Following the announcement of Google’s Nexus 7 tablet, we took a look at the Experian Hitwise data to assess how the news had changed the way that UK consumers were searching online for tablets.

The newly released Google Nexus 7 entered the rankings as the second most popular tablet for UK consumers, accumulating over 16% of all tablet-related online searches.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 was also a top gainer this week, generating almost three times as much traffic as the previous week.

For a second week in a row, all three of the Apple tablets (the iPad, the iPad 2 and the iPad 3), saw a decrease in share of traffic; down by 11.8%, 16.2% and 41.2% respectively. The iPad 2 experienced the second biggest decline in share of searches and slipped to sixth position in the rankings.

Searches for the Microsoft Surface dipped by almost 80% – the biggest drop of all the tablets – and it slipped to ninth position in the rankings.

When we look at how people are searching for tablet brands, Google received almost 21% of all tablet related searches and became the second most popular tablet manufacturer as its branded traffic uplifted 13 times over.  Meanwhile, searches for the Apple brand decreased by 15.3% from the previous week.

Following the rumours this morning that Apple will launch an iPad mini before the year is out (with a 7” screen to match the Nexus 7), it is safe to say that the tablet space will be one to watch this summer. We will keep you updated with the trends as we see them.