When Mark Brodeur saw that 20 million Google searches in October contained the word “vacation” his ears perked up and he sent his staff scurrying to add it to Rhode Island’s official tourism website.

Brodeur, director of tourism at the R.I. Economic Development Corporation, said it’s all part of a digital game to attract vacation seekers to the website and, ultimately, to the Ocean State. It’s a competition that has ratcheted up in recent years as tourism organizations fight for Internet-savvy vacationers who want to find information about the latest hot spot and want to find it right now.