Google Maps show ‘Dry January’ no more the case for drinkers

"This year, those searches only dropped by 11 per cent and 6 per cent, respectively, hinting that people may be less committed to abstaining," said Joseph Abou Nakoul, trends analyst at Google Maps.

New Delhi: “Dry January” is consistently one of the most popular New Year’s resolutions but Google Maps has revealed that this time, people were less committed to abstaining after going through a harrowing pandemic-hit 2020.

Last January, searches on Maps for wine shops and liquor stores both plummeted by nearly 40 per cent compared to the previous December in the US.

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“This year, those searches only dropped by 11 per cent and 6 per cent, respectively, hinting that people may be less committed to abstaining,” said Joseph Abou Nakoul, trends analyst at Google Maps.

However, people are showing an interest in eating healthy.

Searches for “healthy” options spiked by 46 per cent at the start of January compared to the previous December.

But, at the same time, there’s another trend on the rise: people are also looking for sweets.

“Searches for ice cream shops are up by 10 per cent compared to December. And, while searches for fast food restaurants plummeted by a whopping 20 per cent in January 2020, they dropped by just 1.5 per cent in 2021,” Nakoul said in a blog post on Thursday.

The year-over-year searches for gyms have remained steady, increasing by about 25 per cent in both 2020 and in 2021.

In January 2020, Maps searches for island destinations increased by over 40 per cent as people planned for some fun in the sun.

This January, those searches are only up by a little over 10 per cent compared to late last year.

“And searches for local bed and breakfasts have increased by 20 per cent, indicating that Americans are searching for destinations closer to home instead of across the world”.