Google home trends: Andy Pandy, Darty, poinsettia

Four members of Naples’ notorious Camorra crime organisation have been arrested for making city centre shopkeepers a Christmas an offer they couldn’t refuse - festive poinsettia plants with prices hiked to over 100 times their usual price. (54613)

Popular children's television character Andy Pandy was this week's top Google home trend. French consumer electronics store Darty and poinsettia, a popular seasonal flower, were also among this week's Google Insights trend in the category of Home & Garden.

This week's breakout search term is the much loved children's television series " Andy Pandy." The original series premiered in July 1950 and revolved around the adventures of a boy who lived in a flower pot (Andy Pandy) and his friends Ted and Loopy Loo. The series was then continued from 2002 until 2008 by BBC children's channel Cbeebies, and a new episode is set to premiere on Cbeebies on Christmas Eve at 2:45am and 10:45am GMT. A number of Andy Pandy-themed toys and games are available to buy online from amazon.co.uk and other retailers. 

French home appliance and consumer electronics store Darty was fourth in this week's Google home trends. The electronics goods store has branches in Italy, Spain, Luxembourg and Turkey, although nearly 100 percent of searches for "Darty" originated from France. In addition to having numerous brick and mortar stores, Darty also gives consumers the option of shopping online at www.darty.com.

With 100 percent of searches originating from the Netherlands, the term "intratuin" refers to Dutch gardening site Intratuin, which offers tips and hints for garden enthusiasts as well as links to horticultural services such as garden planting. In Dutch only, the site advises on all aspects of outdoor living, ranging from choosing suitable plants for the kitchen, creating water features and even how to build a log cabin.

With Christmas fast approaching, internet users in the United States were searching for that traditional Christmas flower the poinsettia. The plant thrives in the hot climates of Mexico and Ethiopia and is popular around Christmastime due to its seasonal colors of red flowers and green leaves. The floral theme was continued with the term "efeutute," which refers to a green-leaved plant.

Another Google home trend this week, "Hungy Jack's," refers to the Australian franchise of the global fast food outlet Burger King.

The search terms with the most significant growth worldwide in the last seven days as measured by Google Insights under the category Home & Garden, recorded on December 10 at 10:30 AM GMT are:

1.       andy pandy (breakout)
2.       efeutute (breakout*)
3.       capers (+50%)
4.       darty (+40%)
5.       hungry jacks (+40%) 
6.       intratuin (+40%)
7.       poinsettia (+40%)   

*Breakout defines a search term that has experienced a change in growth greater than 5,000 percent.