In with the new and out with the old
Google recently published its year-end zeitgeist, chronicling 2013´s most-searched people names, places, and things in the US and around the globe. The search engine giant is also bringing in 2014 with several Google Trends updates.
The new Google Trends home page facilitates user access to Top Charts, providing monthly updates leading up to the annual zeitgeist list. Users can compare different topics alongside one another in Top Charts, and click on “Explore In-Depth” for detailed topic reports.
The new home page aims to make topic exploration easier for developing trending content for location-specific topic searches. “You’ll find a much more efficient and touchable interface, enabling you to check out what’s Trending, who’s topping the charts, or even explore complex search data… all while you’re on the go,” said Google software engineer Nemo Tamir on the Google blog.
Tamir also announced on Google’s blog that Top Charts are now available for 72 countries rather than only in the US. The Hot Searches feature went up from 14 countries to 47 and now supports languages with right-to-left scripts. The six new supported languages are Farsi, Hebrew, Malayalam, Bengali, Malay, and Arabic.
By going to the upper-left hand corner of Google Trends, users can access Top Charts and Hot Searches. In the Czech Republic yesterday, for example, searches for Elton John topped the list (he played in Prague on December 18th), beating out Václav Havel (the country commemorated the second anniversary of the death of the republic’s first president the same day).
This new capability allows users to keep their finger on the pulse of more markets, and makes available a useful tool for many new countries. TechCrunch contributor Catherin Siu points out that an analysis of the top search terms in Asia can provide useful hints for global trends, particularly in digital technology and entertainment.
The free Google tools now available to more countries can mean a lot to the development of businesses in places like Thailand, where over 18 million people use mobile phones. Thais spend an average of over nine hours online daily, according to Nation Multimedia of Bangkok. Other search-related Google services include Think, AdWords, and Google Partner Programs.
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