The surge in queries related to the biggest holiday of the year starts early—by mid-October. Interestingly, among New Year searches, 25% are very general, such as ‘New Year’ or ‘Happy New Year’.
Next in popularity come greetings (21%), food (9%), music (8%), and movies (6%).
Three key areas dominate this vast volume of holiday-related searches: gifts, food and drinks, and entertainment or celebration ideas. Gifts account for around 43% of users’ holiday budgets. Unsurprisingly, three out of the top five most popular New Year queries are gift-related.
The query ‘what to give a boyfriend’ is 1.5 times more popular than ‘what to give a girlfriend’ although half of the latter are concentrated in the final week of the year. Women tend to search for ideas more actively, as they take gift-giving more seriously. Overall, a quarter of all gift-related searches occur in the last days before the holiday.
Another 45% of the holiday budget is quite literally consumed on food and beverages. ‘What to cook for New Year’s Eve’ is the most searched query of the season. Interest in this topic begins in November and peaks right before New Year’s Eve. Among the 2.8 million food-related queries, salads dominate: these recipes are searched for the most. In the final week of the year, searches for ‘herring under a fur coat’ increase 11-fold, and for “Olivier salad,” 8-fold.
Mobile First Always
As New Year approaches, people search for gift ideas from wherever they are. From late November to the end of December, the share of mobile queries related to gifts rises from 68% to 75%. A similar pattern holds for greeting ideas, with an even sharper increase from 56% to 75%.
Conclusion
If you want to ride the wave of pre-New Year search trends, there are three key takeaways:
Start early – Preparation for New Year begins as early as mid-October. Users turn to the internet for ideas and inspiration. Take advantage of this by creating relevant, helpful, and inspiring content—and do it well in advance.
Ease the stress – For many, the pre-holiday rush can be a source of stress. You can win their attention by providing the right information at the right time—helping them stay calm and confident in their holiday planning.
*Data provided by Google