Three tools to analyse Google searches: Correlate, Trends and Insights

Google has three useful tools for journalists interested in looking at search trends over time, which also offer hours of fun for SEO enthusiasts. Google Correlate has been added to the list of analysis options within the past month, joining Insights and Trends which have been around for about three years.

Here is a brief introduction to each:

1. Google Trends works by you entering up to five search words and the results show how often those words have been searched for in Google over time. Google Trends also shows how frequently those search words have appeared in Google News stories, and in which geographic regions people have searched for them most.

For example, if you enter ‘Apple’ and ‘Windows’ you will see that ‘Windows’ is a far more popular search word, but when it comes to news, Apple appears in far more Google News stories. Evidence that journalists favour Apple stories than Windows ones, perhaps? Or do ‘Windows’ searches include vast numbers of people looking for double glazing?

Not only does Trends show you key events – such as the launch of the iPad – on the search volume time line, it also shows the volume of searches by country.

There is also a feature called Google Hot Trends which shows current searches and therefore hot topics.

2. Google Correlate, launched by Google Labs at the end of last month, is like Google Trends in reverse.

Correlate enables you to find queries with a similar pattern. You can upload your own data, enter a search query or select a time frame and get back a list of queries that follows a similar pattern to your search. You can also download the search results as a CSV file.

For example, if you enter the term ‘bikini’, Google Correlate will tell you a search term it closely correlates with is ‘caravan’, another being ‘Oakley sunglasses’. All are seasonal, so it is perhaps not that surprising those three searches correlate.

The inspiration behind Correlate was search patterns for flu (such as sore throat) correlating with peaks in actual flu activity. This comic book explanation tells the story brilliantly.

Another way of getting to grips with Correlate is having a go with this nifty drawing option. Simply drag and drop the pen and find out what searches match the time pattern you have drawn.

Be aware that Google Correlate uses US search data only, so it may be less useful to UK journalists. The New Scientist tested it out and it passed the magazine’s severe weather test and Google used it to track dengue fever hubs, the BBC reported.

3. Google Insights is one step up from Trends in terms of being able to provide a more detailed search. Results can be easily embedded in news stories.

One of the many useful things about Insights is it can be used to determine seasonality. For example, a ski resort may want to find out when people search for ski-related terms most often.

To see the potential of Insights look at example search comparisons, such as this one for Venus Williams and Serena Williams.

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BECTU members at the BBC accept 2% pay offer

Members of broadcast network BECTU at the BBC have voted to accept a 2 per cent pay increase.

Two thirds of union members balloted voted in favour of accepting the offer, with the ballot closing at 12pm today.

The ballot result applies to BECTU members employed by BBC and by Studios and Post Production Ltd.

The BBC made the offer during talks with the union at the end of last month.

BECTU statement at this link.

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New Scientist leads print categories for ABSW science journalism award

The New Scientist leads the shortlist for this year’s Association of Science Writers’ Awards.

The awards, organised by the Association of British Science Writers, are divided into four categories: Best news item; best feature, best scripted/edited television programme or online video; best investigative journalism, and best newcomer.

The ABSW has also added a new radio or podcast prize this year, sponsored by the Royal Society.

New Scientist holds two out of the three nominations in both the news and feature categories. Freelancer Shaoni Bhattacharya is nominated for ‘Tracking the Rhino Killers’ and New Scientist staff reporter Jessica Hamzelou is nominated for ‘Too Young to Know Better’. They will compete against the Independent’s science editor Steve Connor, who is nominated for ‘Fabricated Quote Used to Discredit Climate Scientist’.

Bhattacharya is also nominated in the feature category for ‘Murder in the Bat Cave’, published in New Scientist. She will go up against the magazine’s Brussels correspondent Debora McKenzie, nominated for ‘Living in Denial: Why sensible people reject the truth’, and David Adam for ‘The Hottest Year’, published in Nature magazine.

Another New Scientist reporter, Linda Geddes is nominated in the investigative category for ‘Between Prison and Freedom’, and the magazine’s careers editor Jessica Griggs is nominated for best newcomer.

Geddes will compete for the investigative prize against a team entry from freelancer Philip Carter and British Medical Journal assistant editor Deborah Cohen, and freelancer Fred Pearce for a climate change article in the Guardian.

See the full shortlist at this link.

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Krishnan Guru-Murthy on those awkward interview moments

Channel 4 News presenter Krishnan Guru-Murthy has an good post up on those awkward questions that tend to come toward the end of an interview, like asking Brown about bullying, Trump about toupées, or Pryce about penalty points.

Somehow the slightly awkward ones often fall on my days in the chair – those interviews about one thing with somebody currently famous for another, when colleagues say “obviously you’re going to ask about the sex change” as I walk into the studio when we are really supposed to be talking about credit default swaps.

Read the full post at this link.

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Flurry: Mobile app use overtakes web browsing in US

People in the US are spending more time using apps on smartphones than browsing the internet on a desktop computer or mobile, with the average user spending 81 minutes per day using apps compared with 74 minutes per day web browsing, a new study has found.

