Grand National More Popular than Charles/Camilla say Hitwise
Online searches for ‘Grand National’ overtake searches for ‘Charles and Camilla’
Monday 11th April 2005
As Camilla walked down the aisle with Charles on April 9, a survey revealed that online surfers were more interested in the biggest racing event of the year. The data from Hitwise revealed that punters were far more concerned with the Grand National, betting online in ever-increasing numbers.
According to Hitwise, global leader in real-time competitive intelligence, many online gamblers clearly did their best to ensure they made the savviest bets, with searches on ‘grand national odds’ and ‘grand national runners’ making up two of the top variations on the term ‘grand national’ searched for this week. Less experienced bettors, on the other hand, often choose a horse with the name they like the most – and this has led to gambling industry insiders predicting that a flurry of once-a-year punters would be backing a horse called Clan Royal this year in honour of the royal wedding.
However, the royal wedding itself had a challenging race ahead of it as the Grand National galloped away with the public’s attention. Hitwise Search Terms data reveals that despite an initial surge in online interest in the horse-loving couple at the time they originally announced their wedding plans, searches for ‘Charles and Camilla’ have taken a fall in recent weeks. Online searches for ‘grand national’ overtook ‘Charles and Camilla’ for the week ending March 5th and closed well in the lead with more than 15 times their share of online searches.
