Yahoo! vs. Google: Quite surprisingly, it’s not Google but Yahoo! that gets most inquiries on Google.

What does this huge breakthrough of Google in mid 2005 corresponds to?

Microsoft vs. Apple & Oracle: Same business with Microsoft, which beats Apple and Oracle. I’m not surprised with B-to-B company Oracle.

As for Apple, I have to say that I was quite astonished to see Microsoft beating it: there’s such a buzz around Apple that everytime it launches a product, everyone feels compelled to say something about it.

Despite being less ‘glamourous’ than Apple in consumers’ minds, Microsoft still generates a nice flow of search engine inquiries.

My call on Google Trends: I acknowledge my analysis is not so value adding as it wasn’t, far from it, its number one purpose. Actually, the whole point of this post is to highlight the huge potential of tools like Google Trends to analyze strategies, competitors, market trends, etc. It’s a pity data is made available 1 year afterwards only. However, there are still nice takeaways to grab, even looking back one year ago.

I guess there is a market for Google here: I’m sure companies would be willing to pay quite a significant amount of money to benchmark themselves against competitors. Say for instance you’re one of these numerous video companies over the web (500+ existing such companies currently, consolidation soon to come!): wouldn’t it be fantastic to benchmark yourself agains your 518 competitors in one shot? You could analyze relative impact of your marketing campaigns, check whether it’s really you stealing visitors from your rivals or the market that’s growing, etc.

Accurate competitive analysis is priceless. And just like online vs. offline marketing (you can measure up more easily your exact returns on the Internet, unlike traditional canals) the Internet provides a solid ground to analyzing your web presence vs. your competitors better.

PS: don’t forget to help me understanding this mid 2005 breakthrough by Google.

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