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Widely popularized at the end of 2021, the terms metaverse and NFT are largely declining in Google searches in the face of burning international news. Is this for all that an admission of disinterest?
This is an interesting statistic that will comfort those who think that NFT and metaverse are more buzzwords only concepts that will revolutionize the web. BeInCrypto, a site specializing in cryptocurrency and cryptoasset news, has observed the evolution of the popularity of these two terms in Google searches over the past few months. And after reaching a peak in searches at the end of January in France and around the world, their popularity seems to be flagging.
But they do not start from the same point. The term metaverse was especially widely discussed after the announcement of Facebook’s name change to Meta and Mark Zuckerberg’s fantasized demonstration of his ambition for the metaverse in the next 10 years. The word has never really taken off in Google searches and naturally seems to sag in the face of very busy news (pandemic, war in Ukraine, etc.).
Google Trends, screenshot © Les Numériques
For the non-fungible tokens (NFT) is otherwise different. If these dematerialized certificates are just as much debated as the hazy concept of metaverse, they are already anchored in reality and are exchanged more and more, between cryptocurrency enthusiasts or not. Many public figures have also expressed their interest in certain dematerialized works of art such as the famous monkeys of the Bored Ape Yacht Club.
It is also interesting to note that research related to these two terms has had a very different life in Ukraine and in Russia since the outbreak of the armed conflict between the two nations. There, metaverse-related searches are almost non-existent, while NFT-related searches are on the rise again. Hardly surprising when you know that many Russians and Ukrainians are turning to NFTs and cryptocurrencies to alleviate serious economic difficulties.