Google THIS!
I don’t play around with a lot of things on the Internet. I’m proud to say that I have avoided (mostly) the temptation to listen to silly audio tracks, take various quizzes, and watch quirky videos.
But Google’s new toy blows me away. Welcome to Google trends.
This feature allows you to enter up to five topics and compare how frequently Google visitors have searched for them over time. It also shows you the relative frequency of stories mentioning each inn Google News stories.
If that’s not enough for you, the still-in-development service lists the places that have fostered the most searches for your term (per a population-norming formula).
Witness the fascinating results of just a few moments of Google Trends analysis:
Everyone know that you can’t have your cake and eat it, too. So which do you search for? Apparently cake—except in London, England, the only city that pops up in the results showing more searches for “eat” than “cake.”
Net surfers have Googled the early favorite for the Democratic presidential nomination, Hilary Clinton, more this year than Rudy Giuliani, one of the Republican frontrunners. On the other hand, searches for the other leading Republican candidate, John McCain, outnumber those for the New York senator.
Hilary Clinton, by the way, has many fewer searches than bitch.
With the exception of a few brief spikes, Angelina Jolie has trounced Jennifer Aniston on Google searches for more than two years. More people in Chicago than anywhere else search for Aniston, but even there, Jolie gets more searches.
Brad Pitt? He’s almost always higher than Jennifer, but since early 2005 Angelina has kicked his ass in Google searches just as much as she did in Mr. And Mrs. Smith.
Once you start comparing searches, it’s hard to stop.
Dogs beat cats by a long shot. Many more people have searched this year for Stephen Colbert than Colbert’s parody target, Bill O’Reilly. Paris Hilton beats out Paris, France by a long shot—except in much of France, where the city wins.
But soon, disappointments appear. Phrases lacking an undisclosed number of searches don’t register and cannot be analyzed.
Thus, you can’t learn anything about the relative frequency of searches on benevolent dictators, wanton debauchery, or drunken wombats. Other terms lacking the requisite hits for Google Trends include quality blog, pop culture satire, and black leather pants.
And David Amulet. Come on, people! What do you think that Google search bar at the top of this blog is for?!?
Yes, that’s right—it’s to search for cake, bitch, and drunken wombats. Hop to it.
posted by David Amulet @ 7:08 AM
43 wisecracks
43 Comments:
That's interesting. Have your read my blog entry from earlier this year entitled: "Drunken wombats eat cake and bitch!"
lol wonder if Bich would come up?
next time tell us where to find free cocaine. that might be less addictive. damn you, david amulet!!! you've tapped into my addictive personality and given me something to do alllll morning!
If the internet doesn't get you with memes and quizzes, rest assured it will get you somehow. It's just a matter of knowing your poison.
I don't put too much stock in the google search data. 'Dell fire' is the most frequently googled item on my blog, followed by 'star trek karaoke'. I can't figure out why those 2 items are most popular.
On another level, I think, who cares.
This is awesome. What a great time waster, just what I needed today! Just don't tell my boss.
Have a great day.
This sounds like an awesome feature but I hope it's not another one of Google's awesome Beta tests that doesn't go anywhere. Regardless, it should be a fun distraction.
Google-- adding new counter-productive "toys" to the workdays of millions of cubicle slaves.
Mr. Friendly: Even with your stunning post, still not enough searches to register. Damn!
DaBich: THAT I didn't try. Yet.
Jay: I'm evil like that. But look at it this way: Isn't this much better for your addictive personality than many other temptations?
Janet: Even Google Trends didn't hol my attention for long. An hour or so is OK with me.
Cube: "How do you know what the most searched terms are on your blog?" asked the technophobe.
Leigh: I'm gald I could play my little part in the decline of work productivity. It's a calling.
Will: It is only a Beta feature, so we'll see how long it lasts.
Perplexio: Maybe Google is part of a consipracy to slow down our economy and reduce us to a hunter-gatherer society. Maybe, but I doubt it.
-- david
I can't afford to get hooked on the google search thing. I just gave up YouTube. I am using your search bar, can you tell?
COME ON EVERYONE USE DAVID'S GOOGLE SEARCH BAR! GIVE THE POOR GUY A THRILL!
Sounds like it could be fun, but dammit, I just don't have the time. I'll keep checking back here to see what you come up with, though. Thanks for doing the work for me, David!
Well, there goes countless hours of productivity!
Swell. More procrastination fun. Thanks. Thanks A LOT!!
I think that we can deduce that most Google searchers are Left Wing, above average in socio-economic status, voyeuristic, celibate, with higher than average IQ's, & male, with dull routine jobs.
This new Trends thing has taught us so much that we didn't already know!!!
Oh, yeah--and they are sarcastic...
I'm not gonna Google, I'm not gonna Google, I'm not gonna Google...
Oh, who am I kiddin.
In looking at search term trends I am amazed at the number of searches involving dentures and oral sex.
As if, I had nothing better to do. Thanks to you my life will be forever changed thanks to you and google. Ok so it's been forever changed since a month go when got my very first MAC laptop.
Funny, I got "mayor" and "roll your own" when I googled David Amulet....
Woohoo! And not a single entry for ChickyBabe!
Hmmm...I think it is broken. I put my name in and there have been no searches!!!!! :)
No Imagine Echoes!!!! I'm never posting on my blog again....
