Fri 12 May 2006
Professor Marc Lynch writes with details on how to perform a Google trend analysis on search terms. Here is a fun example. Not sure if the extra searches done for Williams versus Amherst mean anything . . . other than that your hard working staff at EphBlog is always on the prowl for news!
May 12th, 2006 at 1:49 pm
But wait, click on the “cities” tab.
Almost *all* of the searches were done in Williamstown. No wonder Williams College has the edge. : )
May 12th, 2006 at 2:11 pm
Those bars for city and region aren’t actual searches. They are the percentage of searches for Williams College out of all google searches that took place in Williamstown.
If instead you search (amherst college, williams college), you will get the opposite result in the Pioneer Valley.
May 12th, 2006 at 2:26 pm
But look at how we beat out Amherst in the U.K. and Australia? What is that all about? Is it possible Williams has better name recognition abroad? Or am I still reading this wrong, Mr. Dunn?
May 12th, 2006 at 2:49 pm
I’m not sure how to make this a link (I don’t like this internet stuff) but here is a rather interesting Trend (jumping off of Lynch’s comparison) of Saddam Hussein vs. Osama bin Laden.
http://www.google.com/trends?q=Osama+Bin+Laden%2C+Saddam+Hussein&ctab=0&geo=all&date=all
Apparently only the U.S. cares about Saddam. Although I guess this would be more interesting to look at if we could push it back to the start of the war…
May 12th, 2006 at 2:51 pm
Can we cut the “Mr. Dunn” shit out. Frank is three times my age and he is just called “Frank.” I think you are actually trying to insult me with it.
The UK result seems to hold up regardless of which college you put first. That could just be the Oxford Program, though.
I am puzzled that the set of countries is different. Switch them up and notice that we also get more hits in India and China and Germany. I think the huge difference for the UK is Williams-Oxford, but nevertheless, the other countries seem to back up the conclusion we have better name recognition world-wide.
May 12th, 2006 at 2:54 pm
You have to be careful because google treats your entries specifically. Instead, compare saddam with osama and it is more even.
May 12th, 2006 at 4:20 pm
Switch them up and notice that we also get more hits in India and China and Germany
Our need-blind international financial aid policy explains why there is more interest in Williams than Amherst in India and China.
I know I first found out about Williams through a Google search.
May 13th, 2006 at 12:19 am
And also probably due to George Williams College and Roger Williams College