Bitcoin is Bigger than Donald Trump, Tesla, and Kim Kardashian

(And other things we learned from Google Trends)

Google’s Trends function is like an eye into the subconscious of the world. The search habits of worldwide internet users show what people are interested in, and what information is driving discourse in communities—both organic and digital—around the globe. In fact, you could say what Google has stumbled upon with this clever little widget is a representation of what founding French sociologist Émile Durkheim dubbed ‘the collective conscience.’

In utilizing Google Trends, our SEO experts found out some fascinating details about blockchain, cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, and Ethereum, particularly in regards to contextualizing all those phrases in the world-at-large. Recently, we queried search trends for essential phrases like ‘Blockchain,’ ‘Bitcoin,’ ‘Ethereum,’ and Cryptocurrency,’ but this time, we opened up the comparisons to some of the most searched terms in tech, politics, and culture all over the world.

Let’s begin…

Bitcoin vs. Donald Trump

A tight race for most of the past twelve months in worldwide search rankings, with trend dominance between Bitcoin and Donald Trump changing hands on 11 separate occasions. For most of the year, though, Bitcoin has maintained a significant lead on searches for Donal Trump.

Further, Bitcoin’s recent market upturn, however, has reignited interest in a way that Donald Trump’s seemingly waning interest can’t match.

Here’s that data spread over a map of the world…

As you may imagine, Donald Trump ranks higher in the United States and Canada, where his presence is ubiquitous throughout mainstream media. Interestingly, Trump also indexes highly in Ireland, New Zealand, and Denmark. ‘Bitcoin’ searches dominate in continental Europe, India, Brazil, and much of eastern Asia.

Now let’s mix things up a little more. What happens when you add one of the most talked about businesses in the world and one of the world’s largest social-and-media personalities?

Bitcoin vs. Donald Trump vs. Tesla vs. Kim Kardashian

For much of 2019, Bitcoin significantly outranked Donald Trump, Tesla, and Kim Kardashian — and by some margin at that. In fact, for four separate periods over the past 12 months, Bitcoin led this motley pack of trending terms. Its recent highs, correlated with a sharp market upturn, actually signify the highest period of Bitcoin search interest at any time over the past 12 months.

Further, according to Google data, Bitcoin only just recently lost traction to Tesla, with a projected uptick for Donald Trump bringing in third. Despite sharing a dubious correlation with Bitcoin over recent months, Kim Kardashian falls in the 4th position.

Now let’s play the same game with Ethereum…

Ethereum vs. Climate Change

As we reported recently, Google search trends for Ethereum are showing a formidable upward trajectory, with searches in technologically progressive nations like Japan and South Korea even outranking Bitcoin.

Climate change may be the greatest threat to mankind that we know, so it’s great to see search interest in the subject matter on the rise. For much of 2018, however, Ethereum held search ranking dominance over Climate Change. After something of an ‘interest crash’ for Climate Change around the turn of 2019, however, searches for the phrase have rebounded in a way that even Ethereum’s recent uptick can’t even out.

Here’s that same data spread over a global map…

With a varied global spread, Climate Change searches are more prevalent in the United States, United Kingdom, nordic countries, India, Australia, and a smattering of African nations. Meanwhile, Ethereum dominates in Russia, Brazil, continental Europe and much of Asia.

Now let’s add one of the biggest sports stars in the world,. and one of the world’s wealthiest businessmen and public figures…

Ethereum vs. Climate Change vs. Lionel Messi vs. Jeff Bezos

Despite an early spike for Lionel Messi during 2018’s World Cup, it was a tight race between all four phrases for much of that year. For a brief period in the Autumn, Ethereum outranked Messi, Bezos, and Climate Change — no mean feat! But as Jeff Bezos’ divorce proceedings became very public knowledge, search interest for his name spiked in a big way. Now, Climate Change leads search rankings, with Bezos, Ethereum, and Lionel Messi the chasing pack.

Let’s take a look at that info on a map…

Perhaps the most variant spread in this whole study, Ethereum proves dominant in Russia, Eastern Europe, Eastern Asia, and parts of the Middle East. Imaginably, Lionel Messi takes the lead in Latin America and Mediterranean Europe, while Jeff Bezos appears most in the United States and Saudi Arabia. Climate Change indexes highest in Canada and Australia.

But what other insights can we gather from Google Trends data?

Nomenclature — Crypto vs. Cryptocurrency

in this early phase of the decentralization revolution, the phrases people use to talk about what’s happening around us are still in flux. Let’s take a basic example: Do you use the term ‘crypto’ or ‘cryptocurrency’ when describing digital assets and tokens?

Here’s what global data says…

Although both terms appear entirely correlated, there is a strong trend towards ‘Crypto’ over ‘Cryptocurrency’ that is larger now than it has been at any point over the past year. One likely reason is that the prefix ‘crypto’ translates more easily across languages than does ‘currency,’ which is used largely only in English.

Here’s that data on the map…

With the exception of India, Malaysia, Kenya, and Nigeria who all favor the phrase ‘Cryptocurrency,’ the shortened wording of ‘Crypto’ exhibits usage and search dominance pretty much everywhere else in the world.

Disclaimer. The views, information, and opinions expressed are solely those by the author above do not necessarily represent the views of Consensys AG. They are meant for informational purposes only, are not intended to serve as a recommendation or investment advice to buy or sell any securities, cryptoassets, or other financial products.