Unless you’ve been under a distinctly flat and undefined rock for the past year or so, you can’t help but have noticed that the 3D era has definitely arrived. Everything is in 3D these days, from fashion catwalks to football matches, and the entertainment industry is making the most of the next evolution in technology.

Search behaviour online shows a very distinct trend of increasing interest in all things 3D. Searches have more than doubled year-on-year for 3D films, TVs, accessories and other paraphernalia. In the third week in August when 3D searches spiked, there was a 239% increase in searches compared to the same week in the previous year.

Earlier this week The Film Distributors’ Association (FDA) revealed that 3D films had boosted box office takings by 8% compared to 2009. Between January and August some £786 million has been generated in the UK box office, thanks to 3D screenings of films such as Toy Story 3 and Clash of the Titans.
The table below shows the clear influence of 3D films on box office takings, with five of the top 10 having 3D screenings across the country. Within the top five, Toy Story 3, Alice in Wonderland and Shrek Forever After were all released as 3D films.

Over the last 12 weeks the most popular 3D search terms have been concerned with new movie releases with Toy Story 3, Step Up, Shrek Forever After, Jackass and Saw all gaining traction online. By far the most popular 3D film in terms of search volume however is Piranha 3D with 14 of the top 100 search terms dedicated to the film.

With a deluge of 3D films coming to consumers, the next big market for electronics companies is going to be in selling 3D TVs. Currently Sony are benefiting the most from traffic for search terms relating to 3D TVs, with John Lewis and Panasonic receiving about a third of the number of clicks that Sony receives.

Although Samsung appear to be lagging behind the competition in ninth place, it’s worth noting that Sony, John Lewis and Panasonic all use a significant amount of paid search to receive their traffic, whereas Samsung’s traffic is almost exclusively organic.