Exploring Trending Topics with Google Trends
Google’s widespread usage makes it fascinating to discover what people are searching for. By analyzing trending searches, you can easily identify the most popular subjects and gain insights into the interests of internet users.
Did you know that Google provides a powerful tool called Google Trends? It allows you to access and filter through this information effortlessly. Let’s delve into Google Trends and learn how to discover what’s currently trending and much more.
What is Google Trends?
Google Trends is a web service that allows you to explore the latest trends on Google and observe what people are searching for. While it serves as a valuable tool for business research, it also provides entertainment for casual users.
When you visit the Google Trends homepage, you’ll find suggested examples of topics to explore. These may include the global interest in the World Cup by country over the past week or the overall worldwide interest in the word “cupcake” since 2004.
Exploring Google Trends for Detailed Insights
As you continue scrolling down on Google Trends, you’ll come across trends that are influenced by current events. For instance, during playoff seasons for sports, you can see which teams people in different regions are searching for.
Further down the page, Google Trends displays the latest trending topics. This feature allows you to stay updated on what’s gaining popularity and starting to trend.
Towards the bottom of the page, you’ll find the fascinating “Year in Search” archives. These archives showcase the most popular search terms on Google for a particular year across various categories, such as car models, dog breeds, games, and GIFs. For example, you can explore the most-searched terms of 2022.
If you prefer, you can view these summaries for a different country or choose the global option. Google also provides a brief video overview highlighting the year’s major stories based on search trends.
However, the homepage of Google Trends is just the beginning. The tool offers much more functionality.
How to Search for Trends on Google Trends
Google Trends becomes even more intriguing when you use it to research topics that interest you. Simply enter a search term in the top search bar, and you’ll be presented with detailed trends related to that term.
Depending on what you enter, Google Trends categorizes it as either a search term or a topic. For example, if you search for “Call of Duty,” you can select either the generic search term entry or the more specific topic of the video game series.
Google Trends provides a helpful explanation on its comparison help page. It states that search terms display matches for all terms within the specified language, while topics are groups of terms across different languages.
For instance, if you use “Washington D.C.” as a topic, it will include searches for “United States capital” and equivalent terms in other languages. However, using “Washington D.C.” as a search term will also include partial matches like “Washington Nationals,” for example.
Google Trends provides various search criteria options to refine your search and obtain specific results.
Underneath the search term, you can utilize the first box to select the region of search. You have the option to choose “Worldwide” to see trends from all around the world or narrow it down to specific regions within a country. For example, if you select “United States,” you can further specify a state like Virginia to view information specific to that area. In certain regions, you can even drill down to cities.
The second dropdown menu allows you to choose the time frame for your search. The default selection is “Past 12 months,” but you can customize it to as recent as the past hour, go back as far as 2004, or define your own time range. This enables you to analyze trends over several years and observe how the popularity of a term has fluctuated in the short term.
If you wish to search within a specific category, you can modify the “All categories” box. Generally, leaving it on “All categories” is sufficient unless a term has multiple meanings. For more specificity, you can choose a sub-category, such as “Mobile & Wireless” under the “Internet & Telecom” category.
Lastly, you have the option to change the default search type from “Web Search” to “Image,” “News,” “Shopping,” or even “YouTube Search.” This allows you to explore trends specifically on those Google platforms.
Once you have set your desired criteria, you can proceed to view the results and delve deeper into the trending topics of interest.
Google Trends provides search results and comparison options to help you analyze and compare the popularity of different topics.
When you view the search results page, you’ll encounter various data visualizations related to your search. One of them is the “Interest over time” graph, which displays the relative interest level on a scale of 0-100 for the selected time period.
Below this graph, the “Interest by subregion” section allows you to examine the breakdown of interest for your search term in different areas. You can identify the regions with the highest and lowest levels of interest. By hovering over the maps, you can access search breakdowns, and clicking on them provides a more detailed analysis of that specific area.
Towards the bottom of the page, you’ll find “related queries” and “related topics” that you can explore for further insights.
Google Trends truly shines when it comes to comparing topics. At the top of the results page, you can click on “Compare” to add another topic for comparison. You can compare up to five terms simultaneously.
As you add more terms, they will be color-coded throughout the page. The “Compared breakdown by subregion” section allows you to view a heatmap that highlights which states, countries, or regions show the highest interest in each topic, along with the respective breakdown among them. This feature provides a fascinating overview of the overall interest people have in competing topics.
For further customization, you can click the three-dot menu next to a search term at the top and choose “Change filters.” This option enables you to modify the region or time period for a specific item. For example, you can compare the interest in MacBook in Australia with the interest in laptops in Canada by adjusting the filters accordingly.
Discovering Trending Searches on Google
Exploring the features above can be entertaining, but there are other tools that provide more insights into the latest Google searches. By opening the left slide-out menu and selecting “Trending Searches,” you can find out what people around the world are currently searching for.
On the “Daily Search Trends” tab, you’ll find the top searches in your area for each day, along with their search volume and related stories. This provides a snapshot of the trending news on a daily basis. You can use the dropdown menu below the search box to explore different regions or switch to the “Realtime Search Trends” tab to see terms that have rapidly gained popularity.
If you want to stay updated on Google trends, you can sign up for email notifications. Simply click on the envelope icon at the top-right corner of the “Daily Search Trends” tab to receive periodic emails about the most significant topics. You can also subscribe via RSS.
Subscribing to Google Trends Updates
In addition to the “Trending Searches” tab, the “Subscriptions” section in the left menu allows you to receive updates on any term or topic you’re interested in. Click the plus icon in the bottom-right corner to add a new subscription.
Enter the search term or topic of your choice, specify the region, and decide whether you want updates on a weekly or monthly basis.
Gaining Insights With Google Trends
Google Trends offers powerful insights for those curious about the latest trends on Google. Whether you’re interested in browsing through the latest trends or conducting detailed comparisons using data visualization, there’s something here for everyone.
It’s fascinating to discover what the world is searching for. Who knows, you might even find that people have searched for information about you using Google Trends.