Google Trends is Misery

Google Trends is the new hot topic – but apart the fun it gives you (by comparing search terms), in most cases the information it spits out is quite useless.

This is because Google can’t read our minds (yet). It doesn’t know the goal of the individual user, and the context of what they’re searching for.

This morning’s article in the Dominion Post is a classic example of misinterpretation of the data spat out by Google Trends, and makes out that Aucklanders are a miserable lot.

They say…

“Google Trends, which works out how many searches have been made for particular terms on the Internet search engine, has found Aucklanders are more inclined to type in “misery” than people in any other city worldwide”

The article goes on with quotes from Auckland-based experts on the subject matter…

“Anna Jensen, of Auckland recruitment agency Sheffield, Hamilton and Associates, puts it down to a combination of factors- Auckland’s incessant rain, the fact that everybody is in such a hurry, traffic jams and an obsession with cars, clothing and money.”

But I think the reporter and experts have misinterpreted why quite a few Aucklanders like to search for “misery”.

A few clues:

• It’s a huge cult in Auckland…
• It featured on NZ television just last weekend…
• Type ‘misery auckland‘ in to Google and the first six results are related to…

“Cha-Ching!”

http://www.miseryland.co.nz/