Google Trends Data Reveals Searches for ‘Banking Crisis,’ ‘Bank Runs,’ Skyrocket

Interest in the U.S. banking crisis has risen greatly over the past two weeks, as shown by Google Trends data. There has been a sharp increase in queries related to search terms such as “banking crisis,” “bank collapse,” and “bank failure.” On March 13, 2023, the search term “banking crisis” reached the top Google Trends score of 100. The related topics pertain to the financial troubles of Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank, and First Republic Bank.

Google Trends data reveals a significant increase in public interest in the U.S. banking crisis, with searches skyrocketing. A search using the term “banking crisis” shows that people are asking Google various related questions, including “What happens to my money if banks collapse?,” “What are the negative effects of a banking crisis?,” and “Which U.S. banks have collapsed?”

The surge in public interest is attributed to the collapse of three banks: Silvergate Bank, Signature Bank, and Silicon Valley Bank. Two out of the three banks are among the second and third largest bank failures in U.S. history, after Washington Mutual (Wamu) collapsed in 2008. People have also expressed concerns about other banks, including Pacwest Bancorp, First Republic Bank, and the Swiss banking giant Credit Suisse.

According to Google Trends, worldwide interest in the topic of “bank failure” reached a score of 100 on March 13. The increase began on March 9, 2023, and currently stands at 34 as of this writing. On March 13, search terms such as “banking crisis,” “bank collapse,” and “U.S. banks” all saw a significant increase in the number of searches. While a significant portion of the interest comes from the United States, there is also strong interest from countries such as Zimbabwe, Canada, China, Egypt, New Zealand, and Singapore.

Google Trends has also recorded other breakout searches, such as “banking crisis 2023,” “silicon valley banking crisis,” and “banking crisis in US.” In the past 14 days, search queries for banks of various sizes have increased, including banking giants, medium-sized financial institutions, and smaller banks. The last time searches for these terms peaked was during the Great Recession in 2008, specifically in the months of June, July, August, September, and October.

Banking-related terms, such as “deposits,” “insured deposits,” “uninsured deposits,” “bank run,” “FDIC,” “bailout,” “bailouts,” “Federal Reserve,” “Fed,” “interest rates,” “interest rate hikes,” and “rate hikes,” have also been trending upward over the last two weeks.

What do you think about Google searches and queries about the U.S. bank crisis increasing over the last month? Share your thoughts about this subject in the comments section below.