Learn London Calling: About Reflections On The Digital Games

The stats are in, as well as ane clear winner from this year’s summertime sports has emerged: digital media. Here’s a quick hold back behind the “screens” at how the spider web blew records away to a greater extent than or less the world, at the most wired Games ever.

Searches gear upwards a novel pace
Mirroring the growth of the spider web as well as digital media, Google search book to a greater extent than or less the dry reason was dramatically higher this twelvemonth than during Beijing inwards 2008:

• Driven past times a 900 per centum increment inwards [ryan lochte] searches, American involvement inwards [swimming] spiked 25 per centum higher than 2008 levels.
• The “Fierce Five” vaulted U.S. searches for [gymnastics] to almost double the 2008 peak.
• Spurred on past times a record-breaking functioning past times sprinter Usain Bolt, Jamaican searches for [track as well as field] raced upwards xl per centum from 2008.
• Japanese gymnast as well as first-time gilt medalist [kohei uchimura] proved he’s a “superman” inwards search every bit good every bit on the tumbling mat, alongside search book inwards his abode province upwards 420 per centum over the terminal games.
• Success may choose been sweeter the instant fourth dimension to a greater extent than or less for wrestler [sushil kumar], the kickoff Indian athlete to win an private medal at successive Olympics, alongside searches upwards to a greater extent than than 375 per centum from the 2008 games.

Here are a few to a greater extent than search snapshots:

Top Athlete Searches (U.S.)	Top Athlete Searches (U.K.)	Top Artist Closing Ceremony Searches (U.S.)
Michael Phelps	Usain Bolt	Jessie J
Ryan Lochte	Jessica Ennis	Beady Eye
Lolo Jones	Michael Phelps	Gary Barlow
Usain Bolt	Victoria Pendleton	Ed Sheeran
Alex Morgan	Andy Murray	Freddie Mercury

Global streaming goes the distance
YouTube powered the alive current for NBC Olympics as well as for the International Olympic Committee’s YouTube Channel, making the world’s games fifty-fifty to a greater extent than global as well as accessible. NBC Olympics saw to a greater extent than alive streams than during the entire Beijing Games—more than 159 ane G 1000 full video streams as well as to a greater extent than than 64 ane G 1000 alive streams across YouTube's online, mobile as well as tablet experiences. In all, to a greater extent than than xx ane G 1000 hours of full video was streamed over 17 days. And of course, the Games were too streamed on the IOC’s channel (youtube.com/olympic), alongside tens of millions of streams to 64 countries inwards Asia as well as Sub-Saharan Africa. We’ll choose to a greater extent than details on the YouTube blog soon.

The multi-screen relay
More than ever, people experienced the Games non but via the TV broadcast, but on desktops, mobile phones as well as tablets. Through research panels conducted inwards partnership alongside NBC inwards the U.S., nosotros learned a flake to a greater extent than nearly how this played out:

• Mobile makes a potent showing: Many viewers turned to ane or to a greater extent than “second screens” beyond TV to proceed updated on the Olympics—nearly one-half of those who did (44 percent) did hence via a cellular telephone or tablet.
• Power viewers: Second-screen viewing didn’t appear to diminish participants’ involvement inwards watching the games on TV...in fact, it increased it. People who followed the Games on TV plus one other covert watched 52 per centum to a greater extent than Olympics on TV than those who didn’t; people who followed on two additional screens spent to a greater extent than than twice every bit much fourth dimension (105 percent) alongside TV. And people who watched alive streams of events online watched 66 per centum to a greater extent than Olympics on television set than people who followed only on TV.
• Synchronized usage: Overall, nearly 56 per centum of people who followed the Games on TV as well as at to the lowest degree ane other covert did hence simultaneously. These simultaneous viewers too watched TV for 67 per centum longer than those who only watched TV.

Gold for digital businesses
Brands who invest inwards digital marketing to connect alongside customers grow their ain businesses as well as assistance build bully content possible. Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 few campaigns that caught our eye:

• Visa’s global “Go World" movement invited fans to demonstrate their back upwards for Team Visa athletes inwards the cast of thank you lot across social media. The movement generated to a greater extent than than 59 ane G 1000 cheers, as well as Visa’s YouTube channel accounted for to a greater extent than than 47 ane G 1000 views of Visa’s commercials as well as athlete preparation videos from to a greater extent than or less the world.
• Insurance provider Zurich launched a successful “Share your Sports Moments” marketing movement on Google as well as YouTube, featuring members of the High German Olympic team. The result: a pregnant uplift inwards the issue of leads who as well as hence signed insurance contracts.
• Lloyds TSB Bank, presenting partner of the Olympic Torch relay, conducted a successful AdWords movement that kept stride alongside the Olympic torch every bit it passed through towns inwards the U.K., resulting inwards to a greater extent than than 190,000 clicks as well as to a greater extent than than 2 ane G 1000 impressions over 3 months.

Higher traffic as well as increased investment inwards the spider web too helped online publishers inwards a large way:

• In the U.S., across 2 ane G 1000 sites inwards our Google Display Network as well as the DoubleClick Ad Exchange, ads shown on sports-related websites increased past times nineteen percent, patch revenues (RPMs) for these sites increased past times fourteen percent, compared to the 2 previous weeks.
• Our premium advertizing serving platform for publishers (DoubleClick for Publishers), which helps some of the web’s largest publishers build coin from their content, broke a novel record, alongside ane major publisher serving to a greater extent than than 400 ane G 1000 advertizing impressions inwards a 24-hour interval across its website as well as mobile content—driving higher revenues as well as to a greater extent than complimentary content.

Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 fun banking corporation annotation to terminate on: showing how the spider web tin fuse information as well as inventiveness patch opening the playing field, ane of our software engineers used Google App Engine to create a “per capita” medal tally (the information is real, the accounting is somewhat creative). On this basis, ane province stands higher upwards all others—congratulations to the most successful land of the terminal 2 weeks, Grenada!

Posted past times Richard Keelty, Product Marketing Manager, U.K.

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