High Hopes for the Holidays!

It has become somewhat PC to refer to Christmas as anything but, instead we talk about The Season or Xmas, Happy Holidays or merely holidays! Turns out that search engines reflect a distinct lack of political correctness, as "Christmas" rules search trends towards the end of each year.

With spending over this Christmas season forecast to rise, what will people be searching for, what will they be buying? Well, the MasterCard Holiday Shopping Insights report offers several valuable insights into what shoppers might be inclined to do this season:

Nearly three out of four people plan to shop online during the holidays, with 26 percent saying they will shop online more this year than they did last year. On average, these consumers will plan to spend 41 percent of their total holiday expenditures online.

Consumers said they planned to spend an average of nearly $700 this season with nearly $300 of that amount to be spent online for holiday gifts.

While consumers will spend the majority of their in-store holiday budgets this year on clothing and related accessories, gift cards are moving past many traditional items on shopping lists. For example, nearly 60 percent of those surveyed anticipate buying gift cards or gift certificates, while only 42 percent plan to purchase toys, games, or sporting goods.

The Toy Industry Association hosts the Toy of the Year (T.O.T.Y) awards and its 2006 winners are idea gems for kids this Christmas. The 2006 winners lists includes the winner, the FLYâ„¢ Pentop Computer, and winners and nominations for boys and girl's toys of the year, outdoor toys, and even educational toys!

For those of us older children (at heart) the toys and gadgets only get better! Time Gadget of the Year offers up a range of excellent (albeit up-market) gizmo ideas for him or her (go vote on which you like best, and while you're at it you can send email hints to friends and family, telling them you like "this gift"!).

So, this Christmas search clever, and you can find some wonderful gifts and ideas (yay, maybe even some free stuff!) for your upcoming festivities. For those of you on the receiving end of search, aim to attract buyers and traffic with specialized keyword searches. Even better, buy yourself and your business, an early Christmas present and use Easy PPC to get those Christmas shoppers - qualified, targeted traffic - to your site today!