Official Google Canada Blog: How to fix a toilet (and other things you couldn't do without Search)

Official Canada Blog

News and notes from Google Canada

How to fix a toilet (and other things you couldn't do without Search)

Friday, September 1, 2017

Every year, millions come to Google to search for news and information that helps illuminate the world around them. While people often search for breaking news, the latest sports scores, or what's playing at a local movie theater, they also often look for answers on how to fix the more mundane items around them.
Recently, we noticed that “how to…” searches have increased by more than 140% since 2004, and much of that search interest is directed towards how to “fix” things—whether it’s a lightbulb, window, washing machine, or even the toilet. In fact, “How to fix…” is consistently near the top of the list of most common queries, year after year, around the world. That’s why the Google Trends team teamed up with award-winning designer Xaquín González Veira —formerly of “The Guardian”, “National Geographic” and “the New York Times”—to create our latest visual: How to fix a toilet...and other things you couldn’t do without Search.
The first data visualization shows household items people ask Google how to fix, and how those searches vary by country. For instance, in the United States, the top “how to fix" items are doors, followed by windows, toilets, washing machines and refrigerators. While in Japan, the order is: windows, doors, washing machines, and toilets.
Check out the map of the world below, to see how it shifts:

Xaquin noticed some neat (and weird) patterns in the data. Searches for “how to fix a toilet” and “how