Winners and Losers: How COVID-19 Is Affecting Search Behavior in Various Verticals

Alexis Sanders from Merkle shared the following click growth rates for a handful of Merkle clients between March 10 through March 21. Social distancing has resulted in wild click behaviour swings across sectors including grocers, productivity tools, restaurants and hotels.

• Large grocery retailer client: +433% YoY ( Google Trends:  online groceries )
• Bulk grocery retailer client: +58% YoY
• Large goods retailer client: +50.9% YoY ( Google Trends:  Costco )
• Online messaging and productivity tool client: +149% YoY ( Google Trends:  zoom )
• Hotel client: -43.3% YoY
• Theme park client: -55% YoY
• Chain restaurant client: -29% YoY

Merkle’s data also shows that click growth shrank for their clients in recreational industries such as hotels, theme parks and chain restaurants. Even local businesses, such as dine-in restaurants, are drawing in less search interest year-over-year.