• by Laurie Sullivan , Staff Writer @lauriesullivan, July 2, 2014

The 2014 FIFA World Cup has had a huge impact on consumer behavior in social and search. Google, Marin Software, and Prime Visibility, among others, released numbers showing that chatter on social sites and searches on engines continues to rise. Whether it means people have become more comfortable sharing information, or technology has become more integrated into our everyday lifestyle, the fact remains that very early on in the game there were more social media posts about the 2014 World Cup than in prior years.

Google released numbers on some crazy statistics. For example, the number of Brazil searches for fingernails painted with the national flag doubled in the weeks before the World Cup. Some are more normal. Rockin' Robben in the Netherlands, Arjen Robben, received three times more searches than all other players in the Spain vs. Netherlands lineup combined. Global searches for Salvador's Arena Fonte Nova -- the stadium with the most World Cup goals -- doubled. On July 1, as Belgium goal scorer Kevin De Bruyne stunned the world, searches rose 44 times higher for his royal lookalike to Prince Harry. Check out other search stats here.

Marin released its own numbers based on social and search interactions with its clients' campaigns.

1. Facebook's click-through rate (CTR) increased more than 300% when compared to the same period last year, signaling increased engagement and targeted ads.

2. Facebook's cost per click has also increased 11% since the beginning of June, compared with May 2014. During the same period last year, CPC actually fell between May and June.

3. Search CTR rose by 22% since the World Cup started. This is in stark contrast to May and June of 2013, when CTR actually dropped.

4. CPC also rose 9.5%, with increased competition to capture consumer interest during the event. CPC remained constant in May and June 2013.

Despite the U.S.A.'s loss Tuesday, the game with Belgium has been one of the most talked-about topics on social media, per a post from Dave Neuman, social media manager at Prime Visibility. In fact, it was the third most talked-about game since the start of the World Cup.

The most talked-about players were Tim Howard, Romelu Lukaku, Julian Green, Kevin De Bruyne, and Michael Bradley. The most talked about topics and plays were Tim Howard with 16 saves, record breaking for a single World Cup match; Kevin De Bruyne scoring the first goal of the game; Belgium’s second goal by Romelu Lukaku; and American Julian Green's goal, bringing the game to 2-1.