Data: Branding and Google Trends: Software companies' names, the metaverse and virtual reality

The growth of interactive media has changed the branding game, with one of its leading players being Google: Google search data provides insights into patterns of B2B consumers, while Google Trends can help any researcher gain insights into when and how often a particular word or term has been searched for using the Google search engine. This paper explores the extent to which Google Trends can yield information about how software companies can brand internationally. We analyzed 25 software companies’ names to identify their geographic location impact, and we classified the top 10 software company names according to the level of search popularity on Google Trends. Moreover, we explored words and terms related to the topics of “software company”, “metaverse” and “virtual reality” that were commonly searched for on Google. Mixed methods were employed in this study. This study aims to contribute to this growing area of research of Google Trends, marketing, and branding in and by software companies, as well as their possible market strategies for virtual reality and metaverse applications