Google Trends as a measuring instrument
Accurately determining player market value is crucial to team success and to generating money through transfers. Researcher Pilar Malagón-Selma and colleagues from the University of Valencia examined the impact of Google Trends professional football players take into account the valuation. They created an automated system that continuously compares the popularity of two players over time. Six popularity indicators are calculated and converted to a common scale, allowing many players to be evaluated simultaneously.
They applied their method to 1,428 players from the top five European football leagues in the 2018-2019 season and tested it with three machine learning models. The popularity indicator, linked to Google Trends data, was found to contribute significantly to more accurate market value estimates. The popularity of a player during less popular periods in particular had a major influence.
Although the researchers recommend including long-term club winning data, injury information and playing position for future research, they emphasize that their method is broadly applicable. They predict that this approach will be widely adopted not only in football, but also in other sports and sectors where popularity is essential.
Data driven marketing
As data-driven marketers, Google Trends has also been part of our work for quite some time. It is therefore no surprise to us that this tool can be used in various sectors. Using Google Trends, we are able to find interesting content and use the tool to set up online marketing strategies.
Wondering if this could also work for you?
