I’ve been having some fun with Google Trends lately, which offers unique analysis of search trends. For example, below is an excerpt from a search on the phrase “law and economics” that shows the top ten cities from which the phrase has been a search term, along with a graph of volume:
| 1. | Berkeley, CA, USA |
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| 2. | Stanford, CA, USA |
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| 3. | New Haven, CT, USA |
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| 4. | Fairfax, VA, USA |
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| 5. | Cambridge, MA, USA |
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| 6. | Ann Arbor, MI, USA |
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| 7. | Washington, DC, USA |
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| 8. | Pittsburgh, PA, USA |
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| 9. | Philadelphia, PA, USA |
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| 10. | Boston, MA, USA |
It also shows 8 big spikes in news volume over the last six years. Here’s a challenge: how many of our readers can explain the reasons for all 8?