U.S. interest in billiards drops 30% in 4 years...

[Runnin8]

if Google search volume is an accurate measure.

Google has a tool for trending search terms over the last 4 years by region that is fun to play with. http://trends.google.com/trends?q=billiards&ctab=0&geo=US&date=all&sort=0.

I entered "billiards" and set region to the U.S. and here is the result. Interesting stuff includes the yearly cycle and the decreasing trend. The decreasing trend is not evident if you include all regions but the yearly cycle is the same.

You can enter multiple terms and do direct comparisons between say "billiards" and "golf." Guess who wins?

You can also go to the "website" option and look at the AZbilliards web traffic trend over the last year- that its up is no surprise.

Have fun!
Steve

 

[3andstop]

Sadly that graph says to me .... We tried pool, G@#$Da$M thats a hard game and so frustrating too. I'm going bowling.

 

[Runnin8]

Unfortunately, "bowling" gives "billiards" the barney ball and still has the nutz.:frown:

 

[mnorwood]

Wow.

Very frustrating.:speechless: :speechless: :speechless:

 

[Craig Fales]

if Google search volume is an accurate measure.

Google has a tool for trending search terms over the last 4 years by region that is fun to play with. http://trends.google.com/trends?q=billiards&ctab=0&geo=US&date=all&sort=0.

I entered "billiards" and set region to the U.S. and here is the result. Interesting stuff includes the yearly cycle and the decreasing trend. The decreasing trend is not evident if you include all regions but the yearly cycle is the same.

You can enter multiple terms and do direct comparisons between say "billiards" and "golf." Guess who wins?

You can also go to the "website" option and look at the AZbilliards web traffic trend over the last year- that its up is no surprise.

Have fun!
Steve

The reason people stop posting here is because it's all *****ing and moaning and no pool talk...

 

[Runnin8]

The reason people stop posting here is because it's all *****ing and moaning and no pool talk...

That's an interesting response Craig- not sure where you see the *****ing and moaning. As for pool talk, I merely posted a link to a tool that can provide one measure of interest in pool worldwide, by year, month, and region. The data is what it is and as far as I know the google tool is unique in that regard.

Later,
Steve

 

[Runnin8]

The reason people stop posting here is because it's all *****ing and moaning and no pool talk...

Well, on second thought lets expand on my last post.

Imagine if you will, that you are a potential sponsor looking for unbiased data to substantiate whether nationally televised tournaments generate increased interest in billiard products. Data like this can be correlated to the broadcast of the tournament and cross checked against visits to sponsor sites and searches for sponsor products. In addition, a sponsor can identify which part of the country shows the greatest response.

Perhaps also, you choose to look at seasonal trends of the search terms to plan out your advertising budget. You might also want to identify other sports that provide offsetting trends to use as a potential customer base to complement your billiard advertising.

Also, imagine that someone with an open mind and honest view of the industry researches this data to identify sports that have grown in interest over the same period of time and studies the practices of their industry organizations to see what they are doing to contribute to the growth of the sport and get new ideas to help turn the trend.

Or some may chose to ***** and moan about it.

 

[justnum]

There have been times in the past where I am hesitant to bring new people into the pool hall. Each time they tell me they do not know how to play I do not have a response that develops their curiosity.

 

[worldison2]

if Google search volume is an accurate measure.


You can enter multiple terms and do direct comparisons between say "billiards" and "golf." Guess who wins?

You can also go to the "website" option and look at the AZbilliards web traffic trend over the last year- that its up is no surprise.

Have fun!
Steve

The word billiards is not what most people use to refer to our sport. It's pool. But pool is not a unique word for our sport. You can also have a swimming pool.

Bowling is a unique word that refers to that sport. So is golf.

I don't think you can use the word billiards to draw any conclusions. Contrary to your headline, the sky is not falling.

 

[Runnin8]

I don't think you can use the word billiards to draw any conclusions. Contrary to your headline, the sky is not falling.

Interpret the headline any way you want... "U.S. interest in billiards drops 30% in 4 years if Google search volume is an accurate measure"

What I mention as interesting is the trend, both seasonal and over the last 4 years. Again, feel free to interpret the trend any way you like.

The purpose of the post was to highlight the tool- how you use it, or not, and interpret the result is entirely up to you.

