Google Trends Forecasts Xbox 720 Will Dwarf PlayStation 4
Is there anything Google can't do these days? Apparently the sultan of search can even predict which next generation game console is likely to be the top dog. The mystifying answer to which is going to be more popular, Microsoft's Xbox 720 or Sony's PlayStation 4 (or whatever each console will ultimately be called) can be found by glancing at past search trends.
You can do that on Google Trends, a Google service that allows you to explore trends in search and even compare different search queries based on a number criteria. Since Microsoft and Sony have both kept relatively quiet about their next generation console plans, Google Trends allows us to at least see which one consumers appear more interested at the moment, and the clear favorite is the Xbox 720.
During the past year, searches for information on Microsoft's next generation Xbox console were much higher than they were for "PlayStation 4" or "PS4." On a global basis, gamers looked up Xbox 720 on Google 60 percent of the time versus 40 percent for the PS4. The discrepancy is even wider in the U.S., where the split was 66 percent / 34 percent in the Xbox's favor.
We'd caution not to read too much into these trends, especially since the PS4 proved a more popular search term (on average) when you lengthen the search history to 2 years or more. But for now, anyway, the Xbox 720 is what's on most gamers' minds (at least until you throw the Wii U into the mix).
You can do that on Google Trends, a Google service that allows you to explore trends in search and even compare different search queries based on a number criteria. Since Microsoft and Sony have both kept relatively quiet about their next generation console plans, Google Trends allows us to at least see which one consumers appear more interested at the moment, and the clear favorite is the Xbox 720.
During the past year, searches for information on Microsoft's next generation Xbox console were much higher than they were for "PlayStation 4" or "PS4." On a global basis, gamers looked up Xbox 720 on Google 60 percent of the time versus 40 percent for the PS4. The discrepancy is even wider in the U.S., where the split was 66 percent / 34 percent in the Xbox's favor.
We'd caution not to read too much into these trends, especially since the PS4 proved a more popular search term (on average) when you lengthen the search history to 2 years or more. But for now, anyway, the Xbox 720 is what's on most gamers' minds (at least until you throw the Wii U into the mix).
