New version of Google Trends released
Google has released a new version of its useful "Google Trends" tool; you can see it here. The new version now allows users to search for individual sites as well as search terms. The tool also displays related data for the URL's entered: "Regions", "Also visited" and "Also searched for".The "Regions" section displays data showing what are the top 10 countries (in terms of traffic) for the domain being researched; the "Also visited" area gives a sample of the top 10 sites that people also search for that search for the chosen site; "Also searched for" covers phrases that people who searched for the chosen phrases also searched for.
You can compare up to 5 domains at once, and you can only see the (estimated) traffic data for each site when you are signed in (that'll be Google tempting you in so it can snare you data again, then)
"Where do they get their data?" I hear you ask. Well, Search Engine Land, who claims to have contacts at Google, stated that Google "...bases its data off Google search data, aggregated opt-in anonymous Google Analytics data, opt-in consumer panel data, and other third-party market research." If this is right, it proves something we suspected for a long time - that Google is using Google Analytics data for other projects.
Claims will undoubtedly be made that Google is getting to powerful and far reaching; ultimately the powers that be are the only ones that can decide that (this has already started to happen with the US government questioning the monoploy laws possibly broken by Google's purchase of ad company DoubleClick.)
Despite fears over Google's power, it doesn't take away from what is a useful internet marketer's tool. Check it out.
