According to Google, at least 82% of TV ad-driven searches during Super Bowl 50 between the Denver Broncos and Carolina Panthers happened on smartphones.
That’s a jump of more than 12% from last year's bout between the New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks, when 70% of Super Bowl ad-related searches across Google and video platform YouTube were made via mobile phones.
During this year’s game, just 11% of searches related to advertisements shown during the game happened on desktop or laptop, and 7% occurred on tablets (which also backs up claims that tablet usage is gradually dropping wth the arrival or larger smartphones).
Overall, the adverts drove more than 7,500,000 incremental searches during the Broncos-Panthers game - that’s a whopping 40% higher than the lift last year’s Super Bowl advertisers saw in search.
Searches driven by Super Bowl TV ads were at their peak during the first two quarters of this year’s game. Ad-related searches dropped considerably in the second half of the game - this is most likely because the score remained relatively tight during this period, and Google says this trend reflects what happened during last year’s close game too. Relatively poor performances from stars Peyton Manning and Cam Newton likely contributed to this as well.
Looking at the incremental boost Super Bowl 50 advertisers received in brand-related searches on across Google and YouTube, Germany automotive manufacturer Audi came out in pole position with its “Commander” advertisement. Interestingly, car brands dominated the charts - four of the top five ads driving lift in brand search were from automotive manufacturers: Audi, Acura, Honda and Kia. Universal Studios’ ad for the new Jason Bourne movie completed the top five.
Google also released trends data related to the Super Bowl which showed some interesting statistics:
There were the most searched players, with star quarter backs Peyton Manning and Cam Newton coming up trumps.
We also had the top questions about the Super Bowl, such as what time it starts and how much tickets cost (hint: a lot).
And also questions on the host for Super Bowl 50, Levi's Stadium.
Football fans were also researching their favourite teams for roster news and injury updates.
And how could we forget our friend the Superb Owl!?