Googling the present

Abstract

Google Trends data provides weekly reports on the number of search queries made by people in a geographical area and by category. As over three quarters of those who access the Internet regularly are looking for information on goods and services this information may be a useful indicator of economic activity. For example, the volume of queries may relate to future patterns of spending. This article investigates this use of Google Trends data for various search categories, looking at its correlation with official data on retail sales, property transactions, car registrations and foreign trips.