With Halloween approaching, a new analysis of Google search trends reveals which candies Americans are craving most nationwide and which treats are generating the most interest in Maryland.
Innerbody Research analyzed Google Trends data across all 50 states and Washington, D.C., looking at search interest over the past year as well as a separate three-week period leading into Halloween.
Sour Patch Kids ranked as the most-searched candy nationwide over the full-year period, followed by Skittles, Snickers, Starburst and Twix. KitKat, Reese’s, Candy Corn, Twizzlers and Nerds rounded out the national top 10.
At the opposite end, Dubble Bubble ranked as the least-searched of the 34 candies included in the study, followed by Lemonhead, Hot Tamales, Blow Pops and York.
Maryland’s results were a little different. Kinder was the state’s most-searched candy over the full-year period, joining California, Florida, New Jersey and New York as states where the brand finished first. Maryland ranked 32nd overall among the 50 states and D.C. for candy-related search interest.
But Marylanders appear to change their preferences as Halloween gets closer. In Innerbody’s analysis of searches during the three weeks leading into Halloween, KitKat became Maryland’s top-trending candy.
Halloween also produces a major shift nationally. Candy Corn jumps from eighth place over the full year to No. 2 as Halloween approaches, trailing only Sour Patch Kids. M&M’s rises from 19th to 11th, while Haribo moves from 23rd to 16th.
The study used Google Trends data and evaluated 34 prominent candies, weighting search interest to produce national and state-level rankings.
