Can you tell a green field from a cold steel rail?

Google Trends is in fashion these days. The tool will slice and dice relative search volumes by city and geographic region. I can’t see anyone mining useful data to make strategic business decisions based on relative volumes, but I do see an endless source of fodder for intellectual debates. These numbers are wide open for interpretation.

Here are my explanations:

People are most interested in you when you have something to give them.

Fame is fleeting.

Don’t eat turkey in Portland or Seattle.

The world is divided on the spelling of aluminum.

Finally, more people search for statistics than they do the truth.