Christmas that transformed us: In Ukraine, Russian traditions are gradually fading away.

In 2023, the Orthodox Church of Ukraine approved the transition to the New Julian calendar. This decision marked a historic moment, as for several centuries the Ukrainian church adhered to the Julian calendar, which was one of the elements of Russian tradition.

The New Julian calendar largely aligns with the Gregorian calendar. The latter is the widely accepted standard for most countries around the world and is also used in Roman Catholic churches. Specifically, this means that Ukrainians will now celebrate Christmas on December 25 rather than January 7, in conjunction with the faithful of the Russian Orthodox Church.

How quickly did our country embrace these changes? Data from Google Trends indicates that it did not take many years. In fact, it happened almost instantaneously. Previously, the peak search interest in the topic of "Christmas" (regardless of language) occurred in the first week of January, but by the end of 2023 (and into 2024), it shifted to the last week of December.

Search queries, as the data shows, are closely linked to the event itself (searches during the summer months, for instance, account for less than 1% of winter peaks).

However, the reasons for this are not entirely clear. For example, users may be searching for dates related to holidays or calendar days. After all, alongside the church, the state also recognized the new calendar. President Volodymyr Zelensky signed an order to move the celebration of Christmas in Ukraine from January 7 to December 25.

The fact that the shift in search interests is not merely formalistic, but is directly related to the break from cultural and church traditions with Moscow, is evidenced by data on whom Ukrainians prefer – Father Frost or St. Nicholas.

The graph below shows that during Viktor Yushchenko's presidency, the share of St. Nicholas among Ukrainian search queries was higher than during Yanukovych's presidency. Over the last decade, this search query (as well as the Russian-speaking equivalent "Святой Николай") has gradually increased, until in 2022 it became dominant, and this year it exceeded 70%.

Like with musical tastes, Kyiv, as a multicultural capital, is positioned in the middle of this conditional pyramid. About 50% of queries over the past year were related to St. Nicholas, a third to Father Frost, and a fifth to Santa Claus.

While most cities in the west peaked, giving 100% of queries in favor of "St. Nicholas," there is still potential for change in many places.

Specifically, in Kharkiv, Odesa, Dnipro, and Zaporizhzhia, Father Frost still garners the majority of queries.

What and how Ukrainians search for online is not just a matter of curiosity. A significant portion of queries are of a commercial nature, as potential consumers search for sweets or festive decorative elements. Search behavior related to the New Year theme mirrors the overall trend in e-commerce.

In a recent report from the marketing agency Promodo, it was noted that in 2024, the share of search queries in Ukrainian on Google surpassed 30%. This figure is expected to reach 40% by 2025.

The overall trend: all niches are showing growth in queries in Ukrainian, with an average increase of 5% per year: news – over 50% of queries are entered by users in Ukrainian; electronics – the share of queries in the state language increased by a third, reaching 20% (up from 8% in 2021); children's products – this category reached 49% and surpassed 50% of queries in Ukrainian.

Thus, businesses should take this into account when developing their marketing strategies, as well as the fact that Russian is gradually disappearing from the search habits of Ukrainians. This directly impacts how they should communicate with potential consumers and promote their products.