• by Laurie Sullivan , Staff Writer @lauriesullivan, January 29, 2019

If your business doesn't plan to pay $4 million for a 30-second commercial during Super Bowl XLVIII, no worries. Data shows the big game influences all types of consumer searches -- especially local.

Data pulled by Yext, which helps companies manage information about themselves online, shows that a variety of businesses throughout the United States see spikes in search around the Super Bowl. Surely there is an increase in verticals like food and hospitality leading up to the big game --  particularly in the host city -- but also for non-related businesses.

Yext analyzed search-related data from Super Bowl 2018 in which the Philadelphia Eagles took on the New England Patriots in Minneapolis to get an idea of some trends businesses in Atlanta, home of Super Bowl LIII, can expect.

"Knowing your own city is best," said Zahid Zakaria, senior director of data and analytics at Yext. 

As Minneapolis residents prepared for tailgate parties or to host friends at home during the game in 2018, local Google Search queries for markets and grocery stores in the area rose 14% week-over-week on the Friday before the game, compared with a 6% lift nationally during the same period.

Clicks-to-call for markets and grocery stores in Minneapolis rose 28% week-over-week on the Friday before the Super Bowl.

Driving directions for hotels in Minneapolis area rose 62% week-over-week on Super Bowl Sunday, compared with an 11% drop nationally over the same period. Consumers also were interested in driving directions in the area.

Driving directions for banking services in Minneapolis rose 7% week-over-week on the Friday before the game.

In general, queries for bank services in Minneapolis rose 8% week-over-week on the Friday before the Super Bowl, compared with a 20% decline on the following Friday.

Sporting goods stores also got a boost in search queries. Perhaps people were searching for outdoor cooking gear or for a thermos, cooler or football.

Google Search queries for sporting goods stores in Minneapolis rose 41% week-over-week on the Friday before the Super Bowl. Sporting goods store website clicks in Minneapolis rose 250% week-over-week on the Friday before the Super Bowl.

With fans at home or at the big game, Google Search queries for restaurants in Minneapolis fell 25% week-over-week on Super Bowl Sunday, compared with a 29% lift the following Sunday.

"The decline in one metrics like 'get directions' doesn't necessarily mean traffic is going down -- they just aren't taking action to get to the restaurant because maybe they're getting in a cab, rather than driving, and they don't need specific directions," Zakaria said. "Views, in fact, for restaurants rose."

Website clicks for restaurants fell 54% week -ver-week that day, compared with a 39% lift the following Sunday, and driving directions for restaurants in Minneapolis dropped 9% week-over-week on Super Bowl Sunday.

Across the country, queries for markets and grocery stores last year rose 6% in the week leading up to the Super Bowl week-over-week, as fans prepare to host parties. Searches for bars, pubs, and liquor stores in Minneapolis fell 10% during that week, but Yext saw a 34% lift nationally during the same period.

This year, when the New England Patriots and Los Angeles Rams face off in Atlanta, searches on Google have already spiked in certain areas. Queries about the Patriots lead in about 36 states.

Searches about the Rams are mainly across the West Coast and in the southern states.

As for the most searched Super Bowl player on Google, that's Tom Brady, the winner of five Super Bowls.