Google one ups Twitter with Trends in Search Results

Today sees Google launch a new feature that will highlight the latest search trends along side your search results.

Google has, for some time, devoted a section of its site called Hot Trends to the fastest rising searches on the web in the last hour. Today however , Google will integrate the feature deeper into its core product, search, with an area called the Hot Trends OneBox.

When you search for an item that is featured on the list of top 100 searches in the last hour, Google will show you a graph at the bottom of page, with more information — like how popular the query is, how fast it’s rising over time, and other useful data.

“The idea behind the [Hot Trends] OneBox is to not only provide you with search results as you’d want but also extra meta data on how popular the search is and whether it has peaked in interest, plus the number of sites that are creating chatter and buzz about this particular topic or person, to give a relative hotness rating as well” RJ Pittman, director of product management for consumer search properties at Google, told Search Engine Land.

Although not intended to replace Twitter Trends, a Twitter feature that shows you what the community is discussing at any given moment, OneBox will provide an alternative and should show what the wider web (people who aren’t on Twitter) are searching for and chatting about.

Sadly, the feature is only currently available in the U.S. AND Japan.