Search interest in “Metaverse” surged (as expected) around the time of Meta’s re-brand announcement last October, but has since fallen. For perspective, the peak was small compared to searches for the meta platform Second Life in the 2000s. It launched in 2003, but didn’t enjoy the first-mover advantage. Taking the long arc of history, the Metaverse is nothing new, as any Roblox user will tell you.