Google Says Digital Activity Impacts Television Viewing

Google and YouTube say they have a significant impact on television viewing.

At a time when Twitter and Facebook are scrambling to get closer to TV networks and their advertisers, Google says in a new research report that 90% of TV viewers also visit Google and YouTube and that online behavior is a clear indicator of a show’s popularity.

“In an effort to identify how digital has impacted viewer behavior in this new era, we analyzed search queries, video views, and engagement metrics from a sample of 100 cable and network television shows,” Google said. The results of the study have been published in a report called The Role of Digital in TV Research, Fanship, and Viewing.

“Digital platforms have fundamentally changed the way that TV viewers research, participate in and access their favorite shows. Search, video and engagement activities, which show a positive correlation to viewership, can provide additional insight into a show’s popularity,” according to the report. TV related searches on Google have grown 16%, and on YouTube, TV related searches are up 54% from 2013.