I’ll Have the Hadron Collider but Not the Ethics!

There’s a recession looming, in case you didn’t know, it’s changing how we think and hitwise have been sharing some of their insights with us.

Fast moving search terms for September include Hadron Collider, HBoS, Sarah Palin, Sex on Fire, Elbow, Ryder Cup & Google Chrome, amongst others.

Interestingly, the rate of growth in the Social Networking & Forums category has slowed quite a bit, whilst blogs & personal websites have seen a decrease in popularity year on year – this could be our last post!

The Online Video category continued to grow, in terms of share of UK visits, with YouTube accounting for nearly ¾ of all visits to sites of this type. Is it time we spiced-up how we communicate with our prospects?

There’s also a piece in hitwise’s research which demonstrates a tail-off in ethical consumerism. Is the global financial squeeze playing its part here? Quite possibly. As people’s disposable income reduces in line with an increased cost of living, they are less likely to search for more expensive, ethical goods.

The above was compared with Carbon/Environment related terms, Fair Trade related terms and Energy Efficiency related terms. Out of all 4 portfolios of terms, there’s one sector which seems to be doing okay and it’s those related to energy efficiency. Terms such as underfloor heating and loft insulation are doing well although there may be an element of seasonality in here too.

So, whilst times are tougher, it would appear the leftie in us all, well, has left. He’s unshackled himself from the railings of morality in search of a bargain!

To read the UK Online Media Round-up article in full visit hitwise