Mormon Mentality - Thoughts and Asides by Peculiar People

By danithew

May. 24th, 2007 at 5:04 pm

Google has introduced a new feature called “Google Hot Trends.” This feature is interesting for a few reasons. It combines previous services Zeitgeist and Trends. Instead of showing what the most popular searches are, it shows the 100 search topics that have shown the greatest recent spike in interest. So far Google Hot Trends is only measuring searches in the United States. It should also be noted that some searches are screened out – specifically, those searches that have to do with sex and pornography.

What interested me was that when I went to check out Google Hot Trends this afternoon, the #1 search term listed was Ancestry.com, which happens to be a Provo, Utah based for-profit genealogy company. No doubt the sudden spike in interest on this site has to do with the fact that today Ancestry.com made an online release of 90 million military records to the public.

Below is a picture of part of the list – admittedly, many of the appearing entries are downright strange.

1. Julie M. Smith

Thu, May 24, 2007 @ 8:53pm

Something doesn’t seem quite right about that list . . .

2. danithew

Thu, May 24, 2007 @ 9:00pm

Julie, I have a feeling it is very connected to what is going on in the news. Here’s an interesting article that describes a little bit more how the system works and what it might be measuring. Here’s an extensive quote:

By mid-afternoon, the hottest search trend in the U.S. was for one “Joseph Lau.” A quick click on the term itself took users to a page with “related searches, a search volume graph, and the top cities.” According to a Google FAQ, “We also display news, blog and web results to help give context about why a search may be appearing on the Hot Trends list today.” OK. Joseph Lau was apparently hot because the Hong Kong billionaire had just ordered a new Boeing VIP airplane for himself. Queries peaked at noon, with 6% of them from New York City. We were intrigued enough to inquire as to the identity of the #2 hottie – Kassie Depaiva. Turns out she’s a star of “One Life to Live,” and that searches for her name peaked while she was guest-hosting yesterday’s episode of ABC-TV’s “The View.” And on it went. Trend #3, for instance, was “Kimberly Buffington.” She’s Dennis Quaid’s wife and it was announced yesterday that she’s expecting twins and they’ll be delivered by another woman. Reuters, for one, called Google’s new service a “more scientific turn” for “the art of trend-spotting.” Dictionary.com, though, defines “trend” as “the general course or prevailing tendency.” Since it’s highly doubtful that Joseph, Kassie or Kimberly will become the next O.J., Britney, or Obama, I prefer to think of “Hot Trends” as “Today’s Temporary Popularity Spikes.” And a great keyword tool for really quick search engine optimizers.

3. danithew

Thu, May 24, 2007 @ 9:04pm

Julie, in other words – maybe whatever is on this list isn’t all that hot after all – or is “hot” only briefly. I guess I gave it too much credit.

Still, it is interesting. Supposedly the list is based on millions of search queries that are taking place in the United States.

LOL. The current #1 search term is mutton(?). I think the interesting thing to do is to look these up to figure out why they are creating any kind of measurement spike.

4. jjohnsen

Thu, May 31, 2007 @ 3:35pm

Why would you search for ancestry.com? Wouldn’t it be smarter to just type ancestry.com in your browser and go straight there?

5. danithew

Thu, May 31, 2007 @ 3:48pm

jjohnsen, I’ve thought the same question – but maybe instead of looking for the site they were looking for news stories about the site. It appears ancestry.com made some kind of release of military records on a certain date – maybe some investors wanted information or something. I’m only speculating, I really don’t know for sure.

6. danithew

Thu, May 31, 2007 @ 3:52pm

Or it could be ego-browsing – maybe all the employees of ancestry.com were checking, at the same time, to see if ancestry.com was 1st in google search for the term.