Running GIS, Google Earth and Google Maps through Google Trends throws up some interesting results. The launches of both Google Earth and Maps are instantly noticeable with Google Earth proving by far the most popular search term.Of note is the steady decline in Google Earth with Google Maps now overtaking it for the first month since launch. The number of people searching for GIS was always going to be low and indeed it has dropped slightly overtime. An interactive version of the graph is embedded below:
Comparing Google Earth and Google Maps is of course controversial within the industry and research sector but one cant but wonder if emerging 'cloud based services' will see a further decline in the visibility of the hardcore GIS user compared to the continuing rise of the Neogeographer (?)
Thanks go to Alex from spatial-literacy.org for the Google Trends tip.