Key word....YET ;)
Barbara: Wow, I think I've created a monster! Which, incidentally, will probably be the next Google invention: Google Monster, where your searches, if deemed scary, produce a live beast that attacks you. Good times.
KC: I think I'm spent. Fads don't hold me for long.
Fated, Jenna, Miss Hobby: I suppose I should feel guilty ... but I know that even if I hadn't shown you Google Trends, you'd find something to distract you!
ZW: If Google comes up with a sarcasm meter, I'm in trouble.
Fuzz: It all depends on what you put into it ...
Mia: The first step is going to Apple. The second step is blogging. The third step is nirvana.
-- david
Maggie: The technology has a few bugs, apparently.
ChickyBabe: Not a single entry for ChickyBabe? You need to date more.
Mimi: Neither. It's an excuse for me to make fun of everything from Hilary Clinton to myself. Hard to pass up.
LeeAnn, Jeff: I'll search for you a thousand times each and we'll see if that gets you over the bar.
DaBich: In between my searches for LeeAnn and Imagine Echoes, I'll be throwing some "bich"es in.
-- david
I'm sure I read somewhere that Britney Spears is the most googled person in the world.
That's just another thing to piss Christina Aquilera off, and Madonna for that matter.
I don't have time to check it out now but will do so over the weekend. Thanks for the heads up!
Oh and yes I'll "do" you too.
Get your mind out of the gutter, will ya? ;-)
This could be a great tool for law enforcement. 'Getting away with murder' brought up Orlando/Tampa as #1. If they would've used this, they would've known Orlando was about to become the new murder capitol.
Also would help with travel plans, as Salt Lake City was #1 by a long shot for people looking up axe murderers. not going there!
maybe people would use your search bar more often if it offered drinks and snacks. :)
The next Google invention will be Google Life, and you will all be grandfathered in. Once inside the Googleplex, your brain will be replaced by high-efficiency light bulbs.
Sad, but an accurate rendering of the next ten years.
That is quite an interesting tool,if you really hit a low point and don´t know what to do with yourself:)
I knew Dog would win cats,so traditionalist!*tsk*
Amulet, I've asked you to stop trying to get me to Google your search bar. So quit it already.
P.S. Can you believe there are tons of hits for MexiCAN in San Antonio, but NONE for MexiCAN'T?
It's hard to grasp that Paris Hilton beat out anything or anyone...haha!
People that find me via my blog, always find me by punching in "Having sex with dogs"..now I have no dogs and never spoke about a dog on my blog before, things that make you go hmmmmm.
P.S. Plus that's just gross!!
I'm back! :-)
Have you tried googlewhacking??
missy xx
Ben: That wouldn't surprise me. I'm sure K-Fed isn't in the top ten.
Lisa B: Make sure you have a few moments before you start--it's hard to stop once you start. (The use of Google Trends, that is ... not doing me. OK, that too.)
OMW: That's some damn good trivia. And if my search bar served drinks, I'd probably get a major alcohol company to sponsor my site!
Gyrobo: I fear you may be right--people have always told me that my brain is dim-watted. Or is that -witted? Hmmmm.
Paige: You and Jenna need to start googling each other. and then write about it, rrrrrrrr ... Oh yes, it does appear that googling "David Amulet" bring up a bunch of sites selling "Star of David amulets." Who even knew there was a market for that stuff? As far as i know, I'm not Jewish--and I'm certainly not if Mel Gibson starts asking.
Minka: People often tell me I have an interesting tool.
Curare: You must have misunderstood me; I was not asking you to "google my search bar," I was asking you to "bring sexy back." Listen more carefully time. And what's up with the lack of mexi-can'ts on google searches?!?
Cinner: Uh, yes, quite gross indeed. Extremely gross actually. So gross I'm feeling a bit ill. But enough about Paris Hilton.
Missy: Welcome back. What is googlewhacking? It sounds like something illegal in 38 of the 50 states in the union on this side of Atlantic.
-- david
LOL the shite they come up with!!!
Right. :) So, here's to you Mr. Funny-Blogger-Smartass Guy (a real American Hero...)
I was playing around with Google Earth the other day. I checked out the Forbidden City in China and my house, of course. Still, I can't help think that this tool will be used for evil...like Google Trends...
Consider it broughten Amulet. ;-)
You monitor the stats by clicking on the visitor counter to see what terms people used to reach your blog.
CT, Fred C.: They have come up with some crazy stuff. Maybe Google Waste-of-Time would be more honest.
OMW: I've been elevated to the rank of Real Man of Genius, as sung by a cheesy 80s hair metal singer wanna-be? WOO HOO!
Curare: I'm picturing you as a bitchy cheerleader now. Which is funny, because I've never picutred you as a cheerleader before.
Cube: I click on my visitor counter and it just takes me to Blog Patrol's home page. Oh well, serves me right for being a technophobe.
-- david
I'm not familiar with blog patrol. My counter is from sitemeter & it gives tons of info on who is visiting my site.
It's really quite interesting especially when you see what search words brought someone to your site.
david, you really are a technophobe. Check on your sitemeter icon, you will see things you can click on on the left of the screen. Who's on will tell you who is currently watching your page, and if you click on each one of those individually, you will get info about where they came from etc. Try it & see.
Wow, I had no idea Google had this function... and you can relate the searches to geographical areas? I see a lot of research benefit to this type of thing.
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