As the world tries to adapt to the widespread effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, consumer needs and behavior are changing as well. According to Google’s Trending Searches report for the last two weeks of May, there were quite a few items and questions people desperately typed to come to a definitive answer. Turkish internet users asked "When will (X) open?" the most, while other nations across the world all had different topics that dominated their respective results page.
In Germany, the most searched topic was sports and exercise. Germans mostly asked "When will gyms open?" and just across the North Sea, Britons wanted to know if they could finally see and visit their families. Poles pondered about child care services and searched for "open kindergartens." Meanwhile, Italians showed the fondness they have for their hair by searching for "open hairdressers," while for Spaniards it was all about teeth and dentists.
The report reveals that in countries where curfew restrictions are gradually being eased, questions about when schools and stores will open are increasing.
The scope of the restrictions, of course, differs in relation to the severity of the coronavirus outbreak and current state across the country. For example, while shops and schools have already reopened in Germany and the Netherlands, uncertainty still prevails in the U.K., though it too has announced a slight ease in lockdown measures. As of June 1, Turkey has also entered a new phase of normalization.
In Turkey, searches about "university entrance exams," "pay/cash on delivery" and "track my order" also gained traction. The past month also saw masses search for vitamin D, thermometers and Ramadan Bayram, also known as Eid al-Fitr.
Despite hopeful studies and promising developments, the continued uncertainty has been pushing people to focus more on their physical and psychological health, according to search data. There was a significant increase in searches for mental health in Russia, body mass index (BMI) in Denmark, online workouts in Spain and the dash diet in Poland.
Meanwhile, the new normal on YouTube became learning how to play the guitar. Spending most of their time at home, people also started to take more online courses and watch online training videos.
Global YouTube data shows that searches for "language learning" videos increased by 500% compared with last year. YouTube videos titled "for beginners" or "step by step," "how to" videos with the word "at home" in the title and educational content related to "guitar playing" also increased by over 65%, 50% and 40%, respectively.