Google Insights: first spark of iPhone hype in September 2005

Written on 6th August 2008                                                                                                              COMMENT
Ernst-Jan Pfauth, editor in chief

Google has launched a new tool that helps to gain insight in search terms, called – not surprisingly – Google Insights for Search. Google’s Trevor Claiborne wrote earlier today that the product was designed with the advertiser in mind:

It provides more flexibility and functionality for advertisers and marketers to understand search behavior, and adds some cool new features like a world heat map to graphically display search volume and regional interest.

Even though the service is aimed at people who have devoted their life to marketing, it doesn’t mean a blogger can’t play around with it as well. I thought of a nice search term, and – again not surprisingly, came up with the iPhone. And not just because an Apple story drives in clicks (somebody accused Om Malik of doing this).

Trinidad and Tobago and Hong Kong: iPhone countries

So here are some surprising facts:

• The first time a fair amount of people searched for the shiny object was in September 2005. Were that some iPhone visionaries? Or a secret Apple team looking for similarities?
• People from Hong Kong and Trinidad and Tobago hardly search for anything else but the iPhone.
• Lebanese iPhone fanboys rather have an iPhone for free