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Love Is In The Air. It Tastes Like Kisses

The "kiss" has become a topic for searches. People want to know how to kiss, how to kiss a girl, how to French kiss, how to kiss a guy, and how to get a girl to kiss you. Do you remember the Burberry Kisses campaign? Kisses were sent to 17,248 cities, traveling 318,381,288 total miles.

Google's infographic released this week highlights the trends the company is seeing for "love moments," not just for Valentine's Day, but year round. There were three times as many searches for "gifts for boyfriend" compared with "gifts for girlfriend" last February. In 2014, gift givers searched on mobile more than desktop the day before Valentine's Day.

Apps have become the new matchmaker, per Google. The growth in the dating category comes from dating apps. The top searches about first dates are what to wear, what to do, where to go, what to talk about, and how to act. Searches for "first date outfit" rose 60% in 2014, and YouTube logged more than 60 million video views about first dates. Think of it as not just for love matches between mates, but between brands and consumers.

Gifting trends vary this year. HookLogic compared retail site shopping activity the last week in January with the first week in February and uncovered some tidbits. The analysis spanned 18 major U.S. e-commerce sites. Jewelry browsing and buying rose during that time period by 50%. The most browsing happened for "precious stones," but most purchases occurred for "necklaces." Traffic and transactions in the jewelry category among HookLogic's retailers rose 50% and 51%, respectively. Overall, people browed and bought 50% more than they did in the prior month, with a few key items standing jumping out.

Not everyone buys online, especially when it comes to higher-priced items. Search traffic for precious stones rose 343%, while transactions were up 35%. Searches for earrings rose 51%, compared with purchases at 46%. Bracelets rose 58% vs., 68%, and rings were 76% vs. 104%, respectively, per HookLogic.

Interestingly, traffic and transactions in the Food category fell slightly, -5% and -3%, respectively, and others saw increases. Traffic for Candy & Gum rose 9% and transactions rose 15%. People are browsing 2% more for Food Gift Baskets, and buying them 37% more. Traffic for chocolate items rose 7%; and transactions, 49%. Traffic looking for Massage & Relaxation products rose 70% and transactions are up 120%, per HookLogic.

Time spent watching romantic music videos on YouTube grew 58% in December 2014, compared with the prior year, per Google. With the release this weekend of "Fifty Shades of Grey," a movie from E. L. James about the sexual proclivities of a certain fictional billionaire, the week could get a bit steamy. Fandango believes it's on track to break ticket sales records as the company's top seller for Valentine's Day. Some 72% of a survey of more than 1,000 "Fifty Shades" moviegoers on Fandango said they will make the movie  part of their celebration plans.

It's not surprising that mobile searches for engagement rings grew 52% YoY in 2014, per Google, but it is surprising that online purchases of diamond jewelry rose 39%, compared with 2011.

Where are people going on their honeymoon? Google said searches for honeymoons in Las Vegas rose 153%; Fiji, 106%; Greece, 66%; safari, 58%; and Hawaii, 57%.

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