Google tool bar question......

Discussion in 'Google' started by joewills, Feb 28, 2006.

  1. #1
    If you type keywords into the google toolbar it displays the number of searches that users have done for the specified keywords as you type them in.

    Is this number since the last update of google, in the last 12 months, last year to year or ever since google has existed (or started recording) the stats.


    A bit of a random question, but would be very useful to me if anyone knows....

    p.s. how reliable are these stats?

    Thanks,

    Joe
     
    joewills, Feb 28, 2006 IP
  2. Thomas Holmes

    Thomas Holmes Peon

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    #2
    Joe,

    I'm not near my usual computer today so i dont have my toolbar. I did think however that the number google returned was the number of search results not the number of searches.

    Thomas
     
    Thomas Holmes, Feb 28, 2006 IP
  3. FireStorM

    FireStorM Well-Known Member

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    #3
    i did not know Google toolbar does this also . new for me :)
     
    FireStorM, Feb 28, 2006 IP
  4. joewills

    joewills Peon

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    #4
    I am pretty sure it is not the number of results that it retrieves - I can see why you would think that. But if you check it out, it does no add up!!!!

    Have a go.....!

    I have only noticed that google toolbar offers this in the last month. It only works with google toolbar, rather than on the google web page - something for the techys I guess
     
    joewills, Feb 28, 2006 IP
  5. digital1

    digital1 Well-Known Member

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    #5
    Hehe, this is news to me also. :)
     
    digital1, Feb 28, 2006 IP
  6. simons1321

    simons1321 Peon

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    #6
    What joewillis is talking about takes place on the firefox version of the google toolbar. The numbers don't show up on the IE version. But i know exactly what you're talking about, Joewillis.

    If you do a search for say hawaiian vacations in the toolbar, it will show "986,000 results," but the actual search results shows 3,370,000.

    So i think what joewillis is asking is what is the 986,000 results in the firefox google toolbar referring to since it doesnt match the total results on a google search page?
     
    simons1321, Feb 28, 2006 IP
  7. joewills

    joewills Peon

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    #7
    Cheers simons1321,

    Hit the nail on the head........

    Anyone?
     
    joewills, Feb 28, 2006 IP
  8. SaN-DeeP

    SaN-DeeP Well-Known Member

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    #8
    would appreciate an answer myself. :)
     
    SaN-DeeP, Feb 28, 2006 IP
  9. chachi

    chachi The other Jason

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    #9
    I don't know about the G toolbar as I have not had it installed for some time now. But, the number G throws up on SERPs is simply an *estimate* of the number of documents that they think match your query. Most of the time their number is pretty much over-inflated. Possible that the FF Toolbar number uses a "better" estimate of the number of documents that might match the query. But, that is a guess.
     
    chachi, Feb 28, 2006 IP
  10. SumitBahl

    SumitBahl Reign of Chaos

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    #10
    I think what discussed here is googles suggest tool, irrespective of whether you are using IE or firefox, you can see it here.

    Googles algorithms use a wide range of information to predict the queries users are most likely to want to see. For example, Google Suggest uses data about the overall popularity of various searches to help rank the refinements it offers. An example of this type of popularity information can be found in the Google Zeitgeist.

    Here is some research that was doneon this suggest tool:

    When you begin typing text, the Google Suggest search field says
    _"results"_, not queries. That could be a typing mistake, and if it is,
    then it should be "queries" if Google Suggest tells how many search
    _queries_ people have made with Google.

    This is what the Google Suggest FAQ says:


    "Google Suggest uses data about the overall popularity of various
    searches to help rank the refinements it offers. An example of this
    type of popularity information can be found in the Google Zeitgeist."
    http://labs.google.com/suggest/faq.html#q2


    Google Zeitgeist says about "Top Company Queries 2004":


    http://www.google.com/press/zeitgeist2004.html


    1. sco
    2. johnson & johnson
    3. ing
    4. ge aircraft engines
    5. fleet


    That is the overall number for the whole year 2004, but let's see what
    the results are at the moment for web _documents_ Google finds from the
    internet:


    sco: 4,740,000 results with Google Web Search
    johnson & johnson: 62,000,000 results with Google Web Search
    ing: 23,200,000 results with Google Web Search
    ge aircraft engines: 223,000 results with Google Web Search
    fleet: 15,800,000 results with Google Web Search


    The order in Google Web Search "results" is really different with the
    "results" mentioned with Google Zeitgeist, because according to those
    above Google Web Search results, the order is: 1. johnson & johnson, 2.
    ing, 3. fleet, 4. sco, and 5. ge aircraft engines.


    Now let's see what Google Suggest tells about those same terms at this
    moment:


    sco: ??? results with Google Suggest
    johnson & johnson: 14,400,000 results with Google Suggest
    ing: 48,900,000 results with Google Suggest
    ge aircraft engines: 353,000 results with Google Suggest
    fleet: 14,200,000 results with Google Suggest


    Here are the same terms with the Overture Keyword Selector Tool, which
    tells at the moment how many times a term was searched on December
    2004:


    http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion/


    sco: 5,301 results with Overture
    johnson johnson: 46,536 results with Overture
    ing: 60,281 results with Overture
    ge aircraft engines: 536 results with Overture
    fleet: 100,088 results with Overture


    Now, the order is: 1. fleet, 2. ing, 3. johnson johnson, 4. sco, 4. ge
    aircraft engines.


    The question arises: how close the actual real search _"queries"_ made
    by people using Google Web Search correspond with search "results" i.e.
    _documents_ in the Google Web Search _database_?
     
    SumitBahl, Mar 1, 2006 IP
  11. rehash

    rehash Well-Known Member

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    #11
    is there any google API to get those numbers ? or toolbar is the only way?
     
    rehash, Mar 1, 2006 IP
  12. SumitBahl

    SumitBahl Reign of Chaos

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    #12
    JavaScript is used to rapidly query the server and update the page for each keystroke that the user types.
     
    SumitBahl, Mar 1, 2006 IP
  13. grrajeshkumar

    grrajeshkumar Peon

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    #13
    Yes, Google relies on its own database of queries that people have used till date and then write special programs to display top 10 keywords that an user may be searching for. This is more like a dictionary tool you will find in MS Word and other word processing documents.

    I am sure this is one of an interesting service of Google.

    grrajeshkumar.com
     
    grrajeshkumar, Mar 1, 2006 IP