Google opens deeper search trend data

Google has opened up more of its search analysis data to the public in a new product offering called Hot Trends.

A cross between the search giant’s parallel Zeitgeist and Trends offerings, which give journalists and other consumers access to search query popularity metrics, Hot Trends displays the hottest web searches on a more frequent basis.

The service, which is integrated with Google Trends, shows the fastest-rising Google searches in the US, giving an insight in to the inquisitive mood of the web world – and a potential heads-up to marketers looking to spot the latest hot memes.

The Hot Trends results cross-reference search popularity with related news and blog articles and with search results themselves.

The list of the top 100 fastest-moving searches shows a prevalence of US TV shows American Idol and The Bachelor.

Meanwhile, Google also added deeper navigability to its core Trends offering, which lets users specify their own keywords on which to check search volume.

The changes drill the data down the city level so that users can, for example, see that, in Wales, more people in Cardiff searched for “Valentine’s Day” this year than in the Rhondda.

According to an email from Google:

Users can now compare the leading presidential candidates around the country, for instance, or find out what region in France is crazy about cognac.”