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Jeff Bezos’ flight into space has garnered more public interest than Richard Branson’s, and the two billionaires have eclipsed their respective space companies.
Why is this important: The data shows an inordinate public interest in the personalities at the center of space travel, compared to the companies behind them – which could reinforce public suspicion that the companies were in part a game of vanity.
The big picture: The Branson launch came first, and Virgin Galactic put together a smooth livestream stuffed with celebrity cameos. But the richest man in the world was getting even more attention days later.
- Google searches on Bezos’ launch day were 38% higher than Branson’s and generated 19% more mentions on social media, according to Keyhole data.
- There were nearly twice as many stories written about Bezos around its launch compared to Branson nine days earlier, according to NewsWhip data.
In numbers : Branson and Bezos have both placed themselves at the center of commercial space tourism this month, and the tycoons themselves – not their space companies – have captured most of the public’s attention.
- For Tuesday’s event, Google searches on Jeff Bezos were almost twice as high as searches on Blue Origin, according to Google Trends.
- Interest in Virgin Galactic was a bit more even: there was 35% more searches for Richard Branson than for his company.
- Articles published online on Blue Origin that did not highlight Bezos generated an average of 2.5 times less engagement than those that did, according to exclusive NewsWhip data.
- Virgin Galactic stories not centered on Richard Branson got almost half of the engagements like the ones that were.
Between the lines: Famous billionaires may get more attention, but much of that backlash – especially towards Bezos – was dismissive.
- According to NewsWhip data, Bezos’ comments that Amazon employees and customers “paid for it all” and the resulting backlash were among the launch stories with the most social interactions.
- Another headline: “Jeff Bezos Takes Space Flight. 165,000 People Sign Petition To Keep Him There.”
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