TagTrends (Google Hot Trends Tool) Back Online

TagTrends is back online. Read Top Google Searches Tool for the details. (That post is on my search engine marketing blog, where I post on a more regular basis.)

Iowa Straw Poll Results

I've taken TagTrends offline while I work on some issues. In the meantime, I'm going directly to Google Trends to see what searches currently have spikes in volume. Right now, iowa straw poll results is hot:



If I were managing online advertising for one of the candidates, I'd be using Google Trends data to figure out which keywords to buy via Google AdWords. Check out the post on my search engine marketing blog where I ran an advertising experiment doing just that. Also, I've seen some interesting comments on that blog to the question:

Which Presidential Candidate is Most Qualified for the Job?

I'll be curious to see how Ron Paul fairs in the Iowa Straw Poll. Will he give Mitt Romney a run for his money (pun intended) or is his campaign somehow isolated to the Internet?

Tags (build your own blog tags w/ TagBuildr or TagMuse): iowa straw poll, ron paul, mitt romney, google trends

Doemitz Ferrari via TagTrends

I've seen some strange traffic to my site lately, due to TagTrends. For example, I just noticed hits from a Google search for Doemitz Ferrari. Here's a current snapshot of that search:



Turns out to be a rather odd story. Reuters has this headline: Nude blonde, gold stilettos and a Ferrari. That story begins:

BERLIN (Reuters) - A mysterious blonde paid a visit to a petrol station shop in the small eastern German town of Doemitz on Sunday -- wearing nothing but a pair of golden stilettos and a thin gold bracelet.

At the end of the story, they mention "A quick-witted customer did, however, snap pictures of the woman believed to be about 30 years old as she walked back to a waiting Ferrari and climbed into the passenger seat."



Ok. See the tags for yourself...

Tags (byo w/ TagBuildr or TagTrends): doemitz ferrari, golden stilettos, doemitz blonde

YouTube Debate after CNN Debate Coverage

After catching some of the CNN coverage of the Democratic Presidential Debate, it's interesting to see the CNN YouTube Debates site. Judging by the top searches I'm currently seeing on TagTrends, it looks like there's quite a bit of interest in the debate. That's cool. Here are some of the top search trends: youtube debate, democratic debate, cnn debate, presidential debate, cnn youtube, utube debate.

See for yourself on the YouTube debate site.

TagTrends: NYC MTA Subway Blackout

Hmm, I think something happened in New York City today. ;-)



Follow the tags to keep up with the news: ny1, mta nyc, ny 1, nyc news, nyc transit, mta info, mta subway, nyc blackout, ny1 news, ny one, nyc subway, mta.com, mta.info, ny1.com, metro north, mta transit, wnbc, con ed, con edison, wcbs, 1010 news, metronorth, www.mta.info, mta news

[TagTrends data from Google Trends]

WiTricity - Wireless Electricity

Checking TagTrends (Google Hot Trends and Technorati Tags mashup) today, I came across a new word: witricity. If you're playing a game of TagMan, keep in mind that tags are often new words like this.

Turns out that the witricity tag refers to WiTricity, wireless electricity announced at MIT (my alma mater) today:

MIT team experimentally demonstrates wireless power transfer, potentially useful for powering laptops, cell phones without cords [read full story on MIT site...]

Apogee Tags (made w/ TagBuildr): witricity, wireless, electricity, mit

Google Hot Trends Crossword Clues Clutter

Maybe it's just because I'm looking at Google Hot Trends on a Sunday, but it seems useless because it's cluttered with crossword clues. Google did specifically mention crossword puzzle clues when they announced Google Hot Trends (emphasis mine):

And today we're introducing a new toy we are calling Hot Trends. It's a new feature of Google Trends for sharing the the hottest current searches with you in very close to real time. What's on our collective mind as we search for information? What's interesting to people right now? Hot Trends will tell you. At a glance, you'll see the huge variety of topics capturing our attention, from current events to daily crossword puzzle clues to the latest celebrity gossip. Hot Trends is updated throughout the day, so check back often.

