Analysis
This article is based upon a new online search system offered by Google, where people can google information on candidates. However, the article just looks at numbers of people searching for information on DeVos or Granholm, not what information there is on the candidates and their platforms. There are two sources cited in the article, a pollster from EPIC/MRI and a GVSU political science professor. Readers should ask themselves how this article helps them to make a more informed decision come election day.
Article Text
Where are people most curious this year about gubernatorial candidate Dick DeVos?
Grand Rapids, Allendale and Kalamazoo, according to a new feature on Google.com.
Meanwhile, Gov. Jennifer Granholm has people thinking about her in Grand Rapids as well, but also in Lansing and Ann Arbor. In each city, residents “Googled” the candidates’ names in high numbers in proportion to other searches.
Since dominating the search engine field, Google.com has expanded into e-mail, maps and now the search habits of the masses with its Google Trends.
The feature uses charts to illustrate the search volume of particular words and how often those terms appear in the media. The result is a straw poll of sorts.
Searches can be done over a two-year period, restricted to specific countries and compared against other words.
Take the Granholm and DeVos comparison, for example.
Granholm has dominated the news coverage over DeVos since 2004, but DeVos’ name is searched more frequently. One factor could be DeVos also is linked by the same name to his father, brother and family company, Alticor. For instance, a search of “DeVos, Granholm” in the United States in 2006 shows a number of hits on news stories about a February accident at the DeVos Place convention center.
But another likely factor is DeVos’ status as the new kid on the block, said veteran pollster Ed Sarpolus, of Epic MRA in Lansing. Michigan residents are trying to clarify who DeVos is apart from his television ad messages, he said.
“There’s a lot of lookup,” Sarpolus said. “You would expect that.”
News stories also appear to affect the search volumes, Sarpolus said.
“There are patterns that match the news coverage,” he said, pointing to the beginning of 2006, when candidate polling began and DeVos’ television ads started running. The DeVos searches began an upward climb.
Google representatives will not release exact numbers of users who are searching Granholm and DeVos. But the site will display data only if a “significant amount” of searches have been performed on the word.
The city data comes from computer Internet service provider addresses, which then are used to estimate the geographical location of the search. Because addresses are assigned by Internet providers or companies, it is of limited accuracy. A computer given a Grand Valley State University address would show up as an Allendale search, regardless of where the computer is located.
GVSU political science professor Erika King speculates the state’s colleges have something to do with the city’s search preferences. Allendale shows up with many searches for DeVos.
“Whenever you get around a student campus, you get more computer users in general,” King said. “Younger people are more inclined to go to a Web site to look for information.”
Additionally, she said, DeVos frequently has mentioned his Web site in his advertisements, which could lead to Googling.
“You don’t think so much about an incumbent governor for going online,” King said.
Although Google Trends begs more questions than it answers, the site can be addictive, King said.
“It gives you part of a story, and then you want more.”
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