Judgment day approaches. Or, at least, its political equivalent.
As November 8 draws ever nearer, Google is ramping up its arsenal of tools to help voters make an informed decision come election day. On its official search blog, Google announced on Thursday the creation of the new Google Trends Election Hub. It promises to offer “a real-time pulse of the U.S. election.” You’ll be able to check out how fellow Google users are searching for candidates and political issues, and of course, learn more about the candidates, their running mates, and campaign tickets.
The hub provides an interesting way to examine voters’ values as they differ across the country. For example, Google points out, “while the economy is the most searched issue on average across the swing state of Florida, immigration is more searched in southern counties in the state.”
Already, the 2016 election has proven to be one of the most highly covered and contentious to date and Google notes that election-related search interest is up 240 percent when compared to this time four years ago. The internet giant has done its fair share to make voting this year as easy as possible, especially turnout already rivaling records set in 2008. For example, Google recently unveiled its voting info graph, which provides state-specific information on how to register, where to go, and what to bring in order to exercise your civic duty.
Moreover, Google plans on using its hub to share “search trends around the voting experience,” getting as granular as the county level when it comes to searches about certain issues and candidates.
“With record online engagement around this historic 2016 election, we have a unique opportunity tell a story about the U.S. electorate through top of mind interests and questions in Search,” wrote Google. “And as Americans all across the country get ready to head to the polls, we are excited for the Trends Elections Hub to play a role in telling that story.”
