Accuracy of Google Zeitgeist

[ewc21]

I seldom go to this page because I felt less need for it. (Especially since the most popular keyword searches don't have figures attached to it and its seasonal nature, it's quite difficult for me to use such data). But a recent feature at BBC's Click brought me back.

http://www.google.com/press/intl-zeitgeist.html

1. Malaysia is spelt Malasia (I thought there was such a word but no, it was malaise ).

2. Singapore's top search is Viagra? Does this mean people using Google Singapore search are ideal target for Viagra or Cialis spammers?

3. The URL for Singapore data actually is www.google.co.za as you can see (unless they changed it already).

I did report (1) and (2) and got quick replies from Google but I saw no change at the moment of post. (3) has just been reported but hey, do they put someone here to look after Zeitgeist and update it once a month?

[dannysullivan]

Hehe, nice catches. I suspect they just don't really monitor the international/non-US data that much. Also, while these are "popular" queries, they aren't necessarily the most popular. Navigational queries and sex queries are removed. Heck, I find it hard to believe that "national lottery" is the top generic popular query for the UK, to be honest.

Many countries are out this Zeitgeist
>> France, Australia, China, Ireland, The Netherlands, Spain, ...

Do you know why?

[ewc21]

I do not know why but I think all countries that have Google domains deserve some Zeitgeist information. At least we have a little window to peek on the most popular searches as Google don't disclose search numbers.

[Conservative]

Pity there isn't anywhere to get historical stats for the international searches. I'm hoping this is in the pipeline.