From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Google Trends
Google Trends
for the tracking of various words and phrases that are
typed into Google’s search-box. The tracking device pro-
vided a more-indepth analysis of results. It also has the
ability to categorize and organize the data, with special
attention given to the breakdown of information by geo-
graphical areas.[3]
Evidence is provided by Jeremy Ginsberg et al. that
Google Trends data can be used to track influenza-like
illness in a population.[4] Because the relative frequency
Color coded searching and comparing of certain queries is highly correlated with the percent-
age of physician visits in which a patient presents with
Google Trends is a public web facility of Google Inc., influenza-like symptoms, an estimate of weekly influen-
based on Google Search, that shows how often a partic- za activity can be reported. Furthermore, it was shown
ular search-term is entered relative to the total search- by Tobias Preis et al. that there is a correlation between
volume across various regions of the world, and in vari- Google Trends data of company names and transaction
ous languages. The horizontal axis of the main graph rep- volumes of the corresponding stocks on a weekly time
resents time (starting from some time in 2004), and the scale.[5][6]
vertical is how often a term is searched for relative to
the total number of searches, globally.[1] Below the main
graph, popularity is broken down by countries, regions,
Google Hot Trends
cities and language. Note that what Google calls "lan- Google Hot Trends is an addition to Google Trends which
guage", however, does not display the relative results of displays the top 20 hot, i.e., fastest rising, searches
searches in different languages for the same term(s). It (search-terms) of the past hour in the United States. This
only displays the relative combined search volumes from is for searches that have recently experienced a sudden
all countries that share a particular language (see "flow- surge in popularity.[7] For each of the search-terms, it
ers" vs "fluers"). It is possible to refine the main graph provides a 24-hour search-volume graph as well as blog,
by region and time period. On August 5, 2008, Google news and web search results. Hot Trends has a history
launched Google Insights for Search, a more sophisticat- feature for those wishing to browse past hot searches.
ed and advanced service displaying search trends data. Hot Trends can be installed as an iGoogle Gadget. Hot
Trends is also available as an hourly Atom web feed.
Background
Google Trends also allows the user to compare the vol-
Google Trends for websites
ume of searches between two or more terms. An addi- Since 2008 there has been a sub-section of Google Trends
tional feature of Google Trends is in its ability to show which analyses traffic for websites, rather than traffic for
news related to the search-term overlaid on the chart, search terms. This is a similar service to that provided by
showing how new events affect search popularity. Alexa Internet.
Originally, Google neglected updating Google Trends
on a regular basis. In March 2007, internet bloggers no- Google Trends API
ticed that Google had not added new data since Novem-
ber 2006, and Trends was updated within a week. Google An API to accompany the Google Trends service was an-
did not update Trends from March until July 30, and only nounced by Marissa Mayer, vice president of search-
after it was blogged about, again.[2] Google now claims to products at Google. This was announced in 2007, and so
be "updating the information provided by Google Trends far has not been released.[8]
daily; Hot Trends is updated hourly." A few unofficial Google Trends API tools have been
On August 6, 2008, Google launched a free service released, along with a wiki detailing them and simple ac-
called Insights for Search. Insights for Search is an exten- cess to Google Trends data.
sion of Google Trends and although the tool is meant for
marketers, it can be utilized by any user. The tool allows
1
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Google Trends
Implications of data Larry Brilliant (2009). "Detecting influenza
epidemics using search engine query data". Nature
A group of researchers at Wellesley College examined da- 457 (7232): 1012–1014. doi:10.1038/nature07634.
ta from Google Trends and analyzed how effective a tool PMID 19020500.
it could be in predicting U.S. Congressional elections in [5] Tobias Preis, Daniel Reith and H. Eugene Stanley
2008 and 2010. In highly contested races where data for (2010). "Complex dynamics of our economic life on
both candidates were available, the data successfully pre- different scales: insights from search engine query
dicted the outcome in 33.3% of cases in 2008 and 39% in data". Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A
2010. The authors conclude that, compared to the tradi- 368:
368 5707–5719. doi:10.1098/rsta.2010.0284.
tional methods of election forecasting, incumbency and [6] Catherine Mayer (November 15, 2010). "Study: Are
New York Times polls, and even in comparison with ran- Google Searches Affecting the Stock Market?". Time
dom chance, Google Trends did not prove to be a good Magazine. http://newsfeed.time.com/2010/11/15/
predictor of either the 2008 or 2010 elections.[9] google-searches-and-financial-market-
fluctuations-linked-and-worrying/. Retrieved
See also [7]
January 12, 2011.
How does Hot Searches work?, google.com
• Alexa Internet [8] Elinor Mills (December 4, 2007). "Google Trends API
coming soon". http://news.cnet.com/
Notes 8301-10784_3-9828916-7.html. Retrieved October
17, 2010.
[1] "How does Google Trends work?". [9] ""On the Predictability of the U.S. Elections
http://www.google.com/intl/en/trends/ Through Search Volume Activity," at Journalist’s
about.html#1. Resource.org". http://journalistsresource.org/
[2] "Success! Google Trends Updated". InsideGoogle. studies/government/politics/elections-search-
July 30, 2007. http://google.blognewschannel.com/ volume/.
archives/2007/07/30/success-google-trends-
updated/.
[3] Helft, Miguel (August 6, 2008). "Google’s New Tool External links
Is Meant for Marketers". New York Times. • Official website
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/06/business/ • Google Hot Trends – Webpage of top 20 search-
media/06adco.html?ref=business. Retrieved August terms, each linked to 24-hour graph & data.
6, 2008. • Google Trends for Websites
[4] Jeremy Ginsberg, Matthew H. Mohebbi, Rajan S.
Patel, Lynnette Brammer, Mark S. Smolinski and
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Google_Trends&oldid=475974955"
Categories:
• Google services
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