14 DAY TRIAL // Google has amassed a huge collection of data through its search engine and its biggest problem is actually trying to make sense of it beyond just the blunt search page results. Structured data is becoming a bigger focus for online search and while Google already has several offerings in the area, the latest tool to come from the Mountain View-based company may just be the most interesting, if not the most thorough. Called Google Internet Stats, it trawls studies and reports on several industries topics and brings up little fact-filled nuggets of information.
The site was launched with little fanfare, no official announcement whatsoever, and, what's even odder, is that it's just a UK offering hosted at google.co.uk even though the data is mostly global. Of course, this can be easily explained after you start using the resource, which is rather lacking in data.
“This Google resource brings together the latest industry facts and insights together in one place. These have been collected from a number of third party vendors covering a range of topics from macroscopic economic and media trends to how consumer behavior and technology are changing over time,” the site reads.
The site is simple enough, in true Google fashion and the data is structured in five main categories, Technology, Consumer Trends, Macro Economic Trends, Media Landscape and Media Consumption, each with several subcategories. Clicking on one of the topics will reveal all sorts of interesting data gathered from the sources listed in the lower part of the site.
Of course, the real interesting part is actually searching for a topic, this is Google after all, but this is where it gets disappointing. Searching for the ever-popular Twitter or Facebook will reveal just one piece of info on any of them so this isn't really a comprehensive tool. But it does show where Google could go with this and, while Google Internet Stats is more of tech-demo, if the company were to develop it into an actual product, it could prove a very, very useful resource.