SEARCHES
Top 10 trending coronavirus-related questions Googled in the Philippines in March according to Google Trends:
• How to cure coronavirus
• Is there a vaccine for coronavirus
• Can dogs get coronavirus
• What is COVID-19
• How many people have coronavirus
• How to fight coronavirus naturally
• What do do if you have coronavirus
• How long will coronavirus last
• Ano ang gamot sa coronavirus
• What causes coronavirus
Top 10 Google searches in the Philippines in March according to Google Trends:
• Tom Hanks coronavirus
• Coronavirus symptoms and signs
• Worldometers.info coronavirus
• US coronavirus cases
• Coronavirus prayer
• World coronavirus cases
• Italy deaths coronavirus
• First symptoms of coronavirus
• Banana for coronavirus
• Nostradamus prediction coronavirus
In April, Filipinos continued to look up “coronavirus” on Google, making it the fifth most searched term in the country, topped only by “YouTube,” “Facebook,” “translate” and “mp3.” Mp3?
Top 10 coronavirus-related questions Googled in April:
• What is coronavirus
• Is coronavirus airborne
• Is there a cure for coronavirus
• How many cases of coronavirus in the Philippines
• When will coronavirus end
• How to prevent coronavirus
• What country has no coronavirus
• When did coronavirus start
• How to know if you have coronavirus
• How does Taiwan control coronavirus
The most active Googlers in April were in Central Visayas, Eastern Visayas and Caraga.
According to Google Trends, when people weren’t looking up information about the virus, they were looking up “recipes,” “bread” and “cake.”
In March, popular recipe searches included:
“Dalgona coffee recipe instant coffee”
“Puto pao recipe”
“How to make condensed milk cake”
“Sotanghon guisado recipe”
In April, popular recipe searches included:
• Carbonara recipe
• Maja blanca recipe
• Pancake recipe
• Banana cake recipe
• Puto recipe
• Menudo recipe
• Leche flan recipe
• Pan de sal recipe
• Chicken curry recipe
• Dalgona coffee recipe
In May, there was a huge surge in searches related to bicycles, with “mountain bike” being the most searched variety.
According to Google Trends, among the top coronavirus-related questions in May were:
“What is the 2nd wave of coronavirus?”
“When will coronavirus end?”
On June 1, “Jeremy Jauncey” was Googled over 50,000 times.
On June 2, “anti-terrorism law” was searched over 200,000 times.
On June 3, “mass testing” was Googled over 50,000 times.
SOUNDS
Spotify saw an increase of 40 percent* in playlists made by users all over the world from April 17 to May 17. They created playlists specific to their lockdown activities, everything from homeschooling (more than 1,000-percent increase) and painting to dyeing their hair and cleaning. Oh yes, cleaning. TLC’s “No Scrubs” was a song that ended up on a lot of cleaning playlists, never mind that the song isn’t really about cleaning—unless you mean the guy you’re dating cleaning out your bank account.
There are now more than 940,000 cleaning playlists on Spotify.
Other songs that made it to people’s cleaning playlists:
“Uptown Funk” by Bruno Mars and Mark Ronson
“Roar” by Katy Perry
“Toxic” by Britney Spears
“Mr. Brightside” by The Killers
“Work” by Drake and Rihanna.
“Shake It Off” by Taylor Swift
“Party in the U.S.A.” by Miley Cyrus
“thank u, next” by Ariana Grande
“IDGAF” by Dua Lipa
“Shut Up and Dance” by WALK THE MOON.
Hair-themed playlists were aplenty, too (a 50-percent increase) and these were the songs often included:
“Complicated” by Avril Lavigne
“Sugar, We’re Goin Down” by Fall Out Boy
“The Middle” By Jimmy Eat World
“High Hopes” by Panic! At The Disco
“Stressed Out” by Twenty One Pilots
“Hair Cutter” by Animal Collective.
We’re sad “Hair” by Little Mix feat. Sean Paul isn’t on the list. It’s such a good song!
A favorite song by people putting together playlists for painting:
“Shape Of You” by Ed Sheeran
Most-added track to work-from-home playlists:
“Work From Home” by Fifth Harmony feat. Ty Dolla $ign.
Other work-from-home favorites:
“9 to 5” by Dolly Parton
“Blinding Lights” by The Weeknd
“Light On” by Maggie Rogers
“10,000 hours” by Dan + Shay (with Justin Bieber)
“Boss Bitch” by Doja Cat
“Delicate” by Taylor Swift
“The Less I Know the Better” by Tame Impala
“Für Elise” by pianist Lang Lang
Sonatas from Beethoven and Bach
There are now more than 2,750 banana bread-themed playlists on Spotify (how specific).
People made “Animal Crossing”-inspired playlists, too.
There’s been a 430-percent increase in gardening-themed playlists.
*percentage increase shown are based on comparisons to February 2020 data
SHOPPING
Here’s what Filipinos bought online during the ECQ, according to Lazada.
Essential goods – Lazada reports that purchases of essential goods increased 15 times during the lockdown. Makes perfect sense with people wanting to stay indoors instead of heading out to the supermarkets.
Cookware and baking equipment – People spent the lockdown unleashing their inner Martha Stewart, thus the demand for kitchen supplies.
Tapioca pearls – People still managed to get their dose of bubble tea, even though many milk tea places closed, by DIYing it at home.
Makeup – Surprising? We think so, too. But Lazada thinks the interest in beauty products is because of people who need to serve face during video conferences. Gotta look good for Zoom and Google Meet (we just stick to audio as much as we could).
Pambahay – So we guess not everybody just turns old T-shirts into pambahay. Filipinos shopped for clothes to wear at home along with lingerie (nice!), slippers and sandals. Lazada sold over 30,000 pambahay sets during their Flash Sale.
DJ Equipment – The demand for DJ equipment increased seven times as people had their dance parties at home and over Zoom, Facebook and Instagram Live.
Yoga mats – People bought 65,000 yoga mats during the quarantine period. And they bought dumbbells, kettlebells and resistance bands, too, so they could work out at home.
Swimming pools – Summer may feel like it’s been canceled, but Filipinos found a way to beat the heat by buying inflatable pools. Swimming pools were the top keyword searched in the month of May, and 140,000 households ordered one.
