Google Insights – A window into the mind of the web surfer

Ever wondered what people are searching for and when? Google Insights shows search trends from 2004 onwards. It also allows you to compare different search terms as well as seeing the popularity in different areas. This post shows a few features and what you can interpret from the results.

Something to note is that the actual number of searches isn’t given it is all a relative thing so the highest data point is given a rank of 100 and then everything else is based around that point (or that’s how I understand it).

Depression
Apologies for the less-than-cheery term but I think the search results brings a surprise

Seasonal Pattern
What the above chart shows is that more people search for ‘depression’ in March/ April and November and less during June and July. Interesting how the seasons apparently affect mood. Notice also that the volume of searches is higher in 2004 than in 2011. Also the seasonal trends appear to have less significance as time goes on.

From this graph it does give the impression that less people are searching for depression in more recent years. However caution has to be taken when reading too much into the graphs, I believe that each point is made up from the percentage of total searches. So for example in 2004 if 0.05% of all Google searches were for the term ‘depression’ and if in 2010 it was 0.03%. It may be the case that the overall search proportion is lower however the number of actual searches could still be greater or equal to that in 2004.


England Supermarkets (Tesco, Asda, Morrisons, Sainsburys)

Another key feature is the ability to compare things; here I will use supermarkets. The four supermarkets compared (England only) show a similar pattern. Again like depression supermarkets show a seasonal trend; November and December have a particularly high interest level. (Clearly people look to supermarkets for their Christmas shopping as much as anywhere else)  A clear order of Tesco out front followed by Asda, Sainsburys and then Morrisons.
 
Apple Vs Microsoft

It is surprising how many insights search results can give; take the rise of Apple as an example. The comparison with Microsoft is an interesting one. Again this is England only but the graph for the world looks similar. In 2004 Microsoft was clearly a much more popular search however today the tables have been turned.

I could go on but I think in the end it is just one of those things in which it is best to try out, after all it’s free.

Go play…
http://www.google.com/insights/search/