We can see the social data matches the search data, with a rise in mid-March which has remained pretty high since. Compared to last year, the March to May period saw 30% more people reporting ghost sightings on social media.
Something tells us the people who searched ‘what is a ghost’ in March weren’t just prompted by a random interest in the macabre. Clearly, many went to Google after believing they’d seen a ghost.
We’re not suggesting ghosts are real, but there’s something about this time that’s making us, as humans, experience things differently and relating those things to the paranormal.
We should also note the recent drop off on May 28, lasting until June 7. It kind of looks like ghosts took some time off, but there’s another more likely explanation.
We can’t be 100% sure, but this drop off occurred just as Black Lives Matter protests took off again in the US, and went on to spread around the world. This tallies with our previous reporting that shows people are focused on the protests and associated conversations, and are therefore less likely to post about other topics.
Sports bettors are trying their hands at the stock market
Online brokerages have seen a record number of new accounts created this year, and the big four (E-Trade, TD Ameritrade, Charles Schwab, and Fidelity Investors) have executed as many trades in March and April as they did in the whole first quarter of 2019. But what, and who, is driving this trend?
Google Trends data shows how popular investing has become during lockdown. Robinhood is a commission-free investment app that’s the hottest on the market. Google search interest in the app peaked in the first week of March.
