Googleshare

Steven Johnson (oh sorry, Steven Berlin Johnson) has a weblog, and he's posted a nifty idea about using Google to calculate "mindshare."

The technique is simple: search for a term, then search within those results for another term. Divide the number of results for the second term by the number of results for the first term, and you have the "mindshare"--well, I'd call it Googleshare--of the second term in the domain of the first. Damn, I think I've made it sound more complicated than it is. Anyway, here's an example:

Usability - 1,190,000 results
"Jakob Nielsen" within Usability - 45,600 results
Jakob's Googleshare = 3.83%

And, well, I wonder if it's possible to calculate Googleshare using the Google API. If I were more motivated I'd look into it myself; for now, it's just another project for the LazyWeb.

Update 11/16/02:

• Jakob's Googleshare numbers updated, using the correct spelling of his last name. Doh.
• Rael Dornfest has written a script to calculate Googleshare (requires a Google API key).
• Edward George has a Googleshare app as well.
• Steven's generously given me credit for coining the term Googleshare, which is flattering since a) it's an off-the-cuff neologism if there ever was one, and b) someone else surely would've coined it within minutes of me. But I'm not complaining.