The volume of World Cup related searches doubled in May, tripled in June and continues to rise exponentially - indicating an explosion of international excitement surrounding the event, says Clicks2Customers MD Jonathan Gluckman.
Using tools developed by the US-based search engine giant Google, Gluckman's company has tracked various trends relating to the 2010 Soccer World Cup currently under way. Google search results can be found here.
Gluckman says the highest volume of World Cup related searches is surprisingly in Botswana, followed by SA, East Africa (Tanzania, Ethiopia), Southern Asia (India and Pakistan), the UK, Europe and the US.
A high number of searches include the terms “Fifa”, “schedule” and “South Africa”. There is strong rising interest in “England squad 2010”.
Gluckman says the majority of high-ranking World Cup searches are informational - focused on match fixtures, history, rankings, teams, and news.
“There is no negligible international search volume for 'World Cup accommodation' - the highest volume by far is within SA, with New Zealand a distant second,” he says.
There is measurable international interest in “accommodation SA” related searches, focused on the major cities, but including Port Elizabeth and the South Coast. There was also strong rising interest in accommodation in Rustenberg and the Magaliesberg.
Crime received some attention with a steady, but not exponential, rising trend in the volume of searches related to “SA crime” since January, and this, Gluckman says, is encouraging - as it indicates a rational appreciation of the crime situation in SA, despite the negative tabloid hype around the subject.
Within SA, regional interest is highest in the Eastern Cape, Free State and North-West, with Gauteng and the Western Cape ranking surprisingly low.
Gluckman says South Africans are currently obsessed with World Cup flags and related soccer merchandising items. There is also strong interest within SA in World Cup songs, tickets and World Cup-related employment opportunities.
Google SA spokesperson Julie Taylor says there is a strong correlation between offline and online activities.
“As soon as there is an event, such as a ticket sale announcement, then we can see an almost immediate spike of searches relating to that,” she says.
According to Google's blogspot, the most popular searches are for Portugal star player Cristiano Ronaldo, and there is heavy interest in players such as England's Wayne Rooney, Argentina's Lionel Messi, and Wesley Sneijder, of the Netherlands.
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