Google Trends: Politics and Pop Culture
A discussion of search engine data in the United States
United States Supreme Court and Public Protests
According to an analysis of Google search data, over the last year the Supreme Court of the United States has spiked from June 19–25, 2022 with an interest score of 100, the highest popularity rating possible. During the week of this rating, the courts decided to overturn Roe v. Wade.
At the same time, the data also shows that the search term “protest” also spiked with a score of 17. Although lower in comparison to the search term “Supreme Court”, this was still a high point in the data for “protest”. These simultaneous spikes could represent an interest in the public’s desire to participate in protests against the court’s decision, or at least stay up to date with protesting across the country.
Another smaller rise in interest for both search terms occurred in the week of May 1–7, 2022. On the May 2 drafts which discussed the possibility and preparation of overturning Roe v. Wade were leaked to the public. Similar to the highest peak of the search terms, this correlation could be due to public dissent of the news and a desire to take action.
The chart below shows the popularity and of both search times and can be further examined by following the link in the description.
HBO’s Game of Thrones Empire
This fall, HBO launched the first season of House of the Dragon, a prequel spinoff series of their original production Game of Thrones. The original series holds international acclaim and had 44 million total viewers for its last season in 2019. Despite controversial opinion on the writing of season eight of Game of Thrones, the new spinoff was still highly anticipated.
The first episode of House of the Dragon sets viewers in a world 200 years before the story of Game of Thrones. According to an analysis of Google search data and the chart above, the highest interest recorded for House of the Dragon was on its premier night, Aug. 22, 2022. The data shows that interest was rated at 100.
In the time since the first episode aired, interest in House of the Dragon has consistently spiked each time another episode is released. Oddly enough, though, Game of Thrones also rises in tandem with the prequel.
On the same night that House of the Dragon peaked, Game of Thrones earned an interest score of 41. Although this is when Game of Thrones lost its lead over the spinoff series, it still maintained its relevancy according to Google search data.
As stated previously, the end of Game of Thrones was widely criticized. However, the substantial interest in the series hints at a revival of the fanbase and both reception and ratings of House of the Dragon have been positive. Announcements of more spinoffs have been made and it seems that the world is ready to welcome back the world of Game of Thrones with open arms.
