Getting Abreast of Search
What a week it’s been in the news. Kate Middleton had nude photos splashed across French newstands, violent protests erupted after an anti-Islamic film debuted its trailer online and Apple released their highly anticipated iPhone 5 to a rabid preorder reception.
As always, a good news week means a fascinating insight into search, so this week we’re going to take a look at what Google Insights can tell us about the last week in news starting with…
Kate Middleton & Closer
On September 14 French magazine Closer published intimate photographs of the Duchess of Cambridge Kate Middleton taken on a private holiday in France. While most media publications have avoided republishing the photos after the royals laid a criminal complaint against the magazine, the Internet is ablaze with interest of Kate Middleton’s nude photos, so much so that search traffic for her name in the last week is almost double what it was at the height of her pre-Royal Wedding fame.
How does Kate’s illegal pictures stack up against the last royal scandal? Not even close. Prince Harry’s Vegas nude photos registered barely half the search interest of Kate Middleton’s photos according to Google’s data. At least Kate’s got Internet bragging rights at the next royal family gathering.
Apple’s iPhone 5
The other big news of the week was the unveiling of Apple’s iPhone 5. Every year we see search traffic for the popular device explode around iPhone launch date, growing significantly year-over-year. What’s interesting is that the iPhone 5 launch garnered almost twice as many searches as the iPhone 4 a few years ago.
Even more interesting about ‘iPhone’ search traffic is how regional interest has shifted over the years. The 5 most popular countries at the moment for ‘iPhone’ search traffic are Singapore, Cambodia, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Lebanon with the United States & Australia not far behind. Taking a look at how interest has shifted over time hammers the point home.
November 2009 – March 2010 
May 2012 – September 2012 
The Innocence of Muslims
But perhaps the strangest search activity over the past few weeks comes from searchers looking for the provocative anti-Islam film ‘The Innocence of Muslims’, which has caused violent protests and demonstrations after the American film’s trailer was released online. After a surge of search activity following the release of the films trailer online almost a week ago, search traffic for the term has completely dropped off almost overnight.
Although Australia was late to the party, search traffic for ‘The Innocence of Muslims’ still runs high due to violent protests that broke out in Sydney last weekend and ensuing media coverage.
Of particular note is the search traffic’s regional patterns, with the vast majority of search traffic coming from predominantly-Muslim countries.
Even more fascinating is how regional interest in the search term has developed over time, which can also be seen using Google Insights for Search.
So next time you’re looking into a topic, whether it’s for keyword research, newsjacking or for your own personal interests, give Google Insights for Search a whirl and tap into Google’s rich set of data to find out how people are both searching and reacting to the world’s news.
Hope that helps! See you guys next week.
Jim’s been here for a while, you know who he is.
