Peek Inside the Google Machine: What We Buy and Sell
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Today I thought I’d do something a little different. Below are the Google “query suggestions” for the terms “buy a” and “sell my”.
Because Google bases their suggestions on data from what people actually search for, I’m assuming this is a list of the most searched for terms that begin with “buy a” and “sell my”. Pretty cool, huh?
What People Want to Buy
People are taking to the Internet and using the ole Google machine to potentially spend their hard-earned money on the following items:
A Monkey?! Really!? Are that many people looking to buy a monkey? Sometimes you amaze me, Google Box. Scratch that “most searched for” assumption above. More thoughts:
- Be wary of buying a star online. Jim from Bargaineering says, the “International Star Registry Is A Ripoff“.
- If you need to buy a domain name and host a website, I recommend BlueHost.
- Need help deciding what kind of car to buy? See “Should You Buy a New or Used Car?”
- Thinking of buying a house? Might as well “Buy Your House the Right Way” and get the “$8,000 First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit“.
What People Need to Sell
Times are tough. Lots of folks are selling these days. Let’s peek at some of the things they want to cash in on:
In case you didn’t know, “wow” stands for World of Warcraft, the extremely popular online role playing game. It appears that the popularity of the game has led to a side market of buying and selling accounts. Accounts can sell in the thousands. More thoughts:
- Seeing timeshare on the sell list and not on the buy list (as apposed to cars and houses) likely indicates the buyer has all the power in that market. It is apparently not a good time to be selling a timeshare. Is there ever a good time? Head’s up, another scam alert: “Why Timeshare Resale Scams Don’t Deliver.”
- Would you ever sell your hair? This was listed as one of my “52 Ways to Make Extra Money.”
- The last few items look like prime Craig’s List and eBay material: books, textbooks, cell phones, and the much desired “stuff”. Actually, Mrs. PT’s been selling her old textbooks on Amazon. She’s promised a guest post on that soon.
Anyway, that’s about all I’ve got here. Have a great weekend.
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8 Responses to “Peek Inside the Google Machine: What We Buy and Sell”
By Nate @ Debt-free Scholar on Sep 4, 2009 | Reply
I agree that hosting at BlueHost.com is excellent. However, I recommend NameCheap.com for domain names. They are cheap, reliable, and… Google likes them! Unlike 1&1, which Google does not like.
By Tom @ Canadian Finance Blog on Sep 4, 2009 | Reply
Is there an ETF for monkey commodities? You might as well profit from your research!
By Jesse on Sep 5, 2009 | Reply
There is an algorithm to the suggested searches that I believe has been published in the past but it is the most popular searches. So I guess there is a market for monkeys
As for the domain name, I would go with godaddy.com for that as they always have coupon codes to drop the price of the domain purchase to about $7. Even namecheap.com is 10$ but I would never host with Godaddy.com. Bluehost.com is def a good choice there.
By SingleGuyMoney on Sep 6, 2009 | Reply
Pretty cool idea for a post!
By Ryan on Sep 7, 2009 | Reply
Fasincated by your findings. I googled “buy a monkey” and here’s one of the top finds. Primate Store? Are you kidding? This world’s messed up.
http://www.primatestore.com/forsale.asp
By Andy on Sep 8, 2009 | Reply
Very interesting post. Actually the criteria is based on the local user settings and surronding area (very targetted). So someone in your neighborhood is buying monkeys!!! I assume you are too busy for that running a succesful PF blog and all
If you want another funny google-ology, go to google maps and get directions from anywhere in American to Australia. Read the directions provided for a laugh!