Love is Up!
Since 2004 the word “love” has gone up in terms of search volume and news reference. Google Trends, a handy tool, tracks the upward progress in a helpful chart…
After observing this trend, we are now plagued with the question as to why. Our answer to this question has a little to do with the recession, a little to do with our favorite February holiday and a little to do with hope.
The start of the recession was official labeled as December 2007. As you can see in the chart above, there was a noticeable spike in the news reference volume and tiny spike in the search volume. Would this be because the news outlets were trying to infuse the media with “feel good” pieces to boost the morale of the nation? Is this proof that love is “recession proof”?
It is also evident that there is a large spike every February. This, of course, can be attributed to Valentine’s Day, the day of love. I am sure husbands, wives, girlfriends, and boyfriends are online, feverously looking up what to get their “love” for this special day.
On the flip side, the tracking of the word “hate” on Google Trends is quite the opposite…
The “hate” line appears to be relatively stable throughout the years.
When compared to “hate”(blue line), “love”(red line) outranks by a substantial amount. On average, “love” is searched 16 more times than “hate”. This makes for quite a hopeful outlook.
Should we as advertisers capitalize on “love”? Of course, we can hit up the Valentine’s Day crowd next February… but will the “love” trend continue?