While such searches have become common each year during the weeks leading up to the game, Google reports that there has been an annual rise in such queries every year since 2006. (The company started recording Super Bowl search data in 2004.)
Such food and drink queries were 21% higher in 2010 than in 2009. Those searches typically start two weeks before the game and then grow exponentially in the week leading up to the telecast, Google rep Sandra Heikkinen says.
Breaking it down even further, the top searches are for "recipes," "chicken recipes," "healthy recipes" and "crock pot recipes." Searches for chicken wings have been on the rise since 2004, and other popular chicken searches include "chicken breast" and "buffalo chicken." Cheese is also big. Cheese queries rose 35% in 2010 compared to 2009.
Another popular search is for dips — searches typically spike around the holidays in December, level off in early January and then climb around the time for the game. Other common searches are for chili recipes, pizza and pizza delivery.
Not surprisingly, food marketers are capitalizing on the interest. Tyson, for instance, is targeting moms with content related to party planning on the top women's sites, including SheKnows and iVillage's "Super Bowl Extravaganza."
Aside from food, mid-to-late January also sees an increased interest in TVs. With the exception of the holiday season, searches for TVs are highest around the Super Bowl. For example, "flat screen TV" queries rose 40% last week compared to those from the previous week. Searches for "big screen TV" and "projector TV" each rose 70% during that time.
Finally, it seems that those TVs aren't just being searched to watch the game. According to Google, searches for "man cave" rose 16% for the 30 days ending February 1.