When people talk about Google Trends data, I always think of the famous Google Flu Trends research project. Google tried to use their own search data to predict flu outbreaks. The data worked until it stopped working. This was many years ago and I am sure that the data is much more robust now.
But still, there is a potential issue that if people search for something - it can be good or bad. If people search for a specific airline - it could be because there is increase in demand or it could be because there is increase in cancellations. If people seach for "Netflix" - it doesn't always mean that they want to start a new subscription. So the context is important.
Search behavior does change over time as a reflection of the changes in how people find information and also changes as the information people need changes.
So there are limits to use cases and those caveats are important to consider.
Very interesting.
When people talk about Google Trends data, I always think of the famous Google Flu Trends research project. Google tried to use their own search data to predict flu outbreaks. The data worked until it stopped working. This was many years ago and I am sure that the data is much more robust now.
But still, there is a potential issue that if people search for something - it can be good or bad. If people search for a specific airline - it could be because there is increase in demand or it could be because there is increase in cancellations. If people seach for "Netflix" - it doesn't always mean that they want to start a new subscription. So the context is important.
I am sure you will talk about it in Part 2.
It’s a great call out.
Search behavior does change over time as a reflection of the changes in how people find information and also changes as the information people need changes.
So there are limits to use cases and those caveats are important to consider.
Stay tuned for part 2 :)