Friday, May 20, 2011

Google Search Globe: some observations


Google Search Globe is available here


Google Search Globe  provides daily statistics on which parts of the globe search in which language and in how much volume. I choose to see Search Globe as a great interactive 3D globe which gives insights into which languages are dominant in which parts of the world for online searches.  Quite fun moving the World around. Needs WebGL in your browser.

Some observations on Google Search Globe:


  • India searches only in English on google.com apparently. 
  • Amongst the Indian cities Delhi uses google.com the most, followed by Bombay, Bangalore, Madras, Pune, Hyderabad and then Calcutta.
  • Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, and Kolkotta do not exist
  • Bangkok (??), Jakarta (???) and Istanbul (?????) search more than any Indian city
  • Singapore searches in English and a bit in Chinese, Hong Kong in Chinese mostly.
  • All of South America uses Spanish except Brazil which uses Portuguese. Though West Indies uses Spanish, English and Portuguese.
  • Despite Spanish being the second most spoken language in the USA, all the google.com searches from the USA are in English.
  • A lot of people somewhere on the USA-Canada border near Montana do not use English (but which language do they use? can't be French, too far from France and Quebec)
  • Canada uses English though Quebec uses French (ugh!).
  • Egypt is all about the Nile
  • Most (net-connected google.com-using) Australians live on the East coast.
  • Polynesia searches :)
  • Atlantis still chooses to remain hidden from the rest of the world.
  • One or more of these: population, internet access, preference for google.com are so low in Central Asia and Iran that the region appears almost uninhabited.
  • Surprisingly UAE and Qatar perform a majority of their searches in English (expats perhaps), though predictably Saudi, Yemen, Kuwait and Egypt use Arabic.
  • Sadly, Modern European Languages have completely killed of all Western European regional languages (Basque, Piedmontese, Langue d'Oc etc) in terms of net usage at least.
  • Werewolves and vampires inhabit Transylvania (and Manhattan).
  • North Korea, Tibet, Siberia, Sahara, Congo don't care much for the internet.
  • Both Arctic and Antarctic Penguins happily agree to eschew all things net and Google.
  • Highest search volumes originate from USA, Europe, and South America
  • The filthy human race has spread to almost all parts of the planet Earth.
  • I have much to travel.

More info on Google Search Globe here

I really like WebGL, it is a beautiful way to interact with 3D content through one's browser, without the need to install any softwares other than a decent browser. One can explore the human anatomy, the World' geography, play 3D games, interpret 3D data and what not. Some more wonderful WebGL applications by Google are available here