The Bronze medal for "I hate" is a tie at 40 MSV between "Aries men" and "Pisces" in general. Like how we pulled these insights from search data? Learn more about our SEO agency services.