GH vs Eberron vs FR on Google Trends - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

GH vs Eberron vs FR on Google Trends

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
zombiegleemax
May 13, 2006 11:53:56 Thought I'd get in here with this before someone else did. You may or may not be aware of the new Trends tool that Google have released in their unending efforts to use up all our free time playing with Google web toys. In a nut shell, it: "...analyzes a portion of Google web searches to compute how many searches have been done for the terms you enter relative to the total number of searches done on Google over time."

It shows these results on a graph of search volume (though, annoyingly, it doesn't give figures for the numbers of searches on the Y-axis) against time.

So - I decided to look at Greyhawk, Forgotten Realms, Dragonlance and Eberron, and the results are interesting.

http://www.google.com/trends?q=Greyhawk%2C+Eberron%2C+Forgotten+Realms%2C+Dragonlance&ctab=0&geo=all&date=all

So FR and DL have pretty much the same volume of searches (the big FR spike in late 2004 not withstanding). This may show the value of established novel lines in upping a campaign setting's visibility.

GH and Eberron seem to have about half the volume (though without Y-axis labels, this isn't 100% certain) of the other two. While it's disappointing for GH fans to be well below either FR or DL, we can be encouraged that despite the buckets of cash poured into marketing Eberron, it's still only pulling in the same volume of searches as Greyhawk, which has been in marketing limbo since GH 98 (the LGG and the LG campaign were/are shoestring operations in terms of marketing budget).

One wonders then, if GH can attract as much interest as Eberron with a fraction of the marketing spend, what kind of interest would it be attracting if they'd left Keith Baker alone in his basement and spent the money on GH instead?

A few obvious caveats:

1: In the case of Greyhawk, it's possible that there's a small component of searches that aren't actually for the game. For example: GREYHAWK North America, LLC, an international construction management and consulting firm, which is the No. 2 result on Google search. The other names seem unusual enough to think that the volumes are largely specific to the games.

2: This is a graph of search volumes, so doesn't factor in all the fan who'll likely have their favourite campaign sites bookmarked. It does however give an indication of general interest among the Googling public.

3: We have to assume that the Y-axis starts at zero. If it doesn't then the graph is impossible to interpret beyond FR and DL are attracting an unknown number of searches more than GH and Eberron, though the observations that DL/FR and GH/Eb have similar search volumes
#2
The_Jester
May 13, 2006 12:18:48 I imagine Greyhawk has the advantage over Eberron as the latter is new so there are few fansites and people wanting game information for the former have to turn to the net and websites. Probably boosts the number of searches.
#3
The_Jester
May 13, 2006 15:50:05 Added Dark Sun and Planescape to the mix, just to see...
Clicky 1
Clicky 2

Here's one without the Realms throwing off the chart, closer zoom...
Clicky 3

While Greyhawk does nose above Eberron at times, both Dark Sun and Planescape show more activity. The only setting with fewer hits is Ravenloft, which is a very nice setting at best.
#4
The_Jester
May 13, 2006 16:03:21 Okay... you've unleased a monster. For a humbling look at the hobey here's Star Trek compared to Greyhawk and Dungeons and Dragons:
clicky

And now toss in, say, Paris Hilton:
clicky.

Bottom of the net-barrel...
#5
zombiegleemax
May 13, 2006 16:29:13 You made a bit of a mistake there. You seperated the "s" from the end of Dungeons and Dragons. So it looks like "Dungeons and Dragon s" That skewed your results.

Now, try D&D vs. Star Trek... You'll have to use the above form, since linking to it is broken, due to the ampersand.

I think most people looking for information on Dungeons and Dragons would use the short form, rather than the whole thing, don't you?

A bit better, eh? Well, it doesn't really matter. I don't care how "high profile" D&D is compared to a juggernaut like Star Trek. D&D is damn famous. And anyway, as long as being a fan of it and even playing it doesn't cause people to come after me with pitchforks or to not invite me to delightful birthday parties, it's all good.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 zombiegleemax May 13, 2006 11:53:56	Thought I'd get in here with this before someone else did. You may or may not be aware of the new Trends tool that Google have released in their unending efforts to use up all our free time playing with Google web toys. In a nut shell, it: "...analyzes a portion of Google web searches to compute how many searches have been done for the terms you enter relative to the total number of searches done on Google over time." It shows these results on a graph of search volume (though, annoyingly, it doesn't give figures for the numbers of searches on the Y-axis) against time. So - I decided to look at Greyhawk, Forgotten Realms, Dragonlance and Eberron, and the results are interesting. http://www.google.com/trends?q=Greyhawk%2C+Eberron%2C+Forgotten+Realms%2C+Dragonlance&ctab=0&geo=all&date=all So FR and DL have pretty much the same volume of searches (the big FR spike in late 2004 not withstanding). This may show the value of established novel lines in upping a campaign setting's visibility. GH and Eberron seem to have about half the volume (though without Y-axis labels, this isn't 100% certain) of the other two. While it's disappointing for GH fans to be well below either FR or DL, we can be encouraged that despite the buckets of cash poured into marketing Eberron, it's still only pulling in the same volume of searches as Greyhawk, which has been in marketing limbo since GH 98 (the LGG and the LG campaign were/are shoestring operations in terms of marketing budget). One wonders then, if GH can attract as much interest as Eberron with a fraction of the marketing spend, what kind of interest would it be attracting if they'd left Keith Baker alone in his basement and spent the money on GH instead? A few obvious caveats: 1: In the case of Greyhawk, it's possible that there's a small component of searches that aren't actually for the game. For example: GREYHAWK North America, LLC, an international construction management and consulting firm, which is the No. 2 result on Google search. The other names seem unusual enough to think that the volumes are largely specific to the games. 2: This is a graph of search volumes, so doesn't factor in all the fan who'll likely have their favourite campaign sites bookmarked. It does however give an indication of general interest among the Googling public. 3: We have to assume that the Y-axis starts at zero. If it doesn't then the graph is impossible to interpret beyond FR and DL are attracting an unknown number of searches more than GH and Eberron, though the observations that DL/FR and GH/Eb have similar search volumes
#2 The_Jester May 13, 2006 12:18:48	I imagine Greyhawk has the advantage over Eberron as the latter is new so there are few fansites and people wanting game information for the former have to turn to the net and websites. Probably boosts the number of searches.
#3 The_Jester May 13, 2006 15:50:05	Added Dark Sun and Planescape to the mix, just to see... Clicky 1 Clicky 2 Here's one without the Realms throwing off the chart, closer zoom... Clicky 3 While Greyhawk does nose above Eberron at times, both Dark Sun and Planescape show more activity. The only setting with fewer hits is Ravenloft, which is a very nice setting at best.
#4 The_Jester May 13, 2006 16:03:21	Okay... you've unleased a monster. For a humbling look at the hobey here's Star Trek compared to Greyhawk and Dungeons and Dragons: clicky And now toss in, say, Paris Hilton: clicky. Bottom of the net-barrel...
#5 zombiegleemax May 13, 2006 16:29:13	You made a bit of a mistake there. You seperated the "s" from the end of Dungeons and Dragons. So it looks like "Dungeons and Dragon s" That skewed your results. Now, try D&D vs. Star Trek... You'll have to use the above form, since linking to it is broken, due to the ampersand. I think most people looking for information on Dungeons and Dragons would use the short form, rather than the whole thing, don't you? A bit better, eh? Well, it doesn't really matter. I don't care how "high profile" D&D is compared to a juggernaut like Star Trek. D&D is damn famous. And anyway, as long as being a fan of it and even playing it doesn't cause people to come after me with pitchforks or to not invite me to delightful birthday parties, it's all good.