SPORTS Football stadiums will be packed this weekend for the kickoff of the college season. But many of the student sections are likely to have empty seats, a sign of soaring ticket prices, more lopsided games, fewer match-ups against longtime rivals, and the proliferation of televised games that make it easier than ever for students to keep tailgating long after kickoff. (Wall Street Journal) Is … Continue reading Missing from College Stadiums: Students
Well it may not be America’s favorite pastime, but, seriously, who does not watch the Superbowl? Sunday night I gathered with a crowd of fellow football-watchers to consume large amounts of food, laugh at the commercials, and cheer loudly for our team choices. In our particular group we had a three-way split between die-hard Steelers fans, Cheese-head enthusiasts, and the indifferent viewers who mostly came to enjoy halftime entertainment, mock incoherent attempts to promote various products and services, and socialize. For those of you who are wondering what is up with these strange names, the term Packers is derived from the business that originally sponsored the Green Bay team, the Indian Packing Company. Later the company was renamed the Acme Packing Company, but the name Packers has stuck since the team’s formation in 1919. The name Steelers, of course, refers to Pittsburgh’s historical reliance on the steel industry. Sadly, for all of my Terrible Towel waving, the men of steel were no match for the men in green and gold from “America’s Dairyland”.
Check out this World Cup data from Google Insights for Search:
We’ve done a bit with Google Insights in the past. For those who aren’t familiar or need a refresher, Google Insights–a more sophisticated version of Google Trends–enables comparisons of search volume patterns across specific regions, categories, and time frames. Here’s a quick two minute video overview of the tool.
Most Popular World Cup Countries
According to Google, these countries have logged the most* searches for the term “World Cup” in the past 30 days (*as a percentage of total Google searches from that country):
1. Botswana
2. Bangladesh
3. Nepal
4. Zimbabwe
5. Uganda
6. South Africa
7. Kenya
8. Ghana
9. Trinidad & Tobago
10. Tanzania
It’s pretty amazing to me that fully 7 of the top 10 countries are in Africa. Talk about continental football fever! Note that the United States is not on the list. Nor is the United Kingdom, or any other European nation. I guess people with internet access from those countries are searching for a lot of terms other than the World Cup.
Continue reading “Exploring World Cup Geography with Google Insights”
