WHAT WE ASK GOOGLE

Searching for answers.

Rogers, data editor at Google, is tasked with finding pattern, meaning, and trends in the billions of search queries that come through from all around the world. An immediate insight is that those searches are not just self-centered (though many are) but instead often look for solutions that help other beings, such as how one might calm a dog in a thunderstorm. “Search is part of our social world,” he writes. Humans are innately curious, Rogers adds, but though philosophers argue about whether we are innately altruistic, he takes hope in the fact that “the data strongly contradicts the idea that human beings are only interested in looking after themselves.” Natural disasters are a case in point, and while the top 20 all-time searches don’t provide much ammunition for his argument—they include “How to make pancakes” and “What dinosaur has 500 teeth”—searches are surging for such things, too, as how one says “I love you” in sign language and “How to cook for your dog” in plain English. Rogers examines seasonal variations: In January we ask how to quit drinking, in November, how to cook a turkey. He also looks at national differences that may speak volumes, such as the fact that Europeans search out science topics more than inhabitants of any other continent, with Belarus leading in astronomy and global warming taking second place in general science overall. It is encouraging that so many searches around the year are in the “how to help someone” vein, which leads Rogers to observe that “we are all a bit kinder, more generous and just a little bit more lost than we may have been led to believe.” Naturally, though, on how Google monetizes all those questions, Rogers is shtum.

A revealing look at how the questions we ask speak to who we are.