Out of the average one hour and 21 minutes per day consumers are spending using mobile apps this month, 47 per cent of time is spent on games apps, 32 per cent using social media apps, and 9 per cent using news apps, which comes in ahead of the use of entertainment apps standing at 7 per cent.

Flurry, an analytics firm which carried out the study, said this is the first time native mobile apps have taken more consumer time than web browsing:

This stat is even more remarkable if you consider that it took less than three years for native mobile apps to achieve this level of usage, driven primarily by the popularity of iOS and Android platforms.

Although these figures are based on app use and browsing in the US, it is worth bearing in mind recent stats on the increasing importance of mobile in the UK and the fact mobile browsing in the UK will overtake desktop browsing by 2013. It is particularly relevant to news sites deciding whether to opt for mobile sites or apps.

The article on Flurry’s blog goes on to say:

This growth [in the use of native mobile apps] has come primarily from more sessions per user, per day rather than a large growth in average session lengths. Time spent on the Internet has grown at a much slower rate.

As a note of interest, Facebook has increasingly taken its share of time spent on the internet, now making up 14 of the 74 minutes spent per day by consumers, or about one sixth of all internet minutes. Considering Facebook’s recent leak regarding Project Spartan, an effort to run apps within its service on top of the mobile Safari browser, thus disintermediating Apple, it appears Facebook seeks to counter both Apple and Google’s increasing control over consumers as mobile app usage proliferates.

With a better understanding of how consumers spend their time across app categories, Facebook’s Project Spartan makes even more sense. As a category, social networking – which is Facebook’s core competency – commands the second largest allocation of consumers’ time. Games, which typify the most popular kind of app played on the Facebook platform itself, are also the top categories on both Android and iOS platforms. As interactive media usage continues to shift from the web to mobile apps, one thing is certain: Facebook, Apple and Google will all expend significant resources to ensure that no one company dominates owning the direct relationship with the consumer.

Flurry’s full blog post is at this link and ReadWriteWeb’s article on the study is at this link.

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And now for the weather, with…

This went up on YouTube a couple of days ago, so it may have already done the rounds a bit.

But for anyone who hasn’t seen it, make sure to stick it out to catch the unexpectedly exuberant weather forecast.

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NUJ: Ray Tindle to meet with Parlimentary representatives over Enfield dispute

The situation at Tindle Newspapers in Enfield, where journalists have already taken industrial action in protest over a lack of staffing, remains tense. A ballot has been returned in favour of further strike action and journalists claim there has been no response from management from their first walk out.

So an announcement today, reported by the campaigning group of National Union of Journalist members on Twitter, that Sir Ray Tindle was to meet with the NUJ Parliamentary group on Tuesday next week, was welcomed by father of the chapel Jonathan Lovett.

There has not been confirmation of the meeting yet from Tindle headquarters, but Lovett told Journalism.co.uk it is a positive step as they decide about action in the near future.

They are meeting and asking him to explain the situation, why he is putting us in this situation and what he is going to do about it … We haven’t had a meeting as such with him so I took it as a positive. I think we can now have a reasonable discussion.

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BBC and CPJ: Mexican journalist, wife and son shot dead

It was widely reported late yesterday that Mexican journalist Miguel Angel Lopez Velasco had been shot dead along with his wife and son after his house was entered by gunmen.

BBC News this morning claimed authorities had not yet determined a motive for the murders which they called a “cowardly” attack.

Mr Lopez Velasco, 55, wrote for the daily newspaper Notiver, where he was also an editor. His columns focussed on crime, drug trafficking and political corruption. In its coverage, Notiver called for a swift and transparent investigation to find those guilty of the three killings.

The Committee to Protect Journalists’ senior program coordinator for the Americas Carlos Lauría said the organisation was “shocked” by the killings and called on the authorities to fully investigate and effectively prosecute those responsible.

The Mexican government must put an end to this endless wave of violence that is eroding the democratic system.

A CPJ report on the killings added that drug-related violence has made Mexico one of the world’s most dangerous countries for the press, with 13 Mexican journalists, including López, killed since the beginning of 2010. According to CPJ’s research at least three of those were known to be in direct reprisal for their work.

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#Tip of the day from Journalism.co.uk – how to use forums effectively

While platforms such as Facebook and Twitter may be two of the first platforms to spring to mind when it comes to social media, David Higgerson considers on his blog the continuing value of forums to journalists as tools for socialising with the public. He offers ten tips for how to use these platforms, from ways to find the most relevant ones based on keywords/topics and how to interact on them to how to monitor activities. Tipster: Rachel McAthy.

If you have a tip you would like to submit to us at Journalism.co.uk email us using this link – we will pay a fiver for the best ones published.

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#followjourn: @stuartmillar159 – Stuart Millar /journalist

Who? Stuart Millar

Where? Stuart is currently news editor of Guardian.co.uk and will be deputy editor of the Guardian’s US operation.

Twitter? @stuartmillar159

Just as we like to supply you with fresh and innovative tips every day, we’re recommending journalists to follow online too. They might be from any sector of the industry: please send suggestions (you can nominate yourself) to sarah.booker at journalism.co.uk; or to @journalismnews.

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