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Hitwise Intelligence - Robin Goad - UK

Analyst Weblog

Category Archives: Weather

Ash Cloud causes spike to travel and weather sites

May 27, 2011

With fresh eruptions coming from Icelandic volcanoes this week, people have been searching online for the latest updates on the ash cloud to see if their travel arrangements will be disrupted. Looking at the downstream industries receiving traffic from ash... Continue reading...

Tweet Posted by Robin Goad at 02:18 PM | (0)
In Categories News and Media | Travel | Weather

Christmas 2010 retail summary – the biggest post-Christmas shopping season ever

January 11, 2011

With Christmas over and the New Year in full swing it’s time for us to reflect on Christmas 2010 and the key trends in retail this year. The two biggest factors which affected online retail this Christmas were the December... Continue reading...

Christmas 2.0 – a time for sharing (on Facebook at least)

December 23, 2010

Social networking has become an integral part of our lives and this Christmas more people will be sharing messages of good will with each other than ever before. As we get closer to Christmas Day visits to social networking sites... Continue reading...

2010 Online: the year in review

December 21, 2010

I can scarcely believe that a whole year has passed since I was sitting here writing the 2009 review, but 12 months to the day here we are, and it’s been another fascinating year in the digital world. Once again... Continue reading...

Snow dictates search behaviour to news, travel and retail sites

December 20, 2010

Online search behaviour was dictated this weekend by the snow. With the flakes falling thick and fast on Saturday there were huge spikes in traffic to news, weather, travel and social networking sites. With reports of up to five inches... Continue reading...

Snoods, Boots and Snow Chains up after cold spell

December 10, 2010

The snow may be thawing but the cold weather has had its effect online by encouraging people to buy more winter clothing including jumpers, scarves and boots. In our latest press release we unveiled the most searched for products on... Continue reading...

Tweet Posted by Robin Goad at 05:29 PM | (1) | (0)
In Categories Fashion | Shopping and Classifieds | Weather

Goa and Marrakech fastest moving winter sun destinations this quarter

November 30, 2010

With snow up and down the country it’s little wonder that Brits are thinking of warmer climes and wanting to get away for winter sun holidays. One of the insights to come out of our latest quarterly travel report is... Continue reading...

Skin Cancer searches and sunshine

August 02, 2010

We’re having a great summer in the UK, which makes a pleasant change from the last couple of years. However, there are downsides to the warm weather and sunshine, not least the risk of sunburn and, in the worst cases,... Continue reading...

Tweet Posted by Robin Goad at 04:04 PM | (0)
In Categories Health | Search | Weather

Volcanic ash cloud: online travel impact

April 19, 2010

Last week UK Internet users searched for over 10,000 different searches containing the word ‘volcano’, up from less than 1,000 the previous week. The reason for this surge was the volcanic eruption in Iceland that has caused travel chaos across... Continue reading...

BBQ searches take off as the sunshine comes out

April 09, 2010

We might have only had a couple of days of sunshine following our cold winter, but us Brits have been anticipating the summer for number of weeks now. The chart below illustrates the volume of searches for the terms ‘bbq’,... Continue reading...

UK Internet visits to skiing and snowboarding websites up 18.5% year on year

January 22, 2010

The recent heavy snow and cold weather may have caused travel chaos in some parts of the UK, but it clearly has also served to remind people of the pleasures of winter sports. For the week ending 9th January 2010,... Continue reading...

Snow causes traffic to Weather and Transport websites to reach all time high

January 15, 2010

UK Internet visits to both Transport and Weather websites reached an all time high last week as British people flocked online to keep up to date with the latest snow developments. For the week ending January 9th 2010, Weather websites... Continue reading...

Searches for climate change and energy efficiency (Blog Action Day)

October 15, 2009

Today is Blog Action Day and, as with last year, Alan Long has beaten me to it with an excellent post on this year’s topic, climate change. I’m taking a similar approach, looking at climate changes related searches in the... Continue reading...

Initial Bing stats

June 08, 2009

Bing, Microsoft’s new search engine, was announced by Steve Balmer on May 28 and officially launched on June 3. I’ve held off putting up our initial UK statistics until now for a couple of reasons. Firstly, I couldn’t think of... Continue reading...

Celeb and entertainment searches dominate Google News

March 26, 2009

Last week we revealed that Twitter had overtaken Google News in the UK. However, although everyone’s favourite micro-blogging service receives more UK Internet visits, Google News remains the greater source of traffic for News and Media websites. As the chart... Continue reading...

Fair weather searches

March 25, 2009

Whenever the sun comes out, us Brits flock to parks, beaches and al fresco restaurants to make the most of that most precious of commodities (in the UK at least): sunshine. As you might expect, our online behaviour also changes... Continue reading...

Top 10 websites of 2008

March 03, 2009

We published the results of the Hitwise UK Online Performance Awards today. These list the 10 most visited websites in the UK during 2008 for over 60 industry categories. You can see the full list on the awards microsite, but... Continue reading...

Snow and football transfers

February 03, 2009

Yesterday was the busiest ever day for weather websites in the UK. As the chart below illustrates, websites in our Weather category picked up 1.6% of all UK Internet visits, equivalent to 1 in every 63. And once people discovered... Continue reading...

Tweet Posted by Robin Goad at 03:30 PM | (0)
In Categories Football | Sport | Travel | Weather

DIY and gardening content online

October 23, 2008

Last month we showed how traffic to House and Garden retail websites has been increasing, despite – or, perhaps more accurately, because of - the credit crunch. Both DIY and furniture retailers are benefitting from this boom, but what about... Continue reading...

Tweet Posted by Robin Goad at 01:00 PM | (0)
In Categories News and Media | Property | Weather

Fast moving search terms: Google Chrome, cautious investors, football and flooding

September 08, 2008

The 10 fastest moving search terms in the UK last week were: 1. google chrome 2. man city 3. bestival 4. environment agency 5. chrome 6. manchester city 7. burghley horse trials 8. nsandi 9. ns&i 10. setanta sports The... Continue reading...

Fast moving search terms: Strictly Come Dancing, Pierrepoint, Most Haunted

September 01, 2008

The 10 fastest moving search terms in the UK last week were: 1. strictly come dancing 2. us open 3. bournemouth air show 4. www.bebo.co.uk 5. most haunted live 6. albert pierrepoint 7. most haunted 8. you tube.com 9. euromillions... Continue reading...

All inclusive holidays popular in a weak economy

May 13, 2008

The combination of a weakening economy, falling house prices and a rising cost of living thanks to inflation mean that many British consumers are looking for ways to cut their expenditure. Add in the impact of a strong Euro (although... Continue reading...

Tweet Posted by Robin Goad at 10:30 AM | (0)
In Categories Economy | Search | Travel | Weather

Lawnmowers and BBQs: UK searchers celebrate the sunshine!

May 12, 2008

What a difference the weather can make, particularly after last year’s miserable summer! A week of sunshine has lifted the spirits of everyone in the UK, and also had an impact on their internet searching and shopping habits. As the... Continue reading...

Tweet Posted by Robin Goad at 10:25 AM | (5) | (0)
In Categories Retail | Shopping and Classifieds | Weather

Robin Goad

Research Director, Hitwise UK.