Volume 2, No. 21. November 8, 2002
A search
party
People, it is said,
are always in search of something. In the Internet Age we can discern exactly
what that something is. In the United Kingdom they are questing for Alton Towers
while in Italy they are seeking Gardaland.
This bit of insight comes courtesy of Google, Inc., the popular Internet search
engine, which monitors the most popular keyword searches around the world. Called
the Google Zeitgeist, this research of research is delineated into topics and
regions that provide a snapshot, week-to-week and month-to-month, of cultural
trends. For example, in September the Top 10 Gaining Queries start off with,
not surprisingly, “world trade center” and “september 11”
followed by “kelly clarkson” of American Idol fame.
In the United Kingdom’s list of September’s most popular queries,
“alton towers” ranked fifth behind “nell mcandrews,” “ryder
cup,” “football” and “eastenders.” In Italy, Gardaland
came in fourth on the “Popular Children-Related Terms,” behind Topolino,
Harry Potter and Shrek, but ahead of Teletubbies.
Why did Alton Towers, the theme park in Alton, England, inspire so many searches?
The park’s Public Relations Manager Liz Greenwood is at a loss for a suitable
explanation, though she noted that overall hits on the Alton Towers web site
in September were 71,000 more than the site received during September 2001.
The park’s ranking is all the more baffling when you consider that the
other top ten keywords had to do with sports (Ryder Cup, Football and, at nine,
Ayrton Senna), media entertainment (McAndrews, FHM at seven and Monsters Inc
at eight), and practical matter: the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency came
in right behind Alton Towers and the Universities and Colleges Admission Services
completed the top 10.
That last entry might provide a clue, Greenwood suggested: students returned
to school in September and had more access to computers. That might explain
the UCAS at 10 and the Tomb Raider model McAndrews at number 1, but Alton Towers
at five? The park also launched a revision of its web site in August, and in
September it began running an on-line competition promoting the October opening
of its new Terror of the Towers Maze. The contest for free tickets attracted
7,000 entrants, Greenwood said, a record for the park’s on-line contests.
“However, this doesn’t really explain why people were going to a search
engine,” she said.
The Terror of the Towers Maze itself seems to be the likeliest culprit. Produced
by Lynton Harris’ Sudden Impact! Entertainment Company, the haunted maze
was the first Halloween attraction of its kind in England. “We can only
guess that perhaps the general amount of PR around in September about Halloween
may have encouraged this,” Greenwood said. “We’ll certainly continue
to monitor the situation.”
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