Mining Google Trends: Facebook Dominant in Search, Duking It Out With Twitter in News
Using Google Trends and the popularity of search terms as a guide to media consumption certainly isn't bulletproof, but reading Matthew Slight's post about the shift in media consumption inspired a spot of digging. And boy, is Facebook having an impact on search terms - just look at the graph above.
I can't work out whether it must be slightly galling for Google search execs to watch one of their main rivals rocket in popularity, or are they rubbing their hands with glee at all the data gathered about user's interaction with Facebook?
Whilst Facebook and Twitter are both ramping up their sales functions in the UK, sheer numbers play a factor, but influence will play a critical factor in grabbing those marketing dollars.
But what of the Twitter vs. Facebook battle? Surely that's done and dusted? In the graph above, Twitter's rise in fortunes looks meteoric, but look what happens when Facebook's added in to the mix.
In the original post, Matthew compares the search terms blog, email, msn messenger, newspaper, concluding that twitter may be impacting blog traffic, whilst email remains steady and newspapers are in decline (graph above).
And before you say it, yes this could be horribly mis-leading, but bearing in mind many people's start page is currently Google, and the company has nearly 70% market share in the US and a whopping 92% in the UK.
The battle is on. Can Twitter continue to holds its own in the face of the Facebook juggernaut? Or will Google+ revitalise Google's social efforts?
Delving into the Twitter vs Facebook battle. In search, Facebook dominates, but Twitter, often regarded as the journo's favourite real-time reporting/source tool fares as a reference in Google News' references - check the bottom part of the graph above.
It's too early to judge Google+ with it's 'paltry' 20million users, (more if Google ever launch it for their Apps customers - grumble, grumble), if the service catches and builds a long-term userbase the tight integration with search will be a critical factor in moving beyond early adopters.
What do you think?
7 August 2011 by Sam Michel
Sam Michel is the founder of Chinwag and blogs here for work, and more randomly at Toodlepip. He runs Chinwag Jobs, Digital Mission and tends to focus on murky place where technology, community and marketing collide. You'll find him on twitter @toodlepip.
Sam Michel is the founder of Chinwag and blogs here for work, and more randomly at Toodlepip. He runs Chinwag Jobs, Digital Mission and tends to focus on murky place where technology, community and marketing collide. You'll find him on twitter @toodlepip.
