I’ll admit it. I’m a geek on many fronts, including my full-time job. While anime, manga and all things Japanese consume my spare time, my full-time job is a search engine optimization manager. I look at thousands of online stats, user behavior, and trends, and I do keyword research, write up online copy, and do pay-per-click account management.
Today, I thought I’d marry the two aspects of my life and shed some light on online searches related to anime and manga in the United States. One of the tools I use is Google Insights, a nifty beta tool that lets you see how specific searches have performed over time and within specific regions of the globe.
So, what states are tops for searches in Google for Anime?
Top States for Anime Searches in the US
The top States, according to Google are:
Popularity of Anime (blue) and Manga (red) searches by State
I wasn’t really shocked that Hawaii and California ranked #1 and #2 in the list, and even Nevada wasn’t a stretch for #3, knowing that many Californians travel there often. But to see Texas in the #4 spot? That was a shock.
How about searches for Manga?
Manga Search Popularity by US State
I was surprised to see Texas as high on the list of anime and manga searches on Google as it is, but I was in for an even bigger surprise when I dug a little deeper into Texas’ stats.
Anime Search Popularity by Metro Area
Laredo, a small city on the Mexican border, is the top metropolitan region for anime and manga searches on Google. (Huh?) In fact, many of the top metro areas in Texas for these types of searches are along the U.S.-Mexican border.
With a small, but healthy selection of manga sellers and anime groups, Austin was a real shocker. It wasn’t even in the top 10. This just shows how crafty otaku are. Where there are fewer offline outlets for anime and manga, otaku just go online.
And what were the top 10 search keywords and phrases in the U.S. for anime and manga from 2004 to present?
- free anime
- online anime
- anime girls
- manga
- anime games
- naruto anime
- naruto
- download anime
- anime videos
- anime girl
*Source: Google Insights for Search.
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this is a lol…
Interesting numbers. I wonder if it’s coincidence that the states doing more searching are also the ones on the coast, or bordering a non-English country. (Mexico is Spanish, obviously, and Hawaii has a lot of Japanese.)
Even in Texas, the closer you get to Mexico, the more searches.
Could it be because people who have live close to another culture are more tolerant and more likely to want goods from other cultures?
That’s an interesting take on it. I just assumed Hawaii and California had higher searches for anime and manga due to their high percentage of Japanese and Japanese-Americans. As for the other states, I assumed those high search volumes were due to lack of offline resources. But your theory could be a good explanation as well.
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