As 2014 comes to an end, the slow decline of Bitcoin’s price have dwindled away the attention of short term profit takers. While the price aspect of Bitcoin is the only measurement of its success for some people, a simple analysis of Google search trends says a lot more about an overall interest in Bitcoin among the masses. As it turns out, a new study of Google trends show a sudden rise of Bitcoin related searches during the holiday season.
In the above picture, Google Trend highlight a rise of Google searches for Bitcoin up to 300% in USA and 140% worldwide. The time frame chosen for this analysis is seven days from 20th of Dec to 27th of December, 2014. This unforeseen surge interest in
Bitcoin during the last week could be due to a myriad of reasons. One could argue that the recent success of Bitcoin Bowl event organized by BitPay may have led to more people finding about Bitcoin. Looking further here’s a result of related searches.
The first Bitcoin Bowl event took place in St. Petesburg, FL and the data provided by Google Trends further proves the claim that this surge may have been due to it. Although, BitPay’s target market for their business model were merchants, they also aired two commercials on ESPN to reach a wider audience by introducing them to Bitcoin for overall exposure.
Another possible conclusion of this surge of interest in Bitcoin was explained by a redditor:
“It’s because of all the news articles saying that bitcoin was the worst investment of 2014 as far as value (from 750 to 320 Jan 1 2014 to present day). I read a lot of financial news, it made headlines as the media’s ‘Year in Review’ 2014 recap.”
So, what does it say about long term potential of Bitcoin and the overall interest in it as shown by Google Trends? Well, historically, the movements of Bitcoin’s price has correlated with Google search volume. In fact, this may have been the first time that a trend had gone awry. It becomes more apparent if we try to analyze for shorter time frames. Here’s a chart that looks at Google search volume and price historical data for Bitcoin.
Now looking at the image above, it becomes apparent that for the outsiders, Bitcoin’s price volatility is the single most important factor for them. More importantly, during the time of highest price movements and usually at the peak of a bubble.
It should be noted that the rise in volume of searches during a bowl game or at the peak of a bubble is no reason for pessimism. In fact, it is human nature. We all are entrapped in the digital age and the flow of information has no barriers. This has led to a shorter attention of span among masses.
Today, even the most hardcore Bitcoin believers admit to be unaware of the underlying technology behind Bitcoin at some point and the potential it carries for our future. By being fascinated with its dollar pegged value, they couldn’t see the bigger picture. Over time, the people who choose to learn about the underpinnings of Bitcoin were the ones who were greatly rewarded with profits.
