Four years later and the interest for the latest FIFA World Cup soccer tournament increased. According to Google, professional soccer is "more popular than ever" in the United States (U.S.) due to the growing Hispanic population.

The "Think with Google" team revealed the last four years since the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa has changed and provides an opportunity for marketers.

"Over the past four years, technology has let fans engage with the games in new ways, and brands are following suit," noted the Google report by Jordan Rost, Brad Johnsmeyer and Allison Mooney.

The search engine company stated the World Cup is "the largest and most connected" sporting event worldwide based on four-year data from Jan. 1, 2010, to May 14, 2014. Google's search engine analysis found more interest on the international soccer tournament has been made than the NFL Super Bowl, Tour de France, and the 2012 Summer and 2014 Winter Olympics, combined.

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"If you're looking to reach an audience of sports fans -- from the crazed to the casual -- the opportunity doesn't get any bigger," the Google report added.

Although Google searches for the World Cup were popular globally, Latin America is the "most popular" region in searching for the soccer tournament, notably Brazil, Costa Rica, and Uruguay.

While the World Cup is popular in Latin America, the United States (U.S.) has garnered a following in recent years. U.S. interest in soccer has been on the increase in the past five years, especially from urban youths and Hispanics. Major events such as the World Cup and Olympics have increased U.S. audience's interest too. Soccer from across the pond, namely England's Premier League, helped develop American soccer interest as seen with the 233 percent search growth during 2013. The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) tournament also helped ignite soccer interest among Americans.

The top U.S. cities that have searched "World Cup" have been cities with a large Hispanic population, based on Pew Research's figures. According to Pew, 46 percent of Hispanics are anticipating the World Cup while 15 percent registered from non-Hispanic whites. The top cities include Portland, Oregon; Houston, Texas; New York City; and Los Angeles, California.

"It's also worth noting that U.S. Hispanics are digital trendsetters, adopting smartphones faster than any other demographic, according to Nielsen. It follows that digital should be a core part of any strategy to reach and engage these fans."

According to New York Times' Roger Bennett, soccer has become the "perfect sport for the Internet era" due to games and information being available "instantaneously." With Bennett's remarks, Hispanics were touted for being digital trendsetters. As Nielsen reported, Hispanics are adopting smartphones at a faster rate than any other demographic in the U.S.

"The shift to constant connectivity means that many fans watching a match now have a smartphone in hand. This wasn't the case even four years ago," Google noted, adding only 18 percent of World Cup searches during the 2010 tournament were from mobile devices.

Perhaps an indication of what's to come from the 2014 World Cup, 63 percent of searches from a popular UEFA Champions League match last year were from mobile devices.

For more Latin Post World Cup coverage, click here.

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For the latest updates, follow Latin Post's Michael Oleaga on Twitter: @EditorMikeO or contact via email: m.oleaga@latinpost.com.

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