From the Meta Gala, NBA to Adulting find out what exactly people were searching for in the month of May on Google with Google Trends expert Bailey Tomson.
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Google Trends May Transcription
00:00 – Announcer: Mason Vera Paine.
00:02 – Mason: Baily Tomson, Google Trends expert, joins me to share the top search for May in entertainment, culture, science, odd news, sports, and food. Thanks for joining me, Baily.
00:11 – Baily: Thanks for having me.
00:13 – Mason: So in May, what was the biggest trending thing that was happening?
00:18 – Baily: There was a lot happening in May. We had the Met Gala at the beginning of the month, Cinco de Mayo on May 5. Overall, the month celebrates Asian Pacific American heritage. So a lot of busy things. There’s also NBA playoff. I feel like we’ve been talking about basketball since forever with March Madness. Now we get into the playoff. So all over the place. I thought something that was a bit atypical and pretty cool was tipping culture. So the term tipping culture has been searched at a 15 year high and it’s doubled over the past year in the US, folks searching for should I tip and wondering… There’s a lot of whys around tipping. Why do restaurants add gratuity for large parties? Why does America tip so much? So tipping was my… Wasn’t expecting it was the curve ball.
1:05 – Mason: Yeah, that one’s a little weird, but I’m not going to lie, I’m questioning it myself. I’m picking up my own orders, so I feel like, why am I tipping you?
1:15 – Baily: I agree. That was actually, there were over the five top questions around asking for tips, the why is something asking for tips. Number five is why are fast food restaurants asking for tips, which I can only… I’m sure fast casual is also in there. I’m with you. It was a bit of that trend that was quite validating.
1:33 – Mason: Yeah, you know what it is? During the pandemic, I was giving everybody tips. I was Oprah of tipping. You get a tip and you get a tip. I was like, I’m going to help everybody. And now I’m broke. I’m like, You need to pay me a tip now.
1:48 – Baily: Yeah, I’m going to walk into the restaurant to get my food so I don’t have to tip now.
1:54 – Mason: Exactly. Now, something that I think we talked about last month with… And we’re talking again this month, Met Gala. I mean, how much are we going to talk about this? Doja Cat, we already know she was telling everyone, which I thought was the cutest thing ever and it was hilarious. And who’s the guy that was in the first suit? It’s going to kill me. Jared Leto. Oh, I knew his name.
2:18 – Baily: Yes. He was also Doja Cat and Jared Leto were the top searched women and men, respectively. I think it were the cat suits. I think people were really intrigued. They did something a little different than we usually see on the red carpet of Met Gala.
2:33 – Mason: Well, I think there wasn’t a lot you could do. So I think they were trying to be as creative as possible, which I think it worked out. I really think if I had to rate them, Doja Cat won. I just really liked the face costume. I thought that was a lot. And then she stuck to it by meowing to everybody. So I’m like, Dude, she was in character. She looked really good. I love the dress. I think she went the whole 10 yards.
3:02 – Baily: I completely agree. And then just leaning into the fact that she’s Doja Cat, it just was like the full brand was all there.
3:09 – Mason: Oh, that’s so true. Doja Cat, how silly of me. I didn’t get the pun. Now, another thing that happened in May is a Cinco de Mayo. And my mom actually went and celebrated something called Mole de Mayo. And I’ve never heard of that before. I was like, Is it Mole de Mayo or Mole de Mayo?
3:34 – Baily: I’ve never heard about it before, but I just went to Google really quickly and seeing that it’s a local Chicago festival. That’s so cool.
3:42 – Mason: Yeah. There was a whole bunch of festivals that were out this past weekend and during the week. It was just really wild. I was like, I don’t know what to go to. So I decided to just listen to my inner person and I stayed inside and played video games.
3:58 – Baily: Do you? You can spend May doing however you’d like to do. There’s a lot going on in Shingo to Mayo, Mole de Mayo. I think people are, if they want to go out looking how to celebrate, whether it’s what to wear or what to eat. There’s a lot to do or not do.
