Things I’ve Learned from Google Trends

So hopefully by now we all know that Google keeps a search history, and it’s possible for to access your own personal search history if you have a Google account. It’s occaisionally useful to be able to find what you searched for in the past, but mostly it’s useful to help fine-tune personalize your search results.

For example, my own geek-oriented searches tend to cause Google to promote computer-related hits in the results it returns for me.

This morning, Google added a trends feature to your search history. You can see a list of your top searches and top sites, as well as your monthly, daily, and hourly search activity. It’s like your own personal zeitgeist.

As one whose computer use coincides greatly with his work, my personalized search trends offer a glimpse into my work habits. Here’s what I’ve learned about myself:

• I don’t work on weekends. I make four to five times as many searches on any given weekday than I do on either Saturday or Sunday.
• During the week, I work the most on Monday and Friday. Surprisingly, Thursday is my least busy day.
• I sleep between the hours of 1:00 and 8:00. I am never awake between 5:00 and 7:00.
• I take a late lunch. My searches drop off dramatically between 13:00 and 14:00. My peak hours are 11:00 and 15:00.
• I am an ego-maniac, bordering on narcissism. My #2 all-time search is for “brian vargas”.