On a whim I did some querying of Google Insights for Search. Basically, it tells you how popular a search query has been on Google. I used some typical "Stage 3" terms that I think mom & pop will be using. Specifically: * Buy Gold Online * Buy Silver Online * Buy Gold Bullion * Buy Silver Bullion Here are the results: [imgz=http://forums.silverstackers.com/uploads/867_buy-gold-online.png][/imgz] Interesting Points: * It looks like search volume has roughly doubled since 2007. * Look at the huge spike late 2008. For the first time, the "Buy Gold Bullion" search matched volume with the broader "Buy Gold Online", while it history was only half it's volume. Can we infer a huge demand for physical bullion vs numismatics/jewelry/etfs? * The biggest shocker for me was the Aussie stats. Look at those volumes compared to the rest of the world! Apparently we are HUGE bulls for gold. * Under the Rising Searches box, all terms are in "breakout". Which is just saying 2010 had a big increase compared to historical. Now, take a look at this chart, where I have added the term "Find Real Estate". [imgz=http://forums.silverstackers.com/uploads/867_find-realestate.png][/imgz] Interesting, yes? Look at the "Buy Gold Online" vs "Find Real Estate" cross-over between we are approaching. Strange how no aussie results for "find real estate"...I'm feeling that could be a invalid data anomaly. (FWIW I think we are still in stage 2, and have been there since late 2010). P.S. It is possible to get demographic data for these searches via AdWords (and whatever microsoft's alternative is). But I'm too lazy
Interesting, but one of the main reasons the chart looks like that is you chose an incorrect keyword, it has a VERY low search volume. "find real state" only has 880 global monthly searches. Whereas if you do the same chart with the keyword "houses for sale" (301,000 monthly searches) the chart looks totally different.
Not so suprisingly these graphs seems to match like a glove. The more unstable things are the more solid PMs look economic collapse vs gold/silver bullion **EDIT** notice the uptick in silver right at the end?!
Interesting to see the UK has the most houses for sale. there are indeed lots for sale here, but sales are not being completed and houses have been up for sale for months and months and no end in sight for the housing market to pick up. It would be interesting to see the graph for actual completed sales as opposed to "for sale" to compare against the PM search.
