 Have you noticed that when you start typing a word into Google a drop down list appears with suggested words beginning with the first letter?
This is a feature I believe currently exclusive to Google and is called Google Instant.
How dose Google know what I am about to type?
The words suggested are not a guess at what you are about to type but based on what is the most popular word searched for at that moment in time, beginning with the same letters you type.
Changing Trends
The results thus constantly change because we go through stages of searching for different things. The results are also dependant on your location. Yes Google knows where you are, have you not realised that yet?
Top Trends
Every time you search for something the words you type are saved into a database.
The number of times a word is searched for is also recorded.
The words are what Google call Trends. The more popular the word the higher its Trend rank. The top four words are what are suggested to you along with the most popular website.
Here are the results of my alphabet search.
| A is for Argos, |
Amazon, |
Asda |
and Asos |
| B is for BBC, |
BBC News, |
BBC Weather |
and BBC iPlayer |
| C is for Currys, |
Comet, |
CBBC |
and Cineworld |
| D is for Debenhams, |
Daily Mail, |
DVLA |
and Dorothy Perkins |
| E is for eBay, |
Easyjet, |
Expedia |
and East Enders |
| F is for Facebook, |
Facebook login, |
FRIV |
and Flybe |
| G is for Game, |
Google Maps, |
Gmail |
and Gumtree |
| H is for Hotmail, |
HSBC, |
HMV |
and Homebase |
| I is for ITV, |
Ikea, |
ITV Player |
and iPlayer |
| J is for John Lewis, |
Jobcentre, |
JD |
and JJB |
| K is for KLM, |
Kwik Fit, |
Kiss |
and KFC |
| L is for Lottery, |
Lotto, |
Lloyds TSB |
and Littlewoods |
| M is for Met Office, |
MSN, |
Maps |
and Miniclip |
| N is for Next, |
New Look, |
National Rail |
and NHS |
| O is for O2, |
Orange, |
Odeon |
and Oasis |
| P is for Play, |
PC World, |
Paypal |
and Primark |
| Q is for Quidco, |
QVC, |
Quiz |
and Quop |
| R is for River Island, |
Right Move, |
Royal Mail |
and Ryanair |
| S is for Sky, |
Sainsburys, |
Sports Direct |
and Skype |
| T is for Tesco, |
TFL, |
Topshop |
and Twitter |
| U is now UCAS, |
UK Top 40, |
Urban Dictionary |
and Urban |
| V is for Virgin, |
VUE, |
Vodafone |
and Very! |
| W is for Weather, |
Wikipedia, |
Wikileaks |
and weather Forecast |
| X is for X Factor, |
Xbox, |
XE |
and Xbox Live |
| Y is for YouTube, |
Yahoo, |
Yahoo Mail |
and Yell |
| Z is for Zara, |
Zoopia, |
Zavvi |
and Zumba |
About the results
From this data it looks like high street department stores are king of search and it appears to be the women doing the shopping online.
We then like to update our Facebook “Status” or see what our “friends” are doing, check our bank balance, play the lottery and search for a job.
Most of us will then buy a new mobile phone and book or dream about a holiday!
For those whose bank accounts have been scammed we will watch TV or play a game.
If you want to check out the current top 10 Google Trends see http://www.google.com/trends
The Google Trends tool can be used to discover how popular a given word is. |