4:19 – Mason: Exactly, right? Do you. Another big thing that happened was the coronation. I don’t know about you, but I’m really into the British royal family. I don’t know why it’s been like this for decades. Did you look into it at all?
4:34 – Baily: I actually, I was one of those people that woke up and it was on TV. I was like, Oh, right, it’s the coronation. But there were a lot of people that were there. Once I started watching, I was hooked. So it’s obviously, or not obviously, 70 years since the last British coronation. So a lot of folks were interested in when it was, how could they watch it? People could watch it live on YouTube. And for those who are interested, they can still rewatch it there. A lot of people were interested in what was happening even in the US. But I think similar to you, it’s something so different than what we’re used to in the United States. So whether it’s a reality show or a Jackie series or actual coronation, people were definitely interested in what was happening and who would be there.
5:20 – Mason: I didn’t think of that. 70 years. It wasn’t even in our lifetime, the last person, which was the queen, to come into this. So we’re seeing this for the first time. And you’re right. It’s like, as an American, I am the fly on the wall. What are you guys doing over there? It is so interesting.
5:41 – Baily: So interesting. And there’s so much history. Kings and Queens, it feels like it’s a time of the past, but the coronation was happening. So yeah, it’s super interesting. And a lot of these people were searching recipes around it. So I guess trying to get almost and steam. And coronation chicken, that was something that once I saw the trend, I had to go to Google and search. It feels like a chicken, what we would call a chicken salad. So just a whole different experience. But it was fun for a lot of folks to partake virtually.
6:19 – Mason: So we have Super Bowl. They have coronation foods, right?
6:23 – Baily: There you go. Exactly. I think I’ll pick the Super Bowl food but super supportive of their coronation chicken.
6:31 – Mason: I’m sure that there’s some barbecue chicken coronation food. We just didn’t look hard enough.
6:37 – Baily: Yes, exactly.
6:39 – Mason: It was on page four of Google, I swear.
6:42 – Baily: Yes, lower in the search results, not trending.
6:46 – Mason: Now, one of the things I wanted to talk about was the adulting. I saw that was trending of challenges that adults are facing. Why was that even trendy in this month? What was going on?
6:59 – Baily: Yes, it was trending search interest as an adult was at a record high this month. Folks were searching things all over the place. The first one was how to make friends as an adult. I’m sure people can relate to that, whether you’re new to a city or you’re trying to expand your friend group, you talked about the pandemic, coming out of that and wanting to meet friends. But then also how to get tested for autism as an adult. I think going there, maybe they wanted to get some facts before they talked to professionals. They were also searching for how to learn Spanish as an adult, how to get tested for ADHD as an adult, and then how to go back to school as an adult. So I think it’s just validating that no matter what age you are, we still have questions and we’re all still trying to figure it out. And people are going to Google to figure it out.
7:50 – Mason: I like that. It was a lot of self help, self improvement things. And it’s nice to know that other adults are out there doing the same thing because I’ve been doing that. And I wonder if this is like leftovers from the pandemic because being inside, you had nothing else to do but look at yourself all day.
8:08 – Baily: Yes, it’s a very introspective time. And then just coming out of it and seeing, what can I do now? Can I start over? Can I start a new career? That was at a 15 year high in search trends in the US. Can I go back to school? So it definitely is validating that we’re all trying to see what’s going on? What can we do?
8:31 – Mason: And then for the huge detachment of life, at least for me, is the NBA conference finals. Did you watch it at all?
8:40 – Baily: Yes, I did. I’m based in San Francisco, so we are part warriors household. My boyfriend is from Chicago, diehard Bulls fans. So we were cheering for them for a while, but all the teams in our household are gone. So we, like many, we’re searching for Miami Heat. That was the top trending team related to NBA playoff, Jimmy Butler, he was a top trending player in the playoff. May was obviously consumed with the NBA Conference Finals. So it was a duke out, not only on the basketball court, but what people were searching from the LA Lakers, the Denver Nuggets, the Boston Celtics, playing the Heat, across the country, folks across the state were searching for the LA Lakers. So they may not have made it to the end, but people have done top of mind throughout the finals.
