Google Trends, Google’s search analysis tool launched in 2006, allows the user to compare the volume of searches between two or more terms. Given the confluence of big news-making events around the globe, including “Brexit,” “PokemonGO,” and of course “Donald Trump,” we thought it would be slick to illustrate their significance in Plotly.
We investigated a few other words (“Beer”), phrases (“Moving to Canada”), correlations (Beer & Temperature), and more to diversify the post. Hope you have as much fun reading as we did plotting!
Pokemon, Trump & ClintonIf you’ve got an interesting find, graph it in Plotly, and tweet it @plotlygraphs.
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1. Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, and Pokemon
Pokemon has once again taken the world by storm. As of the early July release of PokemonGO, it quickly became more relevant than it had been at any point in the last 12.5 years– and more relevant than both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, the most visible 2016 U.S. Presidential candidates.
I Choose You, Pikachu
Once you’ve caught that Pokemon buzzing around in your room, consider this: As of early July 2016, “Pokemon” is now 5 times more relevant –worldwide– than it has been in more than a decade.
Trumping Trump? A Difficult Task…
…at least in terms of Google search volume! As of early July, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are neck and neck in relevancy in the United States. The long term trend, however, suggests Hillary is gaining steam while Trump is slowly fading.
2. Pizza
For a quick slice of fun amidst some heavier topics, we look to pizza. Pizza’s relevance is ever-increasing across the States and is searched about four times as frequently on Google in 2016 than it was in 2004.
Michigan
Which state is craziest over pizza, you ask? New York naturally comes to mind, but the data suggests that Michigan is actually the epicenter of pizza relevance. On the other hand, folks are searching for pizza the least in Oregon.
3. Gun Control
With each violent attack involving a gun, the phrase “gun control” sees a spike in relevance. Relevance spikes have increased in frequency after 2010 with the Sandy Hook shooting yielding the most dramatic peak.
Wyoming
Wyomingites are searching for the phrase “gun control” most frequently. Perhaps it has to do with the popularity of hunting within the state. On the flip side, Hawaiians are searching for gun control the least on Google.
4. Move to Canada
Let’s face it, a vast majority of Americans have searched those precise words in Google at some point in the last decade – typically following another sad moment in U.S. history. Turns out Brits are doing it too.
Brexit
The biggest spike in Britain’s “Move to Canada” interest just occurred recently, following Brexit. Speaking of which, states in the Northeast (New York and Massachusetts, specifically ) are most curious about the UK’s EU departure. Mississippi, on the other hand, doesn’t seem to care as much.
Remain or Leave
Google Trends analysis reveals that in the weeks leading up to Brexit, more folks were searching for “leave” than “remain.”
5. Football, Beer, and Temperatures
America’s favorite weekend pastime will be back before you know it. Heck, training camp starts during the last few days of July. Turns out Alabama is most bonkers for it to begin again.
Pennsylvania
Since 2004, beer is more relevant – as a function of Google searches – in Pennsylvania than any other state.
Beer Science
For every 50 searches for beer in 2004, there are about 90 searches at present day – so search frequency has nearly doubled in a decade. Beer’s relevance tracks closely with the annual mean temperature trace in the Northern Hemisphere, peaking during summer and hitting a relative minimum during winter.
6. New School Year, New Me
The annual search trajectory of “graph” and “plot” follows the peaks and valleys of the school year in the United States. Following a summertime lull, searches for these two words come back in full force during September and October as students enter the new school year with a fresh outlook.
Searches tail off quickly in November – often as motivation fades – and reach a relative minimum in December (holidays!). There is a jump in search frequency again during spring, but never as high as the previous fall. This is also the time of year that many students come down with senioritis.
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