* Recommended by a pal at Google, here’s a comparison of web search volume between Capitol Fax and the Chicago Sun-Times. I’m in blue and the Sun-Times is in red…

Looks like a bit of a jump by us at the end.

* And here’s the search volume comparison between some of the Republican candidates for governor Dillard is in blue, Proft is in red, Brady is in orange and Murphy is in green…

Dillard appears to be skyrocketing, but check out Proft’s numbers. Not bad.

* Mark Kirk, Alexi Giannoulias and Lisa Madigan search comparisons can be found here.

Thoughts?

       

19 Comments - Sewanee - Thursday, Jul 30, 09 @ 11:07 am: Why do the candidate comparisons show 100% of the search volume in Chicago? I know there’s a lot of rural area in Illinois, but some downstaters do use ‘the Google.’ - Rich Miller - Thursday, Jul 30, 09 @ 11:12 am: Not sure, Sewanee. I’ll ask, though. - JP - Thursday, Jul 30, 09 @ 11:14 am: Below the chart it shows the geography. Top 10 areas are: 1. Chicago 2. Quincy 3. Davenport-Rock Island-Moline 4. Peoria-Bloomington 5. Evansville 6. Champaign-Springfield-Decatur 7. Paducah 8. Rockford 9. St Louis 10. Terre Haute - wordslinger - Thursday, Jul 30, 09 @ 11:19 am: The GOP gubernatorial primary will be a barn-burner if all the candidates stay in. - Ghost - Thursday, Jul 30, 09 @ 11:23 am: === Thoughts === its kind of hard to interpret. Are people doing more searches becuase of interest; because they are looking for dirt; or because they have no idea who the canidate is? I suppose ifnothing else this indicates an upswing in name recognition/use, so overall trending upwards is a good thing (or a lot of people are lookin for dirt on you). Rich you need to put together a dedicated Illinois political database in your media empire where peopel can go look up info on our local politicians - CircularFiringSquad - Thursday, Jul 30, 09 @ 11:23 am: Keeping in mind that most of the SunTimes searches was for their extensive list of dating service discount coupons Capt fax really blows their doors off. Good job. Wonder what the comps would between Capt Fax and SunTimes political news. BTW has anyone noticed the #1 item on the Dome — that rapid fire SJR blog is the Trib story on the Blagoof book —- that is about 4 days after Capt Fax did it. - Scooby - Thursday, Jul 30, 09 @ 11:27 am: Just as Jay Marriotti predicted. - Scooby - Thursday, Jul 30, 09 @ 11:29 am: Also, those geo codes correspond to established tv media markets. - Inish - Thursday, Jul 30, 09 @ 11:52 am: It is hard to cut data too finely- so generally you will see it by MSA- Metro Statical Area- the area one would be interested in media buying- generally tv markets. I wouldn’t say it searches are a sign of increased awareness for the candidates- but quite the opposite- they do a search to find out who the person is and what has been said about them. Think of your own behavior- what do you do if you meet someone and want to know if they are worth tracking- you go back to your office and google them. lol. So the fact someone declared and the number of searches increased… could just be stringers trying to keep up with Rich… That being said- the increase in searches for Capitol Fax shows that people are seeing/hearing you referenced and are seeking the site out- lets see if Rich can translate that into an increase of subscriptions. Happy to discuss marketing strategies on how to drive sales…… - Inish - Thursday, Jul 30, 09 @ 11:56 am: One other thing- regarding the Mark Kirk, Alexi Giannoulias and Lisa Madigan comparison- it will only compare the accurate spelling queries- it doesn’t show inaccurate queries- so the Giannoulias numbers can be really misleading.. if they can’t spell the name- but lower in the page is the story they were looking for and they select it, they found the data without being captured in the graphed numbers,food for thought - Sprint Speed! - Thursday, Jul 30, 09 @ 12:00 pm: Use “Alexi” as the search term. Results are much more accurate. - MoreStats - Thursday, Jul 30, 09 @ 12:06 pm: //www.google.com/insights/search/#cat=16&q=Capitol%20Fax%2CChicago%20sun-times%2CChicago%20Tribune&geo=US-IL&cmpt=q - Inish - Thursday, Jul 30, 09 @ 12:24 pm: Check the penetration numbers- how many searches by comaprison to overall circulaiton- Capitol Fax rocks….. and compare Springfield to Chicago. You clearly dominate your market…Now compare Capitol fax, Sun times and Rich Miller - Lincoln Parker - Thursday, Jul 30, 09 @ 1:11 pm: I love the jump right at the end of 2008, almost as if a major political figure got arrested or something. - Beowulf - Thursday, Jul 30, 09 @ 2:45 pm: I can only speak for myself and what I am seeing taking place in my own area of Will County. I am starting to see Dan Proft gain substantial traction among the registered Republicans and Independents as people are getting to know more about him and what his political beliefs are. Proft has been effectively cultivating a grass roots effort through the use of the Internet. Many of my GOP friends did not even know who Proft was until they read some of Proft’s articles and commentaries that were forwarded to them. It was no surprise that many of the hard right conservatives would embrace Proft but what I have found to be surprising was that many of the moderate Republicans also liked what they heard/saw/read on Proft. The consensus of both conservative and moderate GOP voters that have contacted me was that they are “not” looking for someone who is “warm & fuzzy”. They are as mad as hell at what has been happening (or not happening) down in Springfield. They seem to actually want “a junkyard dog” (as he has been referred to) to guard and protect the Illinois voters from the fiscal and social insanity in state government that has been allowed to run rampant over the past decade. I truly believe that Proft is going to definitely surprise everyone with his numbers come the day after the GOP Primary. People are outraged with the ineptness that has been tolerated within our state government. Political incumbents are going to be very surprised and “humbled” with the “palace revolt” that is currently taking place via the use of the Internet. The graph that Rich has posted for us shows that this “dark horse” Proft is “rapidly moving up in the outside lane” and I would not be surprised to see a “photo finish” taking place at the end of this horse race. - Bill - Thursday, Jul 30, 09 @ 3:05 pm: Please let it be Proft. - Rich Miller - Thursday, Jul 30, 09 @ 3:15 pm: lol - Anonymous - Thursday, Jul 30, 09 @ 11:04 pm: Wow. I was half expecting the results of another “Derby” ala the old Illinois Leader after that last paragraph. lol - Lynn S - Thursday, Jul 30, 09 @ 11:05 pm: Beowulf: are your fellow Republicans looking at the no-bid contracts Proft got from Cicero? Are you honestly saying that the die-hards are falling for someone who will probably give Blago a run for his money in the scumminess category? Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.