Can You Search Me Now?

Having recently re-upped a cell phone contract I was thinking about cell phone competition. Competition for web searches that is.

So I pitted two biggies (one my provider) against each other. In this death match we have Verizon vs. Cingular. And with the recent purchase (and un-branding) of Cingular by AT&T, we threw that in for fun.

The results are easy to see. Verizon is the big talker. Even as the iPhone was hitting shelves (for AT&T), Verizon sees a bump in traffic. Very interesting.

Even going back to early 2004 Cingular makes a good showing, holding its own, but never can reach the level of search time that Verizon receives. Add in the new AT&T branding and the iPhone and you get a slight bounce around the iPhone launch.

Finally I noticed something strange... AT&T has removed the Cingular brand, but it's plain to see that Cingular was stomping AT&T on web search traffic. Hmmm... I didn't like the removal of the Cingular brand in the beginning and I like it less now. Why would you remove a brand that gets more web traffic?

Oh well, I'm sure Verizon's thrilled.

Tight Battle of Radio Alternatives

My wife works in radio and there is lots of chatter about alternatives to traditional radio. One of the biggest competitors in recent years is satellite radio and the two players are of course XM and Sirius.

Each has spent time in the news and each has done deals with different groups for content and unique programming. But let's face it, unless one or the other has something you specifically want to hear, they're mostly the same. Would you expect that to make this a close race?

Boy does it!! Look at those lines. Almost the same across the entire range. Of the death matches we've done to this point, this is the closest I've seen. I'm going to have to call this a draw as I can't see a true winner. I guess when one buys the other, that's all we'll have left to search for and we'll have the champ.

Kids Rule, Flynt Drools

I'm working on a family vacation for this fall to Disney World. Thoughts of Disney dancing in my head. Naturally anything on my mind becomes a potential web search death match.

My opinion? A good death match opponent for Disney would be some anti-Disney. Some organization so opposite that a head-to-head would create some interest. After some thought, Hustler came to mind. Yep, ole Flynt's bastion of porn. I can't think of many orgs that could be that anti-Disney, so it's on like Shere Khan.

Now, before anyone starts crying, I realize this isn't quite a fair fight. But (1) online porn is big and (2) I tried to find in the death match manual where a fight had to be fair. It's not there.

So we have the kids of America roundly spanking the babes of Larry Flynt. I guess the overall win wasn't unexpected, but the gap in traffic is surprising for me. I thought the online porn industry would at least make it a closer race.

Pole Dance

OK, the title is a teaser of sorts. Sorry to disappoint some of you.

What we're about today is the top versus the bottom. Of the world that is. The North Pole vs. the South Pole. It seems the top of the world has the upper hand in this one. Although I'm not completely surprised by this, I did think the environmental aspects, and the penguins marching, might make it closer than it is.

What we find is a flat line for the south pole and a higher, and spikey, line for the north pole. And big shocker here - the spikes are at the end of the year. Right around the time Santa is getting geared up for the late night toy run.

If anyone wants to setup a Santa blog and skim some of this end-of-year search traffic, be my guest. Just mention you got the idea from right here.

New Media Battle: Monitor vs. TV

Working on a fun project at work gave me an idea... I know YouTube is hot, but how hot compared to the traditional video outlets we've had for decades? You know who I'm talking about... the networks - NBC, ABC, and CBS.

It's obvious from this graph that the people are hungry for an alternative. You can see the beginning of the YT line in the 3rd quarter of 2005. In only six months, it had already overtaken the networks in search traffic. I'm a grizzled Internet veteran and that still shocks me.

Now of course the networks are scrambling to catch up by adding video of their own, but we all know they bow to the power and word-of-mouth virus that YouTube commands. What we're seeing here, in my opinion, is a complete turn in media from a "we'll show you what you want to see" to a "I'll find my own programming, thank you" delivery model.

Will the networks figure it out in time?? That's the big question, but I'm not holding my breath and I'm not buying network stocks either.

Man vs Woman for Superpower Control

Tomorrow I leave for my first trip to Washington D.C. so naturally my thoughts swing toward our beloved public servants who give up their careers and lives and families to serve our best interests. It's either that or think of the constant mudslinging and scandal and bribery and all the other time-honored greed that our nation's capital harbors.

OK, enough of the opinion column. We're about web searching here. And when it comes to politicians, few have the name power of Hillary Clinton. But as any politico knows, Barack Obama is hot on her heels to take the reigns of the Democratic party.

So we go way past the wondering and guessing and go for some facts here. And what we find is interesting. In the searching world, this is an extremely tight race. They trade spikes of interest, but overall this is one the exit polls just can't decide. Could it be we'll have to count chads to get this winner?

One interesting finding is the top line of public web searches have Hillary slightly ahead, but the lower line of news references has Barack slightly ahead. With everyone questioning the media these days, are they trying to make this more of a race? With one as tight as this, anything to make it more interesting is fine by me.

Kicking Butts and Searching Names

Life is good for those who suggest Web Search Death Matches. Why? Because you get thanked here in the blog, that's why. Who could want more? Thanks to Shane and Angel for this great idea. Two names from the 80s that are synonymous with someone putting a boot up your butt. Chuck Norris vs. Rambo.

If only the action flick makers from the decade of greed could have given us this one. Now we have to turn to the web searches for this dreamy matchup.

As you can see, this is quite the battle. Just as you would imagine, neither gives up an inch until late 2005 when Chuck Norris gives Rambo a solid roundhouse kick and takes a commanding lead. Never accepting defeat, Rambo comes back and retakes ground even taking a slight lead in mid-2007.

We end this tight race with Chuck Norris slightly ahead. But with a new Rambo movie on the horizon I wouldn't count John J. Rambo out of the fight just yet.