• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, March 8, 2016

Piper Jaffray analysts have begun using Google Trends search analysis to determine fluctuations of interest in Amazo.com.

"According to our analysis of Google trends search data, Amazon's unit growth should show slight deceleration during the Mar-16 quarter," wrote the firm's equity analysts in a research note published Monday. "The growth of search interest QTD decelerated to 24% vs 26% in the Dec-15 quarter."

Analysts attribute the growth to an increased in Prime memberships, faster deliveries, wider availability of Prime-eligible items, better conversion on mobile, and support from ecommerce growth trends.

Piper Jaffray forecasts that the trends will continue particularly after Amazon begins to see benefit from penetrating a new total available marketing with same-day and hour delivery, as well as autonomous ordering.

The topics with the most interest, per Google trend analysis, include Amazon Prime, Amazon video, Amazon prime video, Amazon Prime Movies, Amazon Movies, Amazon Prime Instant, Amazon Instant Video, and Prime Instant Video.

Virtual reality is one topic that Google Trends did not identify in relation to Amazon. The company wants to create a playback platform for VR experiences, according to a job posting on Glassdoor. It turns out the company's looking for a senior software development manager to lead a team that will build a VR experience within Amazon Video.

The job posting first identified by Upload VR describes a future that will reach beyond passive 2D experiences. "The Virtual Reality team will explore and create the platform and interface for immersive storytelling," per the job board. "This will include an ingestion and playback platform for Virtual Reality experiences."