The TagMuse Technorati mashup I created a few months ago is pretty useful for generating ideas for blog topics. It pulls data from Technorati popular searches and Technorati tags. When I heard about Google Hot Trends, I thought I could use this data for blog ideas, too. I'm experimenting with a new mashup called TagTrends. It looks at the top 100 hot searches from Google Hot Trends and filters it down to only those single and double keyword phrases (since most tags are one or two words). It then compares these searches to the Technorati tags page. As with TagMuse, the idea is to find keywords people are searching for but other bloggers haven't already written about extensively. However, with the crossword clues clutter, I'm not sure if TagTrends is going to be as useful as TagMuse. Let's compare the top 7 tag results from both tools for today:


1. youtube
2. ron paul
3. myspace
4. frank rich
5. naruto
6. orkut
7. friendster


1. patty schnyder
2. nutritionist davis
3. lutrine
4. faux gold
5. perry caravello
6. japanese porcelain
7. flivver

The TagTrends data (from Google Hot Trends) seems like nonsense. Maybe it'll be better during the week. BTW, here's why I think the problem stems from crossword clues clutter. Consider the hot trends page for nutritionist davis:



Note the nonsensical "Related searches" data and that the "Location" is skewed to New York, NY. I suspect those related searches are people searching for crossword puzzle clues from the Sunday editions of newspapers like the New York Times and New York Post. Unless I can find a way to filter these kinds of searches out of the TagTrends data, I'm not sure this new mashup is going to be very useful. Guess I'll stick to the Technorati data and TagMuse. Then again, maybe TagTrends will be more useful on a weekday.

Tags (made w/ TagBuildr): google hot trends, crossword clues, technorati tags, mashup

TagMan on Squidoo

Found an interesting lens on Squidoo about iframes. I've added the Flickr version of TagMan to the Squidoo lens for TagMan in an iframe. Let me know if it doesn't look right in your browser. That same lensmaster has also written about unimproved lenses. Haven't heard that term before. He indicates that you need at least 4 modules in addition to the introduction. Seems kind of arbitrary. I know my lenses tend to be pretty short. You can't judge quality by quantity.

Ok, ignore the rest of this post. I'm going to use it as a reminder to myself as to which Squidoo lenses I need to "improve" due to a low quantity of modules. Enjoy a game of TagMan.

Note to self - lenses that are done and their module count:

6 Pixel Ads
4 TagMan
3 Maine Gifts (needs more modules?)
5 Tweaker for Google AdWords
4 Trail Mix
5 Ted Leonsis SEO Contest (delete this one?)
4 Search Engine Advertising Tips

Works in progress:

3 Technorati Tags
3 Search Engine Marketing Firm
3 Domain Name Reputation Management
3 PPC Distribution Fraud

Placeholders with zero modules:

Wild Blueberries
Sympathy Flowers
Funeral Flowers
Send Flowers

Yikes! I hope I'm not addicted to Squidoo. Geez.

Tags (made w/ TagBuildr): squidoo lens, iframes, flickr game, unimproved lenses

Web 2.0 Event Tags

Looking at the TagMuse results this morning, I noticed that a handful of searches pertain to web 2.0 events. They are:

1. zenacamp - BarCamp Event in Italy
2. mix07 - Microsoft Event in Las Vegas
3. mit5 - Media in Transition Event at MIT

Tags are a very useful tool for tracking these kinds of events. By following the primary tag for a given event across multiple web 2.0 sites (Flickr, del.icio.us, Technorati, etc) you catch multiple perspectives of the event.

I should also point out that when you're playing a game of TagMan, you might need to guess numbers as well as letters. ;-)

Tags (made w/ TagBuildr): web 2.0, flickr, del.icio.us, technorati, tags, microsoft, barcamp, mit