Google Inc. (Nasdaq: GOOG) yesterday launched a new forecasting feature for its Google Insights for Search, a new feature that can extrapolate a search term's future popularity based on its past performance. For example, a user can obtain trend data on a particular subject in order to make projections.
Insights for Search, launched a year ago, provides cross-referencing of searches by geography, time, subject, and other properties.
Google developed the Insights for Search tool at its Israeli R&D center, Google Israel Ltd. Yet Hebrew is not yet included in the 38 languages of the service. Google Israel managing director Prof. Yossi Matias told "Globes" that the company was working on a Hebrew version of Insights for Search, but that "it's impossible to know how long it will take".
Since the forecasting tool of Insights for Search extrapolates from past or cyclical trends, it cannot be used to predict something completely new, such as the meteoric success of Twitter. The new tool also includes an animated map that enables users to see dynamic changes in specific geographic regions over time. Google allows website owners to integrate comparative scenarios generated by the feature on their websites.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on August 18, 2009
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