Google Trends - plus an unexpected(?) result

[Robert Holmes]

Google now offer a product called Google Trends (
http://www.google.com/trends) which aggregates peoples' searches by city,
region etc. It's been described as "a place holder for the intentions of
humankind ? a massive database of desires, needs, wants, and likes that can
be discovered, subpoenaed, archived, tracked, and exploited to all sorts of
ends." (From the New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/05/business/05leonhardt.html?ex=1152763200&en=94404589c34afe7e&ei=5070&emc=eta1
)

Anyway, just for fun I type in LANL. The "Cities" tab gives the expected
results:
1. *Los Alamos*, NM, USA
   2. *Livermore*, CA, USA
   3. *Santa Fe*, NM, USA
   4. *Oak Ridge*, TN, USA
   5. *Albuquerque*, NM, USA

The "Regions" tab is altogether more intriguing.
1. *Iran*
   2. *United States*
   3. *India*



Time to call our friends at Homeland Security?

Robert
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[Robert J. Cordingley]

I noticed from Google Trends that:

"Google Trends calculates the ratio of searches for your term coming
from each city divided by total Google searches coming from the same
city. The city ranking you see on the page and the bar charts alongside
each city name both represent this ratio. When cities' ratios are fairly
close together, the corresponding bar graphs will be roughly the same
length, and the exact ranking between these cities is less meaningful.

<>The Regions and Languages tabs work just like the Cities tab." (my
emphases)

So the relative value of the bars has to be kept in mind.  One could
fantasize their being one lone internet user (an expat) working in
Tehran keeping in touch with folks at home.  But then on the other hand...

I tried adding other National Lab acronyms.  LANL (blue)  beats LLNL
(red)  and PNNL(orange)  hands down in Iran.

Trend Chart


1. Iran



         
2. United States



         
3. India



         
4. Switzerland



         
5. Canada



         
6. United Kingdom



         
7. Italy



         
8. France



         
9. Australia



         
10. Germany

Thanks
Robert C
www.cirrillian.com



Robert Holmes wrote:

> Google now offer a product called Google Trends
> (http://www.google.com/trends) which aggregates peoples' searches by
> city, region etc. It's been described as "a place holder for the
> intentions of humankind ? a massive database of desires, needs, wants,
> and likes that can be discovered, subpoenaed, archived, tracked, and
> exploited to all sorts of ends." (From the New York Times
> http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/05/business/05leonhardt.html?ex=1152763200&en=94404589c34afe7e&ei=5070&emc=eta1 
> <http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/05/business/05leonhardt.html?ex=1152763200&en=94404589c34afe7e&ei=5070&emc=eta1>)
>
> Anyway, just for fun I type in LANL. The "Cities" tab gives the
> expected results:
> 1. Los Alamos, NM, USA
>
>
> 2. Livermore, CA, USA
>
>
> 3. Santa Fe, NM, USA
>
>
> 4. Oak Ridge, TN, USA
>
>
> 5. Albuquerque, NM, USA
>
>
>
> The "Regions" tab is altogether more intriguing.
> 1. Iran
>
>
> 2. United States
>
>
> 3. India
>
>
>
>
>
> Time to call our friends at Homeland Security?
>
> Robert
>
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>============================================================
>FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
>Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
>lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org
>

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[Bill Eldridge]

Robert Holmes wrote:

> Google now offer a product called Google Trends
> (http://www.google.com/trends) which aggregates peoples' searches by
> city, region etc. It's been described as "a place holder for the
> intentions of humankind ? a massive database of desires, needs, wants,
> and likes that can be discovered, subpoenaed, archived, tracked, and
> exploited to all sorts of ends." (From the New York Times
> http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/05/business/05leonhardt.html?ex=1152763200&en=94404589c34afe7e&ei=5070&emc=eta1 
> <http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/05/business/05leonhardt.html?ex=1152763200&en=94404589c34afe7e&ei=5070&emc=eta1>)
>
> Anyway, just for fun I type in LANL. The "Cities" tab gives the
> expected results:
> 1. *Los Alamos*, NM, USA
>
>
> 2. *Livermore*, CA, USA
>
>
> 3. *Santa Fe*, NM, USA
>
>
> 4. *Oak Ridge*, TN, USA
>
>
> 5. *Albuquerque*, NM, USA
>
>
>
> The "Regions" tab is altogether more intriguing.
> 1. *Iran*
>
>
> 2. *United States*
>
>
> 3. *India*
>
>
>
>
>
> Time to call our friends at Homeland Security?
>

Not until you make sure that "lanl" doesn't mean "holiday spice cake" in
Persian ;-)

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