9:34 – Mason: Yeah, it was wild, the Western and Eastern Conference. I mean, you had on the Western, it was Lakers in Denver, and everybody thought the Lakers were going to win. And I’m like, no, they’re not. Denver has been a beast the whole season. And then LeBron also hurt his foot. So you knew they weren’t going to make it. But they still wanted to act like they were. And then over here on the Eastern Conference, it was wild because Miami Heat were one of the lower seed seats. So you didn’t expect anything to happen with this team. And they’re so scrappy. I have loved Jimmy Butler since he was with Chicago, and I’ve never stopped loving him. And it was just such an amazing series. I honestly, now the finals are here, I don’t know who to root for. I love Denver. I love the culture there. But this is Miami Heat. I really want Jimmy to win at least one chip in his career. I think that would be spectacular. So I’m divided on this whole finals. I don’t know what to do at this point.
10:36 – Baily: In my house, I think we’re cheering for Jimmy Butler. So I’m with you. I think I’m pulling for the Heat, but then I’ve got family in Denver, so maybe I’m a bit more tone torn than I realized. But yeah, it should be a fun end to this wild series.
10:51 – Mason: Oh, absolutely. And this will be Denver’s, if they win it, this will be their first chip in franchise history. How amazing would that be? Right? We get to watch that.
11:01 – Baily: It’s an underdog story now. Now you’re just really adding the tension there.
11:08 – Mason: It is. It’s so intense. But I can’t help but love the drama of basketball.
11:14 – Baily: Of course. Absolutely.
11:17 – Mason: Speaking of basketball, was there anything that was happening with the WNBA?
11:22 – Baily: Yeah. Actually, the WNBA tipped off on May 19th. So folks went to Google with all their questions. Brittany Griner’s return is trending. It was up 4,700 %. Wnba, most points in the game was top trending. And then Jessica Shepard was the top trending NBA player from Minnesota L ake. And across the country, it’s interesting. I think sometimes when you see trends, you see real consistency. I was saying a lot of folks are searching for LA Lakers across the country, even if you weren’t in California. You have folks on the East Coast Midwest for searching for LA Lakers. But with WMBA, people are dedicated to their region. You had a lot of states searching for… The teams that they were searching for most of the team that was the closest proximity. So in Illinois, big Chicago Sky Searchers, out in California, LA Sparks. So it was fun just to see when you look at a map of the country, people were… They’re committed to their local team.
12:27 – Mason: And it’s funny. I think I only know Chicago Sky because you hear about Chicago Sky because I’m in the region. I don’t know any of the other team names and I feel horrible. But I’ve been wanting to get into the WNBA and it’s just because I’m cheap and I’m wondering if the ticket sales are really low. I’m never going to be able to afford an NBA Eastern Conference Finals ticket. I’m not going to be able to afford that. But maybe I could for the WNBA.
12:56 – Baily: I feel like if trends are any indication, people are very interested in the WNBA. And we saw it during March Madness, too. I think more people were searching for the women’s finals than men’s. So maybe get in now. It’s like get in early on real estate. Get it now before they really spike.
13:17 – Mason: Because I was thinking about that. I’m like, I bet the tickets are like 10 bucks. So what’s the season pass? It’s going to be really cheap. I’m like, should I just do it? Because I just like basketball and I’m like, I bet it’s not crowded. I bet the food won’t be expensive and I get to watch some games. But you’re right, I should probably just do it. Well, Baily, thank you so much for joining me. I really appreciate you being here. For those listening, where can they find more information about Google trends?
13:43 – Baily: So anyone can check out trends and be their own little resident Google expert. Google.Com/trends, you can dig into national trends, local trends, topics that are top of mind for you.
13:57 – Announcer: This has been the Mason Vera Paine Show.
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