If you have never used Google Trends (www.google.com/trends) then you are missing out. This handy tools shows you the trend of searches for a single or group of keywords over time. The current version goes back to January 2004 and is now updated daily (used to be monthly and woefully behind in months). So, what is Google Trends good for?:
1. Looking at trends for your most important keywords: brands, specific products, generic works that drive your business, etc. This is a great view on why certain terms might be doing better or worse now than in 2005.
2. Looking at your competitors brands: You can list up to 6 different keywords or phrases to compare.
3. Isolating traffic in Regions, Cities, Languages or Time Frames. Not only do you get search trend information, but you can get it broken down by world region, city or language. You can also restrict the time frame to get a more distinct view of the trend over certain period.
4. Connecting audio ads through Google Audio to search volume. One of the features we have requested is the ability to generate reports that overlay audio ads played through Google Audio with specific brand/keyword searches in Google Trends. This is a legitimate way to gain additional understanding and awareness of the impact of audio ads on brand awareness and recognition.