here are other factors. Honda likely has a more web-savvy audience, for example. But does that matter? The web's audience composition didn't change in the last year - external sources influences this gap consolidation.

Right now, this can only be viewed on a country or world basis. Hopefully Google will move toward DMA-based reporting (or better) and in time periods of

You may have heard recently about Google's new product Trends. I read about it in various blogs and feeds so I checked it out. For the first five seconds I just sort of stared at it. "Ok, this is neat, but so what?" I thought. Then it hit me in a huge way.

Research, or at least campaign measurement, is vital to understanding the successes and shortcomings in any marketing effort. While sales are the ultimate measure of a campaigns success, Google has developed one heck of an awareness research tool. Let's try this.

The all-new Toyota Camry just launched and is big news in perhaps the most competitive automotive segment. It's especially big news if you're Honda, where they rely on the Accord for a good chunk of profits. So, with a $175 million launch behind the Camry, does Honda have anything to worry about? In the old days of 2005, it would have either taken some very deep digging online, or Honda and Toyota would have to wait for the newest Allison-Fisher consumer awareness data. Now in futuristic 2006, awareness can reasonably be tied to search activity. Not all search activity is good for a brand (think automotive recalls), but very telling nonetheless. Let's take a look at how Camry and Accord are performing here.**

The results may not be horrifying for Honda, but they're certainly worth watching. Throughout 2004 and 2005, the Accord held a stellar lead over the Camry, but that gap has closed in the last few months. Something at Toyota is working.

To be sure, there are other factors. Honda likely has a more web-savvy audience, for example. But does that matter? The web's audience composition didn't change in the last year - external sources influences this gap consolidation.

Right now, this can only be viewed on a country or world basis. Hopefully Google will move toward DMA-based reporting (or better) and in time periods of

ing effort. While sales are the ultimate measure of a campaigns success, Google has developed one heck of an awareness research tool. Let's try this.

The all-new Toyota Camry just launched and is big news in perhaps the most competitive automotive segment. It's especially big news if you're Honda, where they rely on the Accord for a good chunk of profits. So, with a $175 million launch behind the Camry, does Honda have anything to worry about? In the old days of 2005, it would have either taken some very deep digging online, or Honda and Toyota would have to wait for the newest Allison-Fisher consumer awareness data. Now in futuristic 2006, awareness can reasonably be tied to search activity. Not all search activity is good for a brand (think automotive recalls), but very telling nonetheless. Let's take a look at how Camry and Accord are performing here.**

The results may not be horrifying for Honda, but they're certainly worth watching. Throughout 2004 and 2005, the Accord held a stellar lead over the Camry, but that gap has closed in the last few months. Something at Toyota is working.

To be sure, there are other factors. Honda likely has a more web-savvy audience, for example. But does that matter? The web's audience composition didn't change in the last year - external sources influences this gap consolidation.

Right now, this can only be viewed on a country or world basis. Hopefully Google will move toward DMA-based reporting (or better) and in time periods of

5 million launch behind the Camry, does Honda have anything to worry about? In the old days of 2005, it would have either taken some very deep digging online, or Honda and Toyota would have to wait for the newest Allison-Fisher consumer awareness data. Now in futuristic 2006, awareness can reasonably be tied to search activity. Not all search activity is good for a brand (think automotive recalls), but very telling nonetheless. Let's take a look at how Camry and Accord are performing here.**

The results may not be horrifying for Honda, but they're certainly worth watching. Throughout 2004 and 2005, the Accord held a stellar lead over the Camry, but that gap has closed in the last few months. Something at Toyota is working.

To be sure, there are other factors. Honda likely has a more web-savvy audience, for example. But does that matter? The web's audience composition didn't change in the last year - external sources influences this gap consolidation.

Right now, this can only be viewed on a country or world basis. Hopefully Google will move toward DMA-based reporting (or better) and in time periods of

k automotive recalls), but very telling nonetheless. Let's take a look at how Camry and Accord are performing here.**

The results may not be horrifying for Honda, but they're certainly worth watching. Throughout 2004 and 2005, the Accord held a stellar lead over the Camry, but that gap has closed in the last few months. Something at Toyota is working.

To be sure, there are other factors. Honda likely has a more web-savvy audience, for example. But does that matter? The web's audience composition didn't change in the last year - external sources influences this gap consolidation.

Right now, this can only be viewed on a country or world basis. Hopefully Google will move toward DMA-based reporting (or better) and in time periods of

here are other factors. Honda likely has a more web-savvy audience, for example. But does that matter? The web's audience composition didn't change in the last year - external sources influences this gap consolidation.

Right now, this can only be viewed on a country or world basis. Hopefully Google will move toward DMA-based reporting (or better) and in time periods of less than one month. Then, if Sonny Bryan's Smokehouse wanted to measure its campaign's success in achieving greater awareness compared to Peggy Sue BBQ, they could do daily or weekly comparisons, gauge how long their ads took to impact awareness, and ultimately sales. Right now, neither search comes up as having enough volume to measure on Google's grand scale.

Google Trends is a fantastic example of a Web 2.0 application that has real use for its customers. Real application, real measurement, a real advantage. And at Goodway 2.0 - that's what we're all about.

**You'll notice I compared "Honda Accord" and "Toyota Camry" and not just "Camry" and "Accord." The reason for this is that Google associates news articles with big spikes in searches, and all articles for "accord" were centered around "peace accords." Not exactly what we're looking for.