Seasonal search traffic often rises before the event people associate with it. Holiday shoppers research earlier, peak-event interest can accelerate weeks in advance, and post-holiday demand can shift toward sales, loyalty programs and practical purchases. The figures below cover measured periods from 2021 through 2025 reporting, with geography and comparison periods stated for each result.
Contents
- Seasonal demand starts before the peak
- Black Friday and other peak-event spikes
- December gifting and holiday interest
- Fashion, food, leisure and local demand
- Post-holiday and New Year traffic
- Channels, devices and retail referrals
Seasonal demand starts before the peak
Planning around a single holiday date can miss a substantial research window. In a 2022 survey reported by Google in Increase your holiday retail sales, 40% of holiday shoppers said their previous holiday experience made them consider shopping much earlier for other milestones. The result is a useful signal for SEO calendars: the audience may be forming preferences before the conventional promotional period.
Search behavior also moved early in specific categories. Google Image searches for “family halloween costumes” grew more than 90% globally from June 22 through August 20, 2021, compared with the same period in 2020. In the United States, searches for “Black Friday deals” were up more than 200% in July 2022 compared with July 2021. Both figures show demand appearing months before the named event.
By mid-October 2022, shoppers globally had completed 21% of their holiday shopping on average, according to Google’s Maintain holiday customer engagement. In a survey conducted January 5–10, 2023, 36% of surveyed holiday shoppers said they spent more time researching online before purchasing than in previous years. The same source reported that 87% of holiday shoppers in the surveyed markets used Google to help with shopping, while 50% of consumers planning to shop for the holidays were open to new stores or brands that season.
For content teams, these figures support publishing gift guides, comparison pages and category explainers before peak-week demand. They do not establish a universal start date; the measurements cover particular markets, queries and survey groups.
Black Friday and other peak-event spikes
Peak events can produce both a sharp increase in traffic and a change in the kind of query users make. Similarweb’s 2024 Cyber 5 analysis found that web traffic surged 6.7% year over year across the five-day period. Cyber Monday recorded the most traffic among the five days, while the Saturday after Black Friday produced the largest growth spike in that analysis.
The pattern was also visible in search behavior. Google reported that brand- and retailer-related searches represented about 60% of South African searches during Black Friday week in 2023, compared with 40% in 2022. This is a shift toward named merchants and brands, not merely a larger volume of generic discount queries.
Timing within the week mattered. In South Africa during the four weeks before Black Friday in November 2023, Tuesdays had the highest increase in “black friday” search interest, while interest was low from Saturday through Monday. On Black Friday 2023, South African search interest for home-appliance discounts increased 280%.
MENA data illustrates how event demand can extend beyond one day. Google’s Beyond Black Friday: MENA’s 90-day retail marathon reported a 15% week-over-week rise in brand- and retailer-related search interest during White Friday week. Shopping-app downloads in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia increased 43% in November versus October during the reported White Friday period. Saudi Arabia recorded a 50% month-over-month increase, compared with 22% in the UAE.
| Seasonal signal | Geography | Measurement |
|---|---|---|
| Web traffic during Cyber 5 | Analysis by Similarweb | +6.7% year over year |
| Brand and retailer searches during Black Friday week | South Africa | About 60% in 2023, versus 40% in 2022 |
| Home-appliance discount search interest on Black Friday | South Africa | +280% in 2023 |
| Shopping-app downloads, November versus October | UAE and Saudi Arabia | +43% |
These comparisons should not be combined into one forecast. They use different definitions of traffic, search interest and app activity, but together they show why event SEO benefits from a multi-week publishing and promotion schedule.
December gifting and holiday interest
December demand is not limited to broad “gift” queries. In MENA markets studied by Google for the 2021 festive period, “Christmas lights” had more than eight times the search interest of “artificial Christmas tree” in Saudi Arabia during October–December. In the UAE, “Christmas lights” had five times the search interest of “artificial Christmas tree” before the 2021 festivities.
Video search also grew. YouTube search interest for “Christmas decoration” increased 90% year over year in the MENA markets studied, comparing December 2021 with December 2020. YouTube search interest for “DIY gifts” increased 35% in December 2021 versus November. “Christmas cookie” increased more than five-fold year over year, comparing December 2021 with December 2020.
