Search Trends: Thanksgiving & Black Friday 2011

From “Butterball turkey coupons” to “craft ideas for kids,” people are heading to Yahoo! for all things Thanksgiving related. For great Thanksgiving recipes ideas, be sure to check out Yahoo! Recipe Search at recipes.search.yahoo.com.

Thanksgiving Feast

To get Thanksgiving started off right, people are taking the time to assure the feast they prepare for friends and family is top notch. Searches for “Thanksgiving recipes” started spiking in September and will continue throughout the holiday, and of the searches this month for “Thanksgiving recipes,” 77% are coming from women.

·       “Butterball turkey coupon” searches on Yahoo! this week are up 2,112%.

·       Searches this week on Yahoo! for “Thanksgiving turkey recipes” are up 968%.

·       Yahoo! searches for “turkey brine” are up 472% this week.

·       “Deep fried turkey” searches on Yahoo! this week are up 359%, and “smoked turkey” searches are up 357%.

·       Searches for “Thanksgiving appetizers” are up 404% this week on Yahoo!.

·       “Thanksgiving cupcakes” searches on Yahoo! this week are up 179%.

According to Yahoo!, the top searched Thanksgiving recipes this week include:

1.       Sweet potato recipe

2.       Turkey recipes

3.       Pumpkin pie recipes

4.       Butternut squash recipes

5.       Stuffing recipe

6.       Apple crisp recipes

7.       Pumpkin bread recipes

8.       Pumpkin cheesecake recipe

9.       Cornbread dressing recipes

10.    Cornbread recipes

According to Yahoo!, the top searched side dishes this week include:

1.       Stuffing

2.       Green bean casserole

3.       Sweet potatoes/sweet potato casserole

4.       Cranberry sauce

5.       Potato Soup

6.       Mashed potatoes

7.       Scalloped potatoes

8.       Cornbread dressing

9.       Salad

10.   Bread

According to Yahoo!, the top searched pies this week include:

1.       Pumpkin pie recipe

2.       Sweet potato pie

3.       Apple pie

4.       Pecan pie recipe

5.       Lemon meringue pie

6.       Mud pie

7.       Peanut butter pie

8.       Cherry pie

9.       Key lime pie

10.   Cream pies

And, when it comes to cooking a feast for others, people are bound to have several questions, especially on a day like Thanksgiving when people oftentimes indulge in many different courses.

According to Yahoo!, the top turkey how-tos over the past two weeks include:

1.       How to cook a turkey?

2.       How long to cook a turkey?

3.       How to brine a turkey?

4.       How to smoke a turkey?

5.       How to deep-fry a turkey

6.       How to carve a turkey?

7.       How long can you keep a turkey frozen?

8.       How to season a turkey?

9.       How long to thaw a turkey?

10.   How to grill a turkey?

Additional Thanksgiving related questions this week on Yahoo!, include:

1.       How big of a turkey do I need?

2.       How much turkey per person?

3.       How much turkey for (10, 12, 20) people?

4.       What wine goes with turkey?

5.       What is the red thing on a turkey?

6.       How much does a turkey cost?

7.       Where to buy a turkey?

8.       Where was the turkey first domesticated?

9.       What restaurants are open on Thanksgiving?

10.   Where to order Thanksgiving dinner?

11.   Where to buy fried turkey

12.   Difference between sweet potatoes and yams?

Thanksgiving Activities

Outside of dinner with family and friends, many people attend parades, volunteer at food banks, run in 5k events and play flag football.  Yahoo! searches reveal what activities are top of mind for people this week.

·       Searches on Yahoo! this week for “Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade 2011” are up 866%, and of the searches, 19% come from kids 13 and under. Top states searching for “Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade 2011” this week on Yahoo! include: New York, New Jersey and Virginia.

·       “Turkey crafts for kids” searches on Yahoo! are up 478% and “kids Thanksgiving crafts” are up 248% this week.

·       Yahoo! searches for “disguise a turkey” this week are up 250%.

·       Searches for “Turkey Trot” are up 122% this week on Yahoo!.

·       Also spiking this week on Yahoo!: “Thanksgiving games,” “Thanksgiving jokes,” “Charlie Brown Thanksgiving,” “Volunteers of America.”

Post-Thanksgiving Day Fun: Shopping

It goes without saying that as families get ready for the feast, they are also turning to the Web to prepare for the biggest shopping day of the year.  Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, still reigns supreme for deal hunters online, with stores offering discounts as early as the night before.  Searches for “Black Friday” are 25 times higher than “Cyber Monday” – the day after the holiday weekend.  Savvy shoppers are looking for special discounts from Walmart, Target, Amazon, Best Buy and JCPenney.

Black Friday and Cyber Monday searches on Yahoo! Include:

·       Yahoo! searches for “Black Friday” are up 1,020%. Of the searches for “Black Friday” this month on Yahoo!, 25% are coming from women ages 30-44. People are also searching Yahoo! for information on “Why is it called Black      Friday?”

·       “Black Friday 2011 Walmart” searches on Yahoo! this month are up 31,752%, with 66% of the searches coming from women.  Top states searching for “Black Friday 2011 Walmart” this month on Yahoo! include: West Virginia, Kentucky, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Alabama.  Searches for “Target Black Friday Ad” are up 2,885% this month on Yahoo!, with 71% of searches coming from women. Top states searching for “Target Black Friday Ad” include: Texas, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio and Virginia.

·       Searches this week for “Cyber Monday” are up 179%.  Of the searches for “Cyber Monday” this week on Yahoo!, 58% are coming from women. Top states searching for “Cyber Monday” include: California, Virginia, Florida, New York, and Georgia.

According to Yahoo!, the top Black Friday searches this month (past 30 days) include:

•       Black Friday 2011 Walmart

•       Black Friday 2011 deals

•       Black Friday ads 2011

•       Amazon Black Friday 2011

•       Kmart Black Friday deals

•       Black Friday sales

•       Target Black Friday 2011

•       Lowes Black Friday 2011

•       Best Buy Black Friday 2011

•       JC Penney Black Friday 2011

According to Yahoo!, the top searched deals this month include:

1.           Black Friday 2011 deals

2.           Hotel deals

3.           Best laptop deals

4.           Living social deals

5.           Las Vegas deals

6.           Cell phone deals

7.           Cruise deals

8.           Travel deals

9.           Last minute deals

10.        Best HDTV deals