Houseboat Magazine

July 2009

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at the helm 8 Houseboatmagazine.com Just in case you were curious, the folks in Tampa, Fla., are desperate for info on boat repair. And when it comes to need- ing to know more about rentals or specifically houseboat rentals, no U.S. city searches more than the people in Cincin- nati, Ohio. Well at least that's what Google, the all-knowing Internet search engine, is reporting. Google knows what we're thinking because every day mil- lions of us enter our innermost thoughts into www.google.com (Syracuse, N.Y., residents by far have the highest percentage of searches for "boat tours" in America), our best-kept secrets (Las Vegas, Nev., ranks number one for the most interest in "bankruptcy") and our deepest desires (Cincinnati, Ohio, which had America's first professional baseball team, is now first in another category: downloading pictures of Anna Kournikova). Google made all of this information public a few years back when it launched Google Trends, at www.google.com/ trends. I couldn't resist, I had to try it out for myself. I typed in a search term, and I was able to see which cities devoted the greatest percentage of their Google searches to that word or phrase. This is why I can now speculate that Texas has the world's worst collective case of drunken boaters or at least those wanting to know more about a "BUI" while online. What all of this gives us is nothing less than a spreadsheet of the earth's identification—our most private impulses made manifest. What it provides houseboaters is an entirely new abstract of the boating world. And I do mean world. Two of the top three cities searching for "jet skis" are from Australia. With this tool we can now tell which city in the world worries about the weather the most (Calgary, Canada) or locate the city that wastes the most time searching for "rain" (Seattle, Wash.) with Google Trends. By the way, even though Idaho is known for its potatoes, no Idaho city made the top ten list for searches under "potato" (Bangkok, Thailand) or "spuds" (Kutztown, PA). My curiosity was getting the best of me so I started typ- ing in search words in hope of getting some dirt on some U.S. cities. After I exhausted my keyboard by typing random phrases like "ugly people" (Brooklyn, NY), "barbeque chick- en" (Rocky Mount, N.C.) and "bikini top" (Honolulu, Hawaii), I decided to search the search of this magazine. I was excited to learn that "houseboat" is entered by boaters most from Nashville, Tenn., Louisville, Ky., and Salt Lake City, Utah, but. I must admit I was a little disappointed that "Houseboat magazine" couldn't be found in Google's Trend search, but apparently "boat houses" are huge in India! Turns out that Bristol, United Kingdom, is the spot to find out more about "boat trips" and ironically, Philadelphia, Pa., leads in such critical categories as "Oreos" and "brownies," which might explain why it also leads in "fat" inquiries. Some Google Trend results made complete sense to me, but others left me scratching my head. How is it that Ed- monton, Canada is number one in the world for searches for "houseboat vacations" and not a place known for warmer weather year-round? Or that Salt Lake City, Utah, ranks number one in searches for both "water toys" and "mullets" according to Google? I can't explain the mullet searches, but maybe it's because those of us who live near places known for houseboating spend more time doing these activities, than searching for information about them. Are you curi- ous to find out if your city is on the top of any lists for unusual searches? You might as well take a look because Google already knows, so you should, too. Brady L. Kay Editor, Houseboat Magazine "Cincinnati, ohio, which had America's first professional baseball team, is now first in another category: downloading pictures of Anna Kournikova." house boat magazine What exactly Does Know?

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