Yahoo Finance's Brian Sozzi and Alexis Christoforous speak with Finder.com Co-CEO Fred Schebesta on what people are searching for online now as fears surrounding the coronavirus continue to rise.

Video Transcript

ALEXIS CHRISTOFOROUS: All right, a lot of us spending a lot of time online we know. What exactly are we searching for? I don't think some of it will surprise you. Some might.

All right, let's figure it out with Fred Schebesta. He is the founder and co-CEO of Finder.com. Fred, good to see you here. What is the number-one thing Americans are searching for at the moment during this pandemic?

FRED SCHEBESTA: You know, we're seeing a lot of popularity right now-- you guessed it-- with toilet paper. We've got hand sanitizer, and we've got P95 masks, actually-- sorry, the N95s. They're very, very popular right now.

We're also seeing some really interesting stuff with small-business loans. A lot of people are going for that. That's very interesting. And there's some interesting ones around the odds of dying. People are really worried about dying right now, so they're looking for life insurance. We're seeing a lot of trends around that.

And interestingly-- I'm sure you guys have seen this as well-- is a lot of people are going to start trading on the stock market. It's only just beginning now, which is interesting. A lot of new people coming in how to trade stocks, how to buy stocks. People see it as an opportunity, and they're really starting to come in right now.

ALEXIS CHRISTOFOROUS: Of course, we hope they'll come to Yahoo Finance to try and do that, these new entrants. What specifically are people looking for when they're searching things related to Wall Street or the stock market?

FRED SCHEBESTA: You know, right now we're seeing a big influx from new traders. So they're actually looking for guides on how to begin. So learning basics and fundamentals, it's kind of where they're starting right now. It's not really a big-- the existing traders are already there. It's the new entrants we're seeing right now.

BRIAN SOZZI: Fred, you mentioned people are out there searching for death. By that, what do you mean? Are they searching [INAUDIBLE]? Are they searching for caskets? Walk us through that.

FRED SCHEBESTA: Yeah, so one of the key searches we're seeing right now on Finder is for the actual chance of dying from the COVID-19, and then they're comparing that to dying from other things as well. So that's the first thing. They want-- and then what they're thinking about is can I be insured against this? So we're seeing quite a bit of connection with life insurance.

The funerals and things like that, we're not seeing as much of a trend around that because I don't think that's quite gone down the line yet. It's more the actual chances and risks when it comes to insurance.

ALEXIS CHRISTOFOROUS: And, Fred, I think we can tell a lot by, you know, what people are searching to sort of get inside their heads a little bit, and one of the searches, you say, is Netflix. People want to understand how can they cancel their Netflix subscription. How much are they being charged for their Netflix subscription, right?

FRED SCHEBESTA: Yeah, so where we're seeing is a big influx right now from Disney+. A lot of popularity particularly about connecting up to smart TVs like LG and Samsung-- very, very popular right now on the site.

We're also seeing a lot of cancellations of Netflix. I think people might have gotten tired of their libraries, which is a very interesting trend for us. It's sitting in a top-20 page currently on the site. We find it a little bit unusual, although the libraries that have come out of Disney+-- I think because a lot of kids are at home, they're looking for entertainment for their family.

BRIAN SOZZI: You know, Fred, you have a real interesting-- just a look into the health of the economy. As you take a step back, what does it look like? Does it [INAUDIBLE] for just based on searches, a normal recession or something severe and we better brace ourselves here?

FRED SCHEBESTA: So we're seeing a lot of people look for guides on financial assistance. Now that's a-- we're seeing a big demand for that, an unusually high demand.

A lot of people are refinancing as well right now. They're really clambering for personal loans and refinancing potentially their mortgage as well.

The other thing we're seeing-- not seeing, which is really unusual, is not that much yet short-term-loans demand. Now if you remember back to the financial crisis, I think you had a lot more demand for pawnbrokers and short-term loans. In this case, we're not quite there today. So I think that might be the stage of the actual potential recession where I don't think we're there yet. I think they're looking for immediate relief, and they're trying to brace their impact by getting some more credit. And I think that's kind of where we're at.

I think a lot of people are actually a little bit in denial as well. So we're still seeing a lot of prepping going on, a lot of buy groceries online. So I don't think we're there yet. The extent of this I'm not sure we can see. It's a little bit early in the curve.

ALEXIS CHRISTOFOROUS: Hey, Fred, what about people searching for ways to pay for things that does not involve cash? Because we know that actual money is another way to transfer germs and the virus. So are you seeing interest in digital payments, and what is that telling you?

FRED SCHEBESTA: Yeah, we're seeing an influx in apps like the Cash App. We're also seeing, like, Revolut, and people are looking for ways for digital payments and digital wallets, which is very interesting. And I think that might be because people don't want to handle cash. They don't want to hand cash to each other because they're worried about what might be on the actual notes themselves. And this is an unusual influx. We've never really seen those searches before.

ALEXIS CHRISTOFOROUS: All right, Fred Schebesta of Finder.com, thanks for those insights. Very interesting. I think what we're finding is there's a huge commonality, a lot of us searching for the same thing. Stay well. Thanks for being with us.