Fun With Google Trends
Finding Google searches that seem to be in their final death-throes
It’s no secret that people use Google Search for pretty much everything. So, it’s fun to dig around in the Internet’s minutia. Hidden in the nooks and crannies of Google’s data lake are details that no longer garner attention. Check the top Google Trends for January 28, 2022, and you’ll find the top three searches:
- Winter Storm Warning with two million searches
- Pittsburgh bridge collapse with five-hundred thousand searches
- Diego Verdaguer with five-hundred thousand searches.
Still, according to Google Trends, there are some pretty unusual things that people search for. From reading these searches, it’s clear that we all use Google Search in our own unique way. So what are some of the surprising things people search for on Google? Keep reading to find out!
Veg-O-Matic
First introduced in the early 1960s, the Veg-O-Matic was made famous by pitchman Ron Popeil and sold by his company, Ronco®. The Veg-O-Matic was a manually operated kitchen tool used for slicing or dicing vegetables, potatoes, and fruits. Ronco®’s use of wall-to-wall advertising and infomercials proved so effective that the product and its catchphrase, “It slices! It dices!”, became household words.
The Veg-O-Matic became so iconic it spawned a Saturday Night Live comedy sketch by Dan Aykroyd that had him selling a “Super Bass-O-Matic.” The comedian Gallagher created an act using his “Sledge-O-Matic” and Steve Goodman, the folk musician that wrote the famous song, “City of New Orleans,” co-wrote a song titled, “Vegematic.” (Wikipedia)
All of that buzz was more than 50 years ago. Still, die-hard fans of the Veg-O-Matic continue to surf the Internet. Google Trends reports 51 searches for the week of May 16th, 2021. Sadly, searches have continued to trend downward, with only 37 searches for the week of January 2nd, 2022.
Lawn Darts (yard darts)
Lawn darts was marketed as a backyard game where players attempted to toss their lawn darts into a target placed 35 feet away from the players. The darts had metal tips to make the darts stick into the ground. This game was widely sold and became immensely popular, but it was an accident waiting to happen.
The FDA issued stringent manufacturing rules in 1970. By 1988 lawn darts were banned in America. In 1987, seven-year-old Michelle Snow was killed by a lawn dart when a thrown dart penetrated her skull. In the previous eight years of Michelle’s death, 6,100 Americans had gone to ERs due to lawn dart accidents. The same risk was seen in Canada, with at least 55 serious injuries from lawn darts. In 1989, lawn darts were banned in Canada. (all details from Wikipedia)
Nevertheless, when we look at Google Trends, we see what looks like 32 holiday shoppers seeking lawn darts for presents during the week of December 12, 2021. Wow!
Hula hoops
On a more upbeat, fun product, let’s consider the “evergreen” of recreation equipment, the hula hoop. Though still sold today, this fun device can be traced back to 500 B.C, but we can’t buy those. Also, the Native American Hoop Dance has used hoops for time immemorial and developed the modern hoop dance in the 1930s.
The modern plastic hula hoop, inspired by Australian bamboo hoops, was introduced to the public in 1958 by Wham-O®. This simple toy is still sought after today. However, when we look at Google Trends, we find a concerning trend.
Searches peaked at 100 for the week of February 14, 2021, and slid to a low of 21 for the week of November 21, 2021. However, searches are starting to trend back up to 31 inquiries this week!
Uvula piercing
I won’t comment on this other than we should consider the states where searches were done for uvula (that thing at the back of your mouth) piercings — Texas, California, and Florida. Google Trends doesn’t show any searches on this topic in any other states.
Searches peaked at 100 during the week of August 15, 2021, and have continued but declined to 21 for the week of January 9, 2022.
Toad Hop, Indiana
Yes, there is an unincorporated town named Toad Hop. Its current population is estimated at 216. It was a rough place back in the early 1900s.
Toad Hop was a scattering of houses down the hill. It was located hard against Sugar Creek on the east, US 40 on the north, Dresser Road on the west, and a long hill to the south. Of course, like the name Hoosier, there are many thoughts about the origin of area’s name. General consensus is that because it was bounded by Sugar Creek, whenever there was a heavy rain it was inundated by frogs. Thus Toad Hop. — Hop, Skip and Jump to Toad Hop
We have to go back to February 2013 to find 100 searches for Toad Hop, Indiana. The last count was in March 2021, with 63 searches. Due to the size of Toad Hop, my guess is all of these searches were made by the same person.
Conclusion
Google Trends is a tremendous tool for discovering the minutia of the Internet. The search engine giant releases data on what people have been searching for each day back to 2004. It’s interesting to see what people search for and how those trends change over time.
We took a look at some quirky searches. While some things never go out of style (like Hula Hoops), other trends are more surprising (like uvula piercing and Toad Hop, Indiana). If you’re curious about what people have been searching for in your industry or niche, take a look at the Google Trends tool — it can be a great way to get ideas for blog posts, products, or services to offer.
We found some of the most surprising search counts this year in our little corner of the web, but we want to know — what were your favorite quirky findings? Let us know in the comments below!
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