Recent research from The Drum has highlighted 5 sectors that have seen search volumes take dramatic falls, and 5 that have surged, during the Covid-19 pandemic. The 5 fallers are to perhaps be expected – travel, bars and restaurants, automotive, live events and industrial and manufacturing – all of which have been heavily affected by lockdown. 5 climbers again could be predicted – health and medical, charities (perhaps due to Google Ads grant programmes), finance, media, and food. Find out more at The Drum.

Data suggests that the gaming industry is on track to becoming an astonishing $196 billion market by 2022. Lockdown has seen conversation increase across social channels, and this combined with the fact half of the top 10 YouTube channels are gaming related demonstrates the importance of this audience. Marketers are to consider how to utilise this group, be it Twitter and YouTube, or sponsoring content where appropriate. Read more here.

The New York Times reported that YouTube’s traffic has seen a sharp hike during the pandemic, with the global population consuming more video content that ever. Despite this, publishers are seeing their revenue drop significantly. This is due to the mass pausing of YouTube advertising campaigns, which has in turn caused rates to drop significantly. We expect fluctuations throughout the lockdown period as advertisers regroup and reconsider their channel usage. Learn more here.

Pinterest is another channel that has seen traffic spike during the pandemic, and they’re aiming to assist retailers utilising the platform by rolling out new commerce features. These upgraded features include new conversion reporting opportunities, dynamic re-targeting, a Verified Merchant Program and updates to catalogues. For aspirational product campaigns, Pinterest is now proving to be a serious contender when it comes to choosing the best channel possible. Find out more here.