According to Google Trends, kiteboarding is declining in popularity

[H2Oaltitude]

Kiterocky, you really are a nasty little piece of work.

Agree...must be horrible to be filled with so much negativity that you have to post it on a forum. Enjoy kiting every chance you get. (Except you Kiterocky) No matter if its crowded or not. Who give a shot what Google says?!?

[kiterocky]

I enjoy kitesurf so much and avoid business with that..hope u close soon ))

[longwhitecloud]

There is absolutely no doubt it has declined overall in Australia and NZ. You just don't see the same numbers at the beaches as 8-10 years ago.

The kind of rider has completely changed too over that time.

[pākihiroa]

The good news is that more people are calling it kitesurfing rather than kiteboarding

[Peert]

Could it be that people search more specific terms?
In stead of just 'Kitesurfing' years ago to find general information I would rather search for the different disciplines, brands, destinations, riders etc.
In the Netherlands the spots are getting more and more crowded with time. No decline whatsoever.

Would be interesting to see if this downward trend is also visible in the Netherlands alone. If so it must be that search behaviour of the population is changing since kitesurfing is clearly not.

[DeGi]

Peert, what would be more specific terms? It's very much possible that people are searching for different terms, but wouldn't a newcomer/beginner like myself search for the most generic term possible?

Also, doesn't this forum have a moderator/some common rules to discourage thrashing threads with unrelated toxic posts?

[Tone]

cool. More space for me.

[NorCalNomad]

cool. More space for me.

exactly...
but local beaches certainly don't show that data.

[Toby]

Also, doesn't this forum have a moderator/some common rules to discourage thrashing threads with unrelated toxic posts?

Which post do you mean?

You can always report a posting if you think it’s outside the guidelines...just use the tool the forum offers.
And I will check what’s going on.

[knyfe]

I am just glad it is over. No more busy spots, waves all for me, lots of space while launching and no noobs around who are in need of their boards or a drag home. Also on top lots of used cheap equipment around to buy when my kites finally give their end.

Just great news all way around. G