Baird Equity Research has been tracking search trends as students go back to school this fall.
The search data skewed flat to lower for most keywords, with 22 of 60 terms declining more than 5%, according to the data. Only nine terms grew, impacting each of the major categories, such as ecommerce, video games, social media and mobility.
The analysts follow weekly keyword trends on Google they find relevant to internet and interactive entertainment sectors. They find that doing this provides insight into the direction of the market and can identify changes.
New this week were Roblox, and Buy Now, Pay Later. Terms show that FIFA Ultimate Team, gaming hardware, and home improvement rebounded, including Wayfair and Overstock.
Weakening search terms were online used car sites such as Carvana and Vroom. Call of Duty and Madden video games also dropped in searches, along with mobility companies like Uber and Lyft.
Overall ecommerce trends are flat to slightly down. Analysts note a modest increase in searches for home improvement, at 25%; Wayfair, about 6%; and Overstock, about 6%.
Carvana lost 17% in search share, Vroom lost 16% in search share, and eBay lost 11% in search share from the prior week.
Food delivery was split, with "Doordash gaining 6%, and Uber Eats declining 7%.
Social media remained stable, with searches for Twitter, Snapchat, Facebook, and Instagram coming in flat. Searches for Reels and Clubhouse fell 14% and 13%, respectively, and no social media terms grew.
Online travel and mobility searches trended flat to lower this week, compare with the prior. Searches for Lyft declined 10%, and searches for Uber declined 6%.