Searching for the Best Business Data

Many a fortune has been won or lost because of a business leader’s decisiveness. But all too often business owners fail to take any action at all during a critical time for fear they may make the wrong choice. In a search for better analysis, they turn to other industry “experts” in the news, but the results often contradict each other, and in the end Mr. Business Owner punts.

According to the team at DataTrek Research, you have a fairly accurate business research tool at your fingertips every day – Google. In a recent story on CNBC, DataTrek points out that data tracked at Google Trends indicates that the current U.S. economy may be stronger than economic pundits want you to believe. You just need to understand what trends to analyze. In this case, they studied trends in the search terms like “coupon” and “unemployment,” two terms popular during the Great Recession years, and found declining Google searches for these terms. Furthermore, searches for terms like “TV” and “Netflix,” two activities common with Recession-era underemployed people with time on their hands, have also seen a decline. A combination of Google Trends terms like these have led them to conclude the U.S. economy remains fairly strong.

DataTrek Research has also reported a strengthening housing market using the same Google Trends strategy.

Here’s a link to Google Trends we’ve created for a simple gauge of the mattress market. Take a look and play with the available data ranges and customize the criteria for your own needs.

It’s only natural for business owners to be cautious in their decision-making process. Hopefully, when conflicting economic news cycles leave you with “analysis paralysis,” you can glean some decisive market indicators from the people that really count: your shopping audience.

* DISCLAIMER: Global Systems Group is not responsible for business decisions and actions made by our readers. Google Trends, as described in this article, is one of many business analytic tools available, and should not be used as an exclusive source for business guidance.