Friday food for thought: Trend spotting on Google
Google is really a wonderful tool. The depth that lies below that simplistic interface is truly amazing. This bit of Friday Food is a great example.
Did you know that you can analyze search trends on Google? Take a look at this trend history for the search term 'patent.' It's interesting to me for several reasons. First, under the 'Regions' tab, look at the lead India currently enjoys. Where does the United States rank? Fourth (currently), behind India, South Korea, and Singapore. Very interesting.
Second, note that English barely has a lead over Turkish for search language (look under the languages tab). This despite the fact that both US- and India-based searches would be conducted in English (presumably, searches from several other areas would be conducted in English as well).
Third, take a look at the graph. Searches for the term 'patent' have been on a steady decline for years, despite an overall increase in news reference volume. Several things could explain this decline, including the possibility that people are performing more narrow patent-related searches these days (e.g., 'patent reform,' 'patent legislation,' etc.).
Keeping things in perspective is, of course, critical to all good trend analyses. Get some perspective on the patent issue with this report comparing 'patent' and 'Paris Hilton.' We can only hope to be as popular as her someday.
Happy Friday.
Did you know that you can analyze search trends on Google? Take a look at this trend history for the search term 'patent.' It's interesting to me for several reasons. First, under the 'Regions' tab, look at the lead India currently enjoys. Where does the United States rank? Fourth (currently), behind India, South Korea, and Singapore. Very interesting.
Second, note that English barely has a lead over Turkish for search language (look under the languages tab). This despite the fact that both US- and India-based searches would be conducted in English (presumably, searches from several other areas would be conducted in English as well).
Third, take a look at the graph. Searches for the term 'patent' have been on a steady decline for years, despite an overall increase in news reference volume. Several things could explain this decline, including the possibility that people are performing more narrow patent-related searches these days (e.g., 'patent reform,' 'patent legislation,' etc.).
Keeping things in perspective is, of course, critical to all good trend analyses. Get some perspective on the patent issue with this report comparing 'patent' and 'Paris Hilton.' We can only hope to be as popular as her someday.
Happy Friday.