One of the oldest aphorisms in the world is that ‘change is the only constant’. People change, tastes evolve, and preferences shift. In this report aptly titled “KSA: Shifting sands of taste”, we have analysed all the Google web searches made over the 12 months between June 2021 to May 2022. The objective of doing so was twofold:
a)Highlight changes in consumer preferences identified in our last (and highly successful & well-received) report titled, “Saudi Arabia: A Digital Roadtrip”; and
b)Showcase new trends in consumer behaviour/ preferences.
 
Analysis of digital searches can help us gain valuable insights into the consumers’ minds – these are anonymized and unbiased, based as they are on actual searches as opposed to self-reported answers to survey questions. Our advanced algorithms analyse the terms or keywords searched over Google across the KSA to shed light on new interests of customers along with their pain points, expectations, aspirations, and untapped opportunities available for new businesses & operating models. These also potentially act as harbingers of wider macroeconomic trends.
 
Today with mobile and internet penetration in the KSA being 98%[¹], evaluating Google searches is an efficient and reliable proxy to gauge consumer demand, assess broad sentiments, or for that matter predict future demand.
 
For the readers’ reference, it is important to note here that 'Top' searches are those keywords that are searched the most. 'Trending' searches are those keyword searches that are accelerating the fastest.
 
A famous singer once said that hips don’t lie. Well, neither do your internet searches!