With multiple betting shops on almost every high street up and down the country, as well as punters piling onto online sites at all hours of the day, the UK really does have a unique bookmaker culture. With so many well known firms being frequently used by UK punters, we wanted to find out which, if any, is searched for the most. Unsurprisingly, a large number of bookmakers, according to google trends, are frequently searched for, but there is one who, over the last three years, seems to be leading the way as far as search engine popularity goes.
bet365 searched for consistently more than any other firm
After selling off the entirety of its betting shop chain back in 2005, bet365 became solely an online gambling company and, as a result, seems to be thriving in terms online popularity. Over the last three years, it turns out that bet365 is consistently the most searched for bookmaker in the United Kingdom. Although there was indeed short periods (weeks) where other firms may well have come out on top in terms of search popularity, overall, 365 is generally searched for more than any other bookmaker.
The graph below shows that, between April 2014 and April 2017, bet365, 888sport, Marathonbet and Ladbrokes were the four most popular bookmakers in terms of search engine (google) activity. What the graph also shows is that bet365 consistently performed at a much higher level than its competitors in this respect.
As we can see from the above graph, there are certain weeks during this time-frame where 888sport, Marathonbet and Ladbrokes outperformed bet365 in terms of search popularity; however, overall, it is easy to see that 365 was the most popular bookie in the long-run.
The graphs below depict bet365’s search engine performance against each of the three competitors from above individually, this gives a clearer indication of how each matched up one-vs-one.
888sport matches up well during first half of 2016.
On the whole, the story is very much the same when just bet365 and 888sport are compared. Again, there are periods, particularly the first half of 2016, where 888sport held their own very well against the might of 365; however, during the three year period, bet365 shows up far more favourably.
bet365 easily outperforms Marathonbet.
Although, like 888sport, Marathonbet was able to keep pace with bet365 around the first half of 2016, during the three year period as a whole, they were largely unable to match the level of search popularity achieved by bet365.
Ladbrokes fails to keep pace with bet365.
Of the three bookmakers who best challenged bet365 in terms of search popularity, Ladbrokes are probably the most well known in the UK; however, of the three challengers, Ladbrokes was the worst performer. Barring a spike early on in the second half of 2014, which could easily be explained by the World Cup that took place around that time, Ladbrokes failed to match the levels of search popularity boasted by online giants bet365.
bet365 vs?
Although Marathonbet, 888sport, Ladbrokes were the three companies who best challenged bet365, these probably aren’t the bookmakers who would immediately be on the lips of UK punters. If regular players were asked to name a few big UK bookmakers, alongside bet365, names such as Paddy Power, Betfair and Betfred would spring to mind. Let’s take a look at how these three compared to bet365 in terms of search popularity.
Paddy some way behind bet365 according to the trends.
Betfair matches up to bet365 better than Paddy.
Betfred popular around first half of 2015.
Of this trio, Betfair was the one who was able to keep pace with bet365 the most. The firm made famous for its betting exchange was right up there with 365 in both the second half of 2015 and 2016. On the other hand, Paddy shows up poorly, failing to match 365’s levels of search popularity and only getting relatively close around the midway point of 2016. As the graph shows, Betfred came in somewhere between the other two; matching 365 at certain points, which is more than can be said for Paddy Power, but was some way off overall.