If you're planning to market to the world in August (or any other month, for that matter), you'll be needing one of these - a predictive calendar of recurring events that have strong search histories.

Meaning, you can now know in advance what consumers will be searching for online in August -- and can program your marketing activities accordingly.  It's a very easy way to stay ahead of popular market trends.

As it turns out ... a few things.  First, each of these delicacies has a full calendar day of observance devoted to them in July; and secondly, we know today - in advance - that each of these days will generate heavy consumer search activity online.

Towards that end, check out the July version of the Search Matters calendar - a predictive calendar of recurring events that have strong search histories.  You can now know in advance the topics consumers will be searching for online in the coming months -- and can program your marketing activities accordingly.  It's a very easy way to stay ahead of popular market trends.

You can read more about the origins of the Search Matters calendar here.  As it is still very much a work in progress -- please don't hesitate to feedback to us your thoughts and/or any suggestions for improvements you may have.

One aspect of media we're starting to study a bit more is the impact that the more traditional media placements have on online consumer search behaviors.  Obviously, knowing in advance which television programs (for example) are more likely to generate consumer search activity makes those media placement that much more valuable. 

Fundamentally, it means that marketers can position their clients online in ways that engage with this search activity and further extend the life of their stories.  And one such placement, for example, which consistently generates search traffic around its subject matter is 60 Minutes.

Last night 60 Minutes re-ran a fascinating profile of the Antinori family of Italy which has operated wineries for over 600 years.  This re-airing landed "Antinori Wines" and "Antinori Family" in the 3rd and 43rd spots (respectively) of Google's Top 100 search queries for all of yesterday.  And when the show first aired on October 12, 2008, "Antinori Wines" finished in the #1 spot that day.  Needless to say, this is a trend we see repeatedly with 60 Minutes. (read more after the jump)

When you wake up and see the below trend on Google's Top 100 search queries for the day - you know NYers are freaking out about something...

Turns out, said something was a pre-meditated moment of carelessness by the US Department of Defense, which had approved the flight of a 747 and two F16 military fighter jets over Lower Manhattan (YEAH - LOWER MANHATTAN) as part of an authorized military photo shoot.  Say wha?

According to NY1 - the city knew about the operation, but was ordered NOT to disclose the information to the public.  Nice.

Last night, Dancing With the Stars kicked off another mini dance competition, the winner of which will be assured a spot in the line-up of professional dancers in the 2010 season.

The first round featured dancers Mayo Alanen, Brent Borbon, Afton Delgrosso, Anna Demidova, Genya Mazo, and Snow Urbin. And voting for the first round of eliminations (to be announced next week) commenced thereafter.  The female dancer and the male dancer with the fewest votes will be eliminated.

Question is, can Google Trends predict which male and female dancers will be eliminated first?  If you subscribe to the theory that online search interest is a good indicator of voting behavior, then next week expect professional dancers Brent Borbon and Anna Demidova to be eliminated.

Here's why: during the hours after the show aired, each of Mayo, Afton, Genya and Snow made it into Google's Top 100 search queries; with Snow and Afton surviving in the Top 100 for the entirety of yesterday.  (more details after the jump)

I know it's only April, but...

On June 6th, 2009, expect Google and Twitter trends to light up with the phrase "National Donut Day"; a day Americans across the country (or more specifically: Texans, New Yorkers and Californians) will be praying to our crispily creamed overlords for their deliciously dunked contributions to society.  And I, rest assured, will be foremost among them.

For the historically minded, National Donut (or Doughnut) Day started in 1938 as a fundraiser for the Chicago Salvation Army to help the needy during the Great Depression.

Fore more June predictions, click here.

If you're planning to market to the world in June (or any other month, for that matter), you'll be needing one of these - a predictive calendar of recurring events that have strong search histories.

Meaning, you can now know in advance what consumers will be searching for online in June -- and can program your marketing activities accordingly.  It's a very easy way to stay ahead of popular market trends.

You can read more about the origins of the Search Matters calendar here.  As it is still very much a work in progress -- please don't hesitate to feedback to us your thoughts and/or any suggestions for improvements you may have.

The folks at Amazon will probably never forget Easter Weekend 2009.  For reasons still not entirely known, thousands of books lost their sales rank over the weekend -- costing those book authors critical visibility and sales.  Problem was, a seemingly disproportionate number of those books were gay and lesbian titles (Wired story here).

Both Google and Twitter trends lit up last night with the meme now being dubbed AmazonFail. And by this morning, the story was all over the mainstream media.

In an attempt to further elucidate Amazon's mode of operation, I decided to run a simple search query at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Borders and The Strand for the term 'homosexuality'.  Hard not to notice that there's a significant difference in organic search results at each of these book stores, especially Amazon's (results after the jump).  That said, I leave the final analysis to you...