Man in a Shed: Google trends and Iran

Monday, May 15, 2006

Google trends and Iran

I have an interest in dynamic simulation and have just discovered Google Trends - so thought I'd see how things are: Results below:

Now there are legitimate reasons for Iran to have a large amount of searching here - they have a large petrochemical and oil and gas industry after all ( but lots of other people who do don't appear ). Also perhaps internet access in Iran is very high ? ( I think the Korea term refers to the South not the North. )

So I tried again with Uranium Enrichment and got the following:

If you look at the Cities here you see Washinton is second in the search list - not hard to guess whats going on there.

Worried - I am ... ( I have to admit I am not an expert on Google Trends and perhaps I've made a mistake in any interpretation of the data. And of course it could all be for peaceful purposes ! You just have to be rather touchingly trusting to think so. OK it could be the CIA/NSA/etc doing some discrediting here - I will never know.)

3 comments:

Anonymous said...: This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.; 11:23 pm
Anonymous said...: Haha! I found this:

http://www.google.com/trends?q=%22google+trends%22&ctab=0&geo=all&date=all

I think it's response to your post, and is pretty insane.; 11:24 pm
Man in a Shed said...: Thanks Josh - however I suspect thats when the Google trends tool was made available (think I read about it in a PC magazine around that time ).

Since the search data it mines is over a longer history the start of the trend data doesn't mean the start of the tool being used - I think...

But again Iran comes out top - they are eager beavers at work on something.

By the way the dynamic simulation searches may link to efforts to get the centrifuges all working together.; 11:52 pm

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