Search Trends May Indicate that More Americans Are Suffering Personal Financial Losses or Setbacks

Trends in Internet search behavior provide clues to how Americans are suffering during the current economic recession.

New data from Internet trend firm, comScore of Reston, Virgina and Google Insights for Search shows a significant increase in searches for economic-or-recession-related terms like "coupon," "unemployment benefits," and "bankruptcy." The fact that more Americans are seeking information on these topics or at least searching for them more often, could be an indication about the depth of this recession and the number of families enduring financial hardship.

"Online behavior has come to reflect the interests or concerns of Americans, and we are certainly seeing this manifest itself with respect to the economic downturn," said comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni. "Search volume using terms relating to the economy has ballooned over the past year as Americans have become increasingly concerned over their economic well-being."

More than 200 Percent Increase In "Unemployment" Search

Some of the most explosive growth in recession-related terms were for "unemployment" and "unemployment benefits" which grew 206 percent and 247 percent respectively in December 2008 compared to December 2007, according to comScore (comScore 2009). In December 2007, which was arguably a more prosperous time, there were about 2.68 million searches for "unemployment" and some 215,000 searches for "unemployment benefits." In December 2008, Americans initiated approximately 8.2 million searches for "unemployment" and 748,000 queries for the keyword phrase "unemployment benefits," (comScore 2009).

Google Insights for Search, a search trend analysis tool that measures query tendencies on a relative scale rather than with actual search numbers, showed a similar trend for the keywords, but indicated that inquires for the term "unemployment" grew an additional 162.7 percent from December 2008 to January 2009 before leveling off. Google Insights shows neither and increase or decrease in searches for the term in February 2009 (Google 2009).

Oregon, New York, and Nevada Searched Most for "Unemployment"

While some residents from every state searched for the keyword, "unemployment," three states in particular showed significantly higher instances. Oregon scored a 100 on the Google Insights' relative scale, indicating that the state had the most "unemployment" searches in the union. Both New York and Nevada earned a 96 on the Google Insights scale, while the next closest (in terms of total searches for "unemployment") was Ohio, which with a score of 77 saw its residents conduct 197 percent fewer searches than New Yorkers or Nevadans .

Interestingly, the search trend tracks with data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, which showed that unemployment in Oregon rose from 7.2 percent in October 2008 to 9 percent in December (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics 2009), just as the number of Internet searches for the term were on the rise.

The prevalence of searches associated with losing a job, shows just how deeply the recession has effected Americans.

Coupon and Discount Hunting Rose Too

Another indicator of the present economic times had to do with the number of searches related to frugality.
comScore reported that searches for "coupon" leapt 161 percent in December 2008 compared to the same month in 2007, while the number of searches for the term "discount" rose from 6.27 million in December 2007 to 7.92 million or 72 percent in December 2008.

Works Cited

comScore. "Americans' Online Search Behavior Points to Significant Increase in Personal Financial Turmoil." comScore.com. February 24, 2009. http://www.comscore.com/press/release.asp?press=2732 (accessed February 29, 2009).

Google. Google Insights for Search-Web Search Volume: unemployment vs. unemployment benefit United States, 2004 to Present. February 29, 2009. http://www.google.com/insights/search/#q=unemployment%2Cunemployment+benefit&cmpt=q&geo=US (accessed February 29, 2009).

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Bureau of Labor Statistics Data. February 24, 2009. http://data.bls.gov/PDQ/servlet/SurveyOutputServlet?data_tool=latest_numbers&series_id=LASST41000003 (accessed February 24 24, 2009).