It's Christmas Eve. If you're in need of a last minute gift, might I suggest gift cards? You won't be alone, contrary to reports that gift cards are on their way out. At least, that's according to new data on gift card searches released by Hitwise.
Sure, there's been a dip in searches, but gift cards are very much alive.
Besides, this data doesn't even include the number of people going directly to a website and ordering a gift card. That's what I do. I've bought e-gift cards for Apple iTunes, Amazon.com and Southwest Air without ever conducting search.
But those conducting searches reveal an interesting trend: searching for discounted gift cards that can be found via Craigslist. Sometimes people get or purchase gift cards they won't use so they sell them for less than the value of the card on Craigslist.
An analysis of search terms "breadth" shows just how popular this trend is:
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Related Reading:
Bill Tancer of Hitwise Analyzes Economy on SES Webcast
Keyword Research from Hitwise
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