3 Fascinating Behavioural Insights about the British Public from Google Correlate
??? Joel Stein
Words and ideas that lodge right here ??? I do never-normal naming, voice, messaging, editorial, and campaigns for agencies/startups/non-profits. Also: Creative thinking tools, talks, and training. Book me now for Q2!
Google Correlate is one of Google's lesser-known insight tools, but one that's lots of fun to play with, and might even occasionally be useful for actual, proper research.
As described by Google, the tool "finds search patterns which correspond with real-world trends." You can enter any search term/phrase you can think of, and see what other queries have the most similar patterns of search behaviour over time.
If you work in SEO, and/or enjoy surreal insight's into the collective consciousness, then it's a veritable datagasm waiting to happen.
Below, I've shared some of the most amusing/confusing correlations I've managed to find using the tool. I'd love to hear your theories about what's going on with some of these, or, even better, share some of your own discoveries from Correlate in the comments.
OK, ready?
1. "Clear history"
If you're Googling "clear history," I have two conclusions:
- You need to get better acquainted with your browser settings. Why are you Googling this?
- You've probably been searching for some stuff you're not entirely proud of.
According to Google Correlate, it means there's a good chance you might have a sock fetish. More ominously, it could be because you've been on Craiglist Personals looking for "casual encounters." Or maybe you've just been looking at bums on Tumblr (aka 'Bumblr'?)
2. "Just Eat"
Google Correlate also has a cool thing called "shift series" that lets you look at what people were searching a set number of weeks / months after the control query.
I decided to look at what people are likely to be searching 1 week after Googling "Just Eat". Somewhat worryingly, one of the top results was "stomach pain":
3. "Meaning of Life"
This one perhaps best captures our complex relationship with the Internet.
Basically, whilst sometimes we want to understand our deeper purpose on this planet, or maybe we're considering becoming Buddhists, there's an almost perfectly equal chance we're just after some cute/funny pictures to momentarily alleviate our all-consuming sense of existential despair. Sounds about right.
As a super-meta (and mildly disturbing) bonus, the top-correlated result for people searching "Google Correlate" is "crack baby." So, erm, yeah.
Bye!