Hot searches for February 2015 were a little different a year on from Hot Searches – February 2014, with unforeseen weather in the form of Cyclone Marcia taking out first spot in rising searches. Valentine’s Day, always in the back of the mind in February, came fourth. Mathletics and the television program My Kitchen Rules proved popular amongst search terms, with the Cricket World Cup rounding out the top five.

Cyclone Marcia was Australia’s top rising search term for the month. Many Aussies on the East coast – predominantly Queensland – were concerned about the Category 5 tropical cyclone making landfall on the 20th February, when Google searches on this subject reached its peak. Unsurprisingly, searches for ‘BOM Cyclone’ and ‘BOM Cyclone Marcia’ were amongst the top searches in this category, with users seeking live updates of the storm on the Bureau of Meteorology.

My Kitchen Rules was a fairly consistently popular search term throughout February, with a focus on internet searchers seeking information about particular contestants on the Channel 7 show: Ash, Lynzey, Adam and Camilla were the most searched contestants. Colin Fassnidge, a celebrity chef on the show, also scraped in. Tasmania were the keenest fans of the show, followed by Western Australia and the ACT.

Mathletics, the online maths learning resource for kids at home and school, is proving a versatile contender in our hot searches list. Peaking on weekdays, the use of this search term saw a steady rise over the month, with Mathletics searches dying down a little on weekends. Related searches include ‘Cool maths games’, as well as ABC’s ‘Reading Eggs’, an educational tool for younger children. Another study resource, Studyladder, also popped up in the related searches.

Peaking on 13th February and plummeting in popularity from then onwards, Aussies anticipated the annual day for lovers by seeking Valentine’s cards, jokes, memes, messages, poems and quotes. Queenslanders were the most active in the lead up to the day of love, with every other part of the country – bar Northern Territory – falling closely behind.

Hosted by Australia and New Zealand, 2015’s Cricket World Cup began gaining momentum on Google in early February, the peak coinciding with the actual start date of the series on the 14th. Live updated scores and how to watch and live stream the program became popular in the related search terms for Cricket World Cup, with ‘Channel 9’, ‘cricket scores’, ‘live cricket streaming’ and ‘live cricket’ being amongst the most prevalent related search terms.

Want to add some fizz to your Search Marketing activity in 2015? Get in touch to see how Sodafizz can help you reach your online marketing goals.