[Guest Post]
Search engines are an irreplaceable tool in the modern world. Almost everyone with access to the internet will always go to Google when they need any kind of information. Technology has come a long way and now offers rich useful information. This would have been much harder to get in the past.
For members of the gambling industry, search engines like Google, Bing, and DuckDuckGo play an important role in their businesses. This applies to both land-based and online casino operations. Gamers are always looking for information regarding various aspects of gaming ranging from price to reputation and even features.
Considering the dynamic nature of the gambling sector, search trends also change often. Recently, there has been an uptick in online casino searches. This all started in 2020 at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic. With more people confined to their homes, it was only natural for them to find ways of entertaining themselves. iGaming, as it turns out, was one of the most popular options.
In 2021, things are looking up. Despite the reopening of many retail gambling venues, online casino search trends still paint a vivid picture of the country’s gaming landscape. The industry has benefited immensely from that and there is much more to be learned from these trends.
The Top 10 Casino Search Trends
According to the Google trends tool, here are the most popular search terms related to casinos in 2021. This is a rather broad outlook that likely applies to both people that are looking for iGaming platforms and those that are trying to find land-based casinos.
- Casino Online
- Casino Bonus
- No Deposit Casino
- Casino Near Me
- No Deposit Bonus Casino
- Live Casino
- Casino Games
When viewed from specific geographies instead of worldwide, other types of keywords proved to be of very high demand. Search terms like “casinos near me with slot machines” for different US states, “directions to the nearest casino”, “closest casino to my location” were common. In some places, they still are. This was also particularly true for specific games like baccarat, slots, and blackjack-related terms.
The Top 15 Online Casino-Specific Search Trends
When it comes to online casino-specific search trends, here are the search terms that ranked highest:
- Online Casino Bonus
- Best Online Casino
- Free Online Casino
- Online Casino No Deposit
- Real Online Casino
- Real Casino Online
- Online Casino Indexes
- Online Casino Real Money
- Casino Online Games
- Casino Online Real Money
- Online Casino Slots
- Casino Live Online
- Casino Slots Online
- Online Casino No Deposit Bonus
- Play Casino Online
The number of arguably broad keywords that defined search trends for online gambling was much higher than those of gambling in general.
Breaking It All Down
All the biggest and most popular search volumes about the online gambling sector relate to online casinos. These numbers have increased immensely over the past couple of years, a trend that is likely to stay the same for quite some time. One thing that is certainly worth noting is that the massive increase in search volumes is all due to a surge in the ownership of mobile devices. While search volumes for desktops have remained static, mobile usage has gone up and even surpassed them.
The data has also revealed seasonal spikes in these search volumes. That is not too surprising considering how much interest in various aspects of the sector tends to fluctuate. Even as mobile gambling continues to grow, the impact is all too meaningful to ignore.
What Does This Mean?
We are certainly seeing rather profound increases in the search in nearly all areas of online gambling. Still, there are a lot of insights that we can and have gotten from the difference in volumes. This presents several different implications for both the gamblers themselves as well as online gambling operators.
So, what are the key takeaways from all this?
- Mobile-First is a Key Priority
The dominance of mobile devices extends well beyond the search engine. It also implies that more people are now playing from their mobile devices. Desktop gaming is still quite popular but it cannot match up to what mobile-first gaming experiences have achieved thus far. Operators, therefore, need to strategize and deliver on experiences that are optimized for all platforms with major emphases on mobile.
- Page Speed Still Makes a Huge Difference
For anyone interested in the technology behind the modern digital experience, page speed is a vital aspect of that. Not only does it impact the overall user experience but it also plays a huge role in both search engine and conversion optimization. The biggest brands already know how this can impact their businesses and are already taking steps to address it. Other advances are making it even easier for upcoming brands to do the same.
Conclusion
While we only looked at a small subsection of the whole search engine, this offers a very important glimpse of the whole thing. It is an incredibly impactful factor that has both short-term and long-term impacts. Gamers can easily know where the industry is headed and where to find the best experiences. Operators, on the other hand, can gauge the most profitable and most popular verticals to invest in. We can think of it as a double-edged sword of sorts.
