According to Google Trends, there has been an increase in searches for regarding the Coronavirus as people search out more information on the China-born virus that continues to spread.
Google posted on Twitter last week that worldwide search interest for “coronavirus symptoms” had jumped by 1,050% compared to the previous week while also listing the top five related searches during the previous 24 hours.
But there is more to the story.
Corona Beer Virus?
Apparently, there is an increasing number of people who are possibly confusing “Coronavirus” as having some connection to “Corona Beer” – with searches for “corona beer virus” and even “beer virus” taking a huge jump recently.
Asia has the honor of having several countries in the top 5 searchers for both terms led by Cambodia in both instances with Singapore, China and Sri Lanka joining the ranks.
Ah yes, the joys of the internet age with a wealth of information at our fingertips.
As you can see in the Google Trends report below, instances of people searching for “corona beer virus” took a sizable jump in January.
The “corona beer virus” search term is most popular in Cambodia, followed by Estonia, Singapore, Lithuania, and Sri Lanka.
Google Trends also shows a sizable increase in searches for “beer virus” – once again led by Cambodia, followed by Estonia, Sri Lanka, China & Singapore.
In the United States, Google Trends shows that 57% of the people searching one of those terms also searched for “beer virus,” and the remaining 43% searched for “corona beer virus.”
There is no connection says Corona
“We aren’t responding [to the conversation on social media], as we trust that our consumers, by and large, understand that this virus has nothing to do with our beer or our business,” said Maggie Bowman, senior director of communications for the beer division for Corona parent Constellation Brands.
To be fair, no one knows if this is people seriously making a connection between the two “Corona” named entities or it’s simply a case of humor on the part of searchers.
Comedian Ronnie Chieng may have been right when he quipped that the Internet has actually made us all dumber.
The stock price was about $190 a share on Thursday, down slightly from $195 last Friday.
Carry on.
MORE: Google Temporarily Closes Offices in China, Taiwan & Hong Kong Amid Coronavirus Crisis
