Insights
In one of the recent updates to the Official Google blog, I came across an interesting application called Google Insights for Search. Here’s what they say about the application:
Looking at search trends helps you understand when, where and how the world’s interests have changed. Simply type in search terms to see how search query volume has evolved over time, in which geographic regions search interest is greatest and other related searches.
Testing the application
I wanted to put the application to test and technical writing was one of the first few topics that came to my mind. I narrowed the test with the following filters, to generate results, or rather, insights for India in the last five years. What I saw did impress me.
Though one may claim that these charts and results do not give the real picture because they are derived from the volume of search terms, anyone familiar with the ground reality would believe that the “insights” are closer to reality. Let’s take a look at a few results.
Interests over time
The chart below shows the number of searches for the term “technical writing” spread over the last five years, on a scale of 0-100. For example, in May 2004 (indicated by the highlighted dot on the graph and the number on the top right corner of the chart), the graph touched 100, which means the interest in searching information about technical writing was probably at its peak. It could also mean that the technical writing community was not as matured – in terms of knowledge and other factors – as it claims to be in 2008 and beyond (the declining graph indicates a drop in the search volume and hence a reasonable level of knowledge).
The forecast shows our search for “technical writing” in 2010 and beyond would be rare!
On the other hand, I ran the same ‘insight’ search with “technical communication” to get the chart below. The scaled search volume number in May 2004 is 54, as against 100 for “technical writing.” The graph behaves consistently from 2006 and well in to the forecasted timeframe of 2010. This trend probably reflects STC’s and the community’s effort to change the definition of a technical writer’s role to that of a technical communicator.
Regional interest
This chart is a no brainer. It indicates the popularity of the search term “technical writing” by region, listed by city.
Rising searches
To wrap it up, let’s look at the growth in the search volume for terms that are related to “technical writing.” The list below shows the top ten terms that were used for searching information in the last five years.
The percentages next to them indicate the growth rate with respect to the preceding time period, in this case, the five years before 2004 or the time when the term was first searched. “Breakout” means that the growth rate has been over 5000%!
Do you see a trend? Do you think more folks are trying to break into the profession? Try it for yourself, tweak the filters and have fun!
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Good stuff! Google Insights for Search is a great tool, and there really are a lot of interesting insights you can gain from the data. I’ve been having a lot of fun with it. In fact, you should check out the following facebook fan page:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Are-we-what-we-search/294184966418