Google Insights Show Most Keywords Getting Searched Less

[Seabass]

Check out Google Insights and start typing in random keywords and you will notice that most keywords are getting searched less and less as the years wear on. I'm not talking about keywords like foreclosure, debt, etc... that are obviously affected by the depression we are in. This tool goes back to 2004.

Type in "dogs" or "cats" and you will see what I mean. Even "computers" is down.

How could those search terms be getting less popular? Anyone have any idea why?

http://www.google.com/insights/search/#


.

 

[Donny]

Seabass - Could it be that less people are using Google? I think it's kind of interesting when you look at the numbers in 2004 compared to today and they are showing them being about equal, which makes absolutely no sense. Maybe all of the graphs are just randomly generated.

Donny

 

[discovernow]

That is a big surprise. The most important fact are domains getting a higher % of type-in traffic today than they did in 2004 relative than search.

Thanks, Jim

 

[Seabass]

Seabass - Could it be that less people are using Google? I think it's kind of interesting when you look at the numbers in 2004 compared to today and they are showing them being about equal, which makes absolutely no sense. Maybe all of the graphs are just randomly generated.

Donny

G has been taking market share for a long time now and just recently saw it give up something like 1% to Yahoo and others. I don't see how there are less people really.

If you search foreclosure then it shows the searches going through the roof, but dog, cat, computer.....even health are all going down in searches. I'm not sure how they would randomly generate these graphs.....and if they did what would be the point of that?

Does that mean folks are using search less and already know the site they want to go to? You could read these graphs that way.

.

That is a big surprise. The most important fact are domains getting a higher % of type-in traffic today than they did in 2004 relative than search.

Thanks, Jim

Jim.....how do you figure that? Most of all my generic domains are showing drops in uniques if you do a stats report going back several years. Year over year there are drops on almost all of them.

I have mentioned this several times over the last year or two but nobody ever seems to concur with me on this......or they are just staying mum.
.

 

[doggyowner]

Really interesting.

There are signs of users changing their search behavior, searches are becoming more long-tail and also more users are using twitter, stumbleupon as their "search engines"

Found an interesting article, http://blog.ask.com/2009/03/interpreting-hitwise-statistics-on-longer-queries.html on http://www.grahamjones.co.uk/blog/search/search-behaviour-is-changing-significantly.html

 

[netmeg]

I think doggyowner is probably closest to the mark. I see it myself in my log files and the search box logs for my clients' ecommerce sites. People more and more search with three, four or more words, because one or two just doesn't cut it - too many possibilities.

 

[Seabass]

Really interesting.

There are signs of users changing their search behavior, searches are becoming more long-tail and also more users are using twitter, stumbleupon as their "search engines"

Found an interesting article, http://blog.ask.com/2009/03/interpreting-hitwise-statistics-on-longer-queries.html on http://www.grahamjones.co.uk/blog/search/search-behaviour-is-changing-significantly.html

That's interesting angle........so actually G is still more or less gaining/holding its position in the search market.....even though the search market as a whole is decreasing since folks might be getting info. at Twitter, other established sites, etc.....

Maybe that is the reason then.
.

I think doggyowner is probably closest to the mark. I see it myself in my log files and the search box logs for my clients' ecommerce sites. People more and more search with three, four or more words, because one or two just doesn't cut it - too many possibilities.

Maybe that is another reason it is happening.

I saw some report somewhere recently that said long-tail search terms of five or more words increased something like 8% from 2007 to 2008. Long search terms mean less wasted time.

I can just see new, amateur surfers going to a search like Hiking in 2002, then going to Virginia Hiking in 2004, and then Virginia Smokey Mountain Trails in 2008, since that is what they wanted in the first place but were not adept at surfing in 2002 when they had their dial-up and had to share their computer with the whole family, for example.

I sure hope this is true b/c I own a ton of long-tail.
.

 

[whitebark]

I watch my referrer logs like a hawk and netmeg and doggyowner are right on the mark. The average search that comes to one my websites is now three words long. This trend has been known for some time and those that crafted their content to take advantage of this are being rewarded!

 

[discovernow]

G has been taking market share for a long time now and just recently saw it give up something like 1% to Yahoo and others. I don't see how there are less people really.

If you search foreclosure then it shows the searches going through the roof, but dog, cat, computer.....even health are all going down in searches. I'm not sure how they would randomly generate these graphs.....and if they did what would be the point of that?

Does that mean folks are using search less and already know the site they want to go to? You could read these graphs that way.

.


Jim.....how do you figure that? Most of all my generic domains are showing drops in uniques if you do a stats report going back several years. Year over year there are drops on almost all of them.

I have mentioned this several times over the last year or two but nobody ever seems to concur with me on this......or they are just staying mum.
.

Actually, I meant to put the ? market at the end and not make it a statement. I really meant are domains getting a higher % of type-in traffic today than they did in 2004 relative than search? Sorry about that.

I have noticed too that names such as MoviesDownload.com which get's good type-in traffic which I got in 2000 still get about the same type-in traffic today. Has not really increased at all.

Thanks, Jim

 

[Seabass]

......... Found an interesting article, http://blog.ask.com/2009/03/interpreting-hitwise-statistics-on-longer-queries.html on http://www.grahamjones.co.uk/blog/search/search-behaviour-is-changing-significantly.html

I just now saw the two articles you posted. Both explain a lot and are telling about where we are all headed.

