Google Trends

Google has just released Google Trends which allows you to see the relative number of searches for phrases over time and in different areas.

The interface is similar to Google Finance, with less interactivity. The tool doesn't provide exact numbers of searches, but does let you see the popularity of search phrases over time and by geography. You can even put in multiple search terms (separated by commas) and see these same measurements side-by-side for different search phrases.

If you look at the select boxes on the right side of the page, you will find that you can also limit the results by region and time-frame.

It looks like a really interesting tool. In a little bit of experimentation I have found that I often try to look up data for which Google doesn't have enough data to make a graph (or so they tell me).

Overall, it is a pretty nice tool (even if I haven't thought of a practical use for it yet).

Check it out.