Reading the world’s mind: Political, socioeconomic and cultural approaches to understanding worldwide Internet search queries

Abstract

Through content analysis of Google Zeitgeist’s monthly top 10 lists from countries around the world, this study investigated global Internet search patterns that, in effect, let the public speak for itself rather than answer questions about interests and agendas in a solicited manner. These lists were examined within the context of political differences (free, partially free and not free, determined by the Freedom House Country Ratings), socioeconomic differences (high SES, medium SES and low SES, determined by GDP per capita) and cultural differences (masculine, mixed and feminine, based on Hofstede’s cultural gender index). Statistical differences emerged in the SES and culture categories, while the political category did not yield sufficient data for formal analysis. This new, naturalistic approach to understanding the public stands to increase in relevance and precision as the number of global Internet users and concomitant availability of user data continue to grow.