I just signed up for Twitter to see what all the rage is about in regards to search on Twitter.

I see how you can follow "friends", but where is the search? Is it your friend network that answers all your searches/questions?
.

 

[netmeg]

They're still rolling out the new search box in twitter; not all accounts see it yet. But you can access by going to the bottom of your profile or home page and clicking on the link for search.

Many topics are denoted with hash marks, so you can search like that - or you can just search for a string. For example, one of the themes I use for a lot of my WordPress installs is called thesis, and the designer plus a good portion of the community is on twitter, so if I'm looking for something specific, I can type #thesiswp into that search and get all those tweets. Or I can just type netmeg and see all my tweets, plus all those that either mention or are directed at me.

(warning - don't follow me on twitter unless you are prepared for a *lot* of tweets, and some amount of cursing. I'm not near as polite as I am here, and I rant a lot. that said - I'm at http://www.twitter.com/netmeg of course)

On WMW there's a lot of discussion these days about whether Twitter can replace Google as search engine. It definitely is an interesting discussion; I don't think it's too likely to actually *replace* Google. I've seen it referred to as a 'recommendation engine' and I like that term a lot more - you can get instant feedback on everything to parsing out an error message in your software to finding a good Thai restaurant in an unfamiliar city, often times from people you know or trust at least marginally - you can't really get that from Google so much. And it's fast.

Not to mention all the companies that are jumping on board to manage their reputations or offer customer service - I've had friends with Comcast issues who got them solved by @comcastcares, and I myself had a problem with a $160 rebate for Quickbooks that got refused - I bitched about it on Twitter and within half an hour a rep from Intuit (who was not previously following me) sent me a message asking if she could help. She found me through twitter's search, and before my problem had a chance to spread too far, she got in touch. I got my rebate.

Not to mention I have at least six Google employees following me now (two 'officially' and four under the table) so when I have an Adwords or AdSense or other Google problem, all I gotta do is start yelling about it on twitter and the messages and emails start coming in. Yahoo and MSN are on now too.

Twitter is definitely on Google's radar though; Google wants to be the one collecting and organizing ALL information, and think how much information is going through Twitter that Google doesn't have its sweaty paws on? And it's growing like crazy. From what I've read, Twitter had 500,000 users in January of 2008, and six million users in January of 2009.

 

[doggyowner]

twitter is on everyone's lips in the seo community, there is an interesting article on the google vs twitter here, http://www.searchenginepeople.com/blog/the-changing-face-of-search-is-google-losing-its-grip.html

Not to mention all the companies that are jumping on board to manage their reputations or offer customer service - I've had friends with Comcast issues who got them solved by @comcastcares, and I myself had a problem with a $160 rebate for Quickbooks that got refused - I bitched about it on Twitter and within half an hour a rep from Intuit (who was not previously following me) sent me a message asking if she could help. She found me through twitter's search, and before my problem had a chance to spread too far, she got in touch. I got my rebate.

This is growing and growing, I'm in seo for a media agency, our clients are mainly b2b but online reputation nowadays has a big chunk of overall search campaigns.

 

[Seabass]

Wow.....thanks for the great explanation NetMeg.

This sounds like it will at the very least take a bite out of G, Y, MSN, direct navigation, and even many established sites.

.

twitter is on everyone's lips in the seo community, there is an interesting article on the google vs twitter here, http://www.searchenginepeople.com/blog/the-changing-face-of-search-is-google-losing-its-grip.html


This is growing and growing, I'm in seo for a media agency, our clients are mainly b2b but online reputation nowadays has a big chunk of overall search campaigns.

Good article there doggyowner. Some posters there make is sound kind of like it complements Google....not so much displaces it. So that flows with what netmeg is also saying. However it can do things G and Y can't so I guess we'll see here in the coming months.
.

 

[iowadawg]

I just now saw the two articles you posted. Both explain a lot and are telling about where we are all headed.

I just signed up for Twitter to see what all the rage is about in regards to search on Twitter.

I see how you can follow "friends", but where is the search? Is it your friend network that answers all your searches/questions?
.

Twitter search is now on all pages.
See it at the top right.

 

[Kenny]

Great thread. Thanks to all the posters for their insights.

Cy

 

[copper]

I agree with "doggyowner".
Before, people just type in "cars".
Now, you'll see people typing in "2005 used Yukon Denali in Charlotte, NC"

 

[Seabass]

Or how about just Football.com. It's too broad these days. Nobody just likes Football....they like a team, or a player, etc.....

Niche surfers are the future then.
.

 

[Allenz]

Hi,
Interesting !
Also thanks for the links...........

 

[alien51]

That's how I do my Search too, something like asking a question to HAL. In Google, I type queries like: "How can I get rid of termites?". But if you just type "termites", your search results will return infos about the insect, rather than specific answers on how to solve your problem.

And I think almost everyone by now knows that if you simply search using just a single keyword, you are bound to spend more painful time trying to drill down and sort through all the vague search results that come up.

People have wisened up to:

1) Enter complex search queries so you can get a more accurate search results in one blow (and will save you a great a lot of time)

2) Or just go to well known and established website portals, and search there instead. For example, if you are looking for a cheap laptop, just go to CNET.COM and you will even get expert reviews. If you just type "cheap laptop" on Google, you are just going to get tons of merchant stores with less product reviews.

Once a person realizes what "search habit" works best, he will stick to that procedure. And the old dinosaur ways of "searching" the internet will fade through time.