As an engineer, I appreciate data where ever I can get it.

 

[Fatboy]

Interpret the headline any way you want... "U.S. interest in billiards drops 30% in 4 years if Google search volume is an accurate measure"



As an engineer, I appreciate data where ever I can get it.

as a businessman I do to. I clicked the link but I didnt see the % drop the graph was vague, perhaps i'm:boring2: :boring2: and should look in the morning.

nevermind i logged into google and it put the numbers on the y-axis it looks like more than a 40% decline

 

[1 Pocket Ghost]

The word billiards is not what most people use to refer to our sport. It's pool. But pool is not a unique word for our sport. You can also have a swimming pool.

Bowling is a unique word that refers to that sport. So is golf.

I don't think you can use the word billiards to draw any conclusions.

An excellent, and very valid point.

 

[Fatboy]

An excellent, and very valid point.

"snooker" is down in the "UK" as well but not as much, so its probably safe to assume "billiards" is down in the "USA",

 

[Paul Dayton]

Call it whatever you want, interest in the game goes up and down. It almost died out in the 50's, then the Hustler, weak in the 70's and 80's, then the Color of Money, weakening in 90's through today.. Economy sucks, money is tight, rooms close, interest wanes.

It ain't the smoking ban.

 

[Roger Long]

The word billiards is not what most people use to refer to our sport. It's pool. But pool is not a unique word for our sport. You can also have a swimming pool.

Bowling is a unique word that refers to that sport. So is golf.

I don't think you can use the word billiards to draw any conclusions. Contrary to your headline, the sky is not falling.

Steve didn't say the sky is falling, he merely gave us a tool that indicates interest in billiards in the U.S. might be down as much as 30% over the last 4 years.

I've been involved in just about every aspect of the business over this time frame (instructor, table mechanic, retailer, cue repairman, and cue builder) and a 30% drop in my business is just about what I've experienced. I also do business with various wholesalers across the nation, and they all tell me that business is "very bad." Now whether or not "very bad" equates to a 30% drop in their own businesses, only they could tell you.

All we really know for sure is that this Google tool is indicating a negative trend. Why the trend is negative, remains to be seen.

Roger

 

[worldison2]

Steve didn't say the sky is falling,

Roger

No, the headline was created to give that impression. When you read this:

U.S. interest in billiards drops 30% in 4 years...

Don't you get the impression that the billiard world is falling apart at the seams?
He created that headline for shock value. Then when you open the thread you just realize he is drawing invalid conclusions based on semantics.

 

[jason]

Is this spike the IPT?

 

[jason]

actually... the international pool tour did not line up with the spike. I wonder what it was from?

I think that was about when I retired from the sport. Man, I didn't know there would be so much interest! Thanks fans!!!

 

[Runnin8]

No, the headline was created to give that impression. When you read this:

U.S. interest in billiards drops 30% in 4 years...

Don't you get the impression that the billiard world is falling apart at the seams?
He created that headline for shock value. Then when you open the thread you just realize he is drawing invalid conclusions based on semantics.

If I were drawing conclusions based on semantics then I'd be looking at what was being said- I drew my conclusion from the data with the caveat "if Google search volume is an accurate measure." In retrospect, the title should have been "New tool available to analyze Google searches for pool/billiard related terms."

Here is an example of using the data to identify a measure of relative interest in "billiards" across the top 5 populated states. The plot is normalized by state population. The data says that on a per capita basis, New Yorkers searched for the term "billiards" more than any of the other top 5 states followed by Texas, California, Florida, and Illinois. The data also says that the trend is decreasing across all states. The data also indicates that interest in billiards has less seasonal variation in Florida and California, perhaps due to the good weather year round. These are the numbers that can form the basis of a solid understanding of the industry. To look at them and ignore what they tell us is naive.

 

[worldison2]

These are the numbers that can form the basis of a solid understanding of the industry. To look at them and ignore what they tell us is naive.

Look, I understand you're all geeked out because you're an engineer and you found a new toy to produce numbers. I can appreciate that. But my original point was that the word BILLIARDS is an invalid starting point for your survey, because that word is not the most commonly used word to define our sport.

You're building sandcastles here.

(and your caveat was not in the headline.)