August 6th, 2008
Google gives us the keys to insightful information
If you are someone who can’t get enough data, Google’s new “Insights for Search” (which I’m sure will be renamed to simply “Google Insights” when they realize the current name is too long) is going to be a place that you want to visit.
Google Insights for Search takes daily search data from the countries they operate in, and analyzes it to graph “interest over time” by seeing how many searches have been done for your query compared to the number of all searches done on Google over time. The result page shows all the top searches for what you are looking at — and it also gives you a nice map of the world showing you how “hot” your query is across the world.
This new service is great for many things. Many types of businesses or people can use the information from this tool to their advantage — it can certainly give you an edge over your competition if used correctly. Google’s help page gives you a few scenarios where this tool could be very useful:
Choosing advertising messages
Insights can help you determine which messages resonate best. For example, an automobile manufacturer may be unsure of whether it should highlight fuel efficiency, safety, or engine performance to market a new car model.Examining seasonality
Insights can be used to determine seasonality. For example, a ski resort may want to find out when people search for ski-related terms most often. The results are fairly consistent throughout the years: interest picks up in August and peaks in December and January. With this information, the ski resort can anticipate demand and make informed decisions about the appropriate allocation of everything from its advertising budget to staffing to resort resources.Creating brand associations
Insights can be a helpful tool in creating brand associations. Take, for example, an advertising agency that needs to build a compelling advertising campaign for its client, a computer hardware company. The agency needs to know what competing brands are doing: how should they position their client’s product against them?Entering new markets
Insights can be useful in determining a new market. A wine distributor may be looking to expand into new markets. By entering in wine + vino, and comparing the data across multiple countries, such as Argentina, Mexico, Spain, and Venezuela, the distributor can get a sense of where interest is more prevalent.
I’ve been playing with this thing for about an hour tonight, and I’m finding it quite interesting. This tool is definitely more useful than Google Trends, for myself anyway. What do you think of the new service?
Garett Rogers is employed as a programmer for iQmetrix, which specializes in retail management software for the wireless industry. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
