Global search interest in prediction markets has dropped back near its pre-2026 World Cup baseline after peaking during the tournament, while trading activity shows Kalshi pulling further ahead of Polymarket. Google Trends data for the term "prediction market" reached a five-year high of 100 in the week of June 7-13, 2026, then fell to 17 in the week of Aug. 9-15, or 83% below the peak; the current week of Aug. 16-22 reads 16 but is marked incomplete. Daily data places the high on July 19, when Spain beat Argentina 1-0 in the World Cup final at MetLife Stadium. Across venues tracked by DefiLlama, July prediction-market cash volume hit a record $17.27 billion after $14.78 billion in June and $10.64 billion in May. Through Aug. 17, volume stands at $7.83 billion, implying about $14.3 billion for the month, roughly 17% below July. Within that, Kalshi, a CFTC (U.S. derivatives regulator)-designated contract market, posted $12.37 billion in July and is on pace for about $10.45 billion in August, while Polymarket is tracking about $2.14 billion, down sharply from $4.29 billion in June. Social data from Moni shows the attention gap is much narrower than the trading split, with Polymarket at 21.57% of prediction-market mindshare and Kalshi at 20.8%. Meanwhile, onchain TVL (total value locked, capital deposited in protocols) in prediction markets has declined every month since April even as volume rose into July, suggesting trading turnover increased while parked capital kept shrinking.