# Geographic map of words online? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 4, 2012, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographic-map-of-words-online/633653 "2012-09-04T17:22:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographic-map-of-words-online/633653/1 "2012-09-04T17:22:10Z")
Is there anywhere you can enter a keyword and get a map that shows - geographically - where people are located who use or search on that term? Seems like it would be a great way to track trends, fads and interests - given that websites and search engines often know your location. Is it more complicated than it sounds? ---
**Author:** ![janeslogin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@janeslogin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/janeslogin)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographic-map-of-words-online/633653/2 "2012-09-04T22:31:29Z")
There must be. Try asking someone at languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu. Contributors there do a lot of statistical language research. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographic-map-of-words-online/633653/3 "2012-09-04T22:52:21Z")
[Google Insights for Search](http://www.google.com/insights/search/) lets you enter a keyword and see its popularity across countries. For example, the Straight Dope is [popular in the US, Canada, Australia and UK](http://www.google.com/insights/search/#q=Straight%20Dope&cmpt=q). The Straight Dope Message Board, however, [seems to be a primarily American phenomenon](http://www.google.com/insights/search/#q=Straight%20Dope%20Message%20Board&cmpt=q). And Sri Lanka is apparently the [sex search capital of the world](http://www.google.com/insights/search/#q=sex&cmpt=q). ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2012, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographic-map-of-words-online/633653/4 "2012-09-09T15:00:27Z")
Interesting, but what about breaking out just (North) America? ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2012, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographic-map-of-words-online/633653/5 "2012-09-09T16:47:04Z")
> [@Beware\_of\_Doug](#): > > Interesting, but what about breaking out just (North) America? You can’t do it by continent, but you can select USA and have it broken down by top 10 states. For example, [Alabama, Tennessee, and Mississippi are more interested in the Bible](http://www.google.com/insights/search/#q=bible&geo=US&cmpt=q) than California and Washington. And Dallas is the #1 city for Bible searches – in the _world_. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2012, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographic-map-of-words-online/633653/6 "2012-09-09T19:56:54Z")
Neat! I wonder why Wisconsin and Pennsylvania would be more interested in [big bands](http://www.google.com/insights/search/#cat=0-3&q=%22big%20bands%22&geo=US&cmpt=geo) than anyone anywhere else. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2012, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographic-map-of-words-online/633653/7 "2012-09-09T20:52:44Z")
Great question. Why were you looking up big bands? ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2012, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographic-map-of-words-online/633653/8 "2012-09-09T23:30:39Z")
I’m a hopeless music nerd. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2012, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographic-map-of-words-online/633653/9 "2012-09-09T23:33:35Z")
[Here’s](http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~sstephen/papers/RacialAnimusAndVotingSethStephensDavidowitz.pdf) (pdf) a terrific academic article by Harvard econ doctoral student Seth Stephens-Davidowitz which uses Google Insight data for searches using a particular racial epithet and compares it to voting in 2004 and 2008, within “media markets” of the US (see page 43). The author contends that Google Insight offers a tool especially relevant to subjects which people tend to not be entirely truthful about (e.g., racial prejudice, or sex, or “embarrassing medical conditions”) in traditional surveys.