August 28, 2008 | Thursday

Google, with these Insights you are really spoiling us!

By Simon Luff - Account Manager in Marketing |News |PPC |Search Engines |Google |Search Expertise |Search Research |Search Technology |SEO

Further to the long awaited update of its keyword tool, Google has responded to pressure from advertisers with the release of Google Insights for Search. Insights augments Google’s suite of products designed to help advertisers intelligently plan their search campaigns.

An advanced adaptation of Google Trends, Insights is a more tuneable version of this established but basic tracking device. It makes data filterable by location, time period and search category, allowing advertisers to view trends in a number of predefined business sectors. Further to this, Insights can also show us what the most popular search terms are by any chosen filter.

Where Insights really comes into its own is its application to the Geographies of search, with a focus on evaluating regional interests. Like Trends, the data is normalised and offers a scaled guide rather than absolute numbers, but nevertheless the search map does an excellent job of displaying which parts of the world are interested, and which are not.

Another useful innovation is the measurement of “rising searches” i.e. “searches that have experienced significant growth in a given time period, with respect to the preceding time period”. This is extremely handy in helping advertisers keep a finger on the pulse in their respective marketplace.

Used in conjunction with the beefed-up Google keyword tool, Insights can help advertisers understand what is hot and what is not when targeting their international campaigns. It also does a great job of helping us identify niche markets and fluctuating interests.

In summary, Google Insights for Search is a useful little number for the international advertiser to hold in his/her back pocket. However, marry up the scaled numbers with actual search volumes, and this tool goes from useful to something very powerful indeed!