Gift-intent terms moved at different rates in December 2021. Across the MENA markets studied, search interest for “personalized gifts” rose 140% from November to December. “Perfect gift” rose 45%, and “best gifts” rose 35%. Year over year, “Secret Santa” increased 45%, “discounts” increased 55%, and “winter sale” increased 25%.
The variation matters for SEO planning. A page aimed at personalization may encounter a stronger month-to-month surge than a broad gift page, while seasonal discount content may retain relevance into late December. The figures are search-interest comparisons from the specified MENA markets, not global search-volume totals.
Fashion, food, leisure and local demand
Seasonality spreads across adjacent needs, including appearance, meals, restaurants and family activities. In the MENA markets studied, “Christmas style” search interest was three times higher in December than November 2021, and “Christmas outfit” rose 85% over the same monthly comparison. “Hairdresser” rose 55% during the 2021 festive period, while YouTube search interest for “best makeup” rose 85% in December versus November.
Some apparel terms showed year-over-year growth instead. “Christmas sweater” increased 60% in December 2021 compared with December 2020, and “Christmas pajamas” increased 25%. These are distinct comparison bases, so the two types of result should be labeled rather than treated as equivalent measures.
Food-related demand also expanded. “Family food” search interest increased 40% year over year in the MENA markets studied. YouTube search interest for “turkey recipe” rose 30% in December versus November 2021, while “Christmas cookie” increased more than five-fold year over year.
Local and social-intent queries followed the calendar. “Restaurant near me” rose 35% during the 2021 holiday period, and “fine dining” had twice the search interest around New Year’s Day 2021 in the markets studied. “Family picture” increased 80% in December versus November 2021. For local SEO, these results point to the importance of service pages, opening-hour information and location-specific content during the relevant window.
Post-holiday and New Year traffic
The end of December does not mark the end of seasonal demand. Google’s Holiday marketing campaigns for devoted buyers reported that search volume for “gifts” was 45% higher in January 2023 than in September–October 2022. Search volume for “presents” was 15% higher in January 2023 than in the same baseline period.
Post-holiday search can also change from inspiration to value and retention. Search interest in loyalty programs, including “reward program” and “loyalty points,” surged 50% in January 2023 versus December 2022. From December 26, 2022 through the first two weeks of January 2023, 15% of shopping-related searches contained “sales.”
The next demand wave may be practical rather than gift-focused. In South Africa, search interest in the hardware category surged 60% from mid-January to the last week of January 2024. In the reported MENA holiday cycle, late-December sports-and-fitness search interest rose 20% in the UAE and 15% in Saudi Arabia. Search interest in deals and offers across the UAE and Saudi Arabia rose 10% during the final two weeks of December.
Gifting still persisted in that cycle: combined UAE and Saudi gifting-related search interest rose 20% in December versus November, with a 30% increase in the UAE and a 15% increase in Saudi Arabia. These market-specific differences argue for regional landing pages and separate reporting rather than one blended seasonal benchmark.
Channels, devices and retail referrals
Seasonal traffic performance also depends on how people reach retail sites. Adobe’s ADI PR - Full Season Recap Jan 7 reported that smartphones drove 54.5% of U.S. online purchases during the November 1–December 31, 2024 holiday season, up from 51.1% in 2023. On Christmas Day 2024, smartphones drove 65% of U.S. online sales, compared with 63% on Christmas Day 2023.
The same U.S. holiday-season analysis recorded a rapid rise in generative-AI referral traffic. Traffic to retail sites from generative-AI chatbots increased 1,300% year over year during the 2024 holiday season. On Cyber Monday 2024, generative-AI chatbot traffic increased 1,950% year over year.
Paid and partner channels remained substantial. Paid search accounted for 29.7% of U.S. holiday retail revenue in 2024, up 1% year over year. Affiliates and partners accounted for 17.6%, up 6% year over year. Retailer traffic from social media represented about 5% of U.S. holiday revenue and grew 5.4% year over year.
Adobe also reported $41.1 billion in U.S. online sales during Cyber Week 2024, up 8.2% year over year. Revenue share, referral traffic and online sales are different metrics, so they should be tracked in separate dashboard fields. Together, they show that seasonal SEO measurement needs more than sessions: device mix, referral source, revenue contribution and event timing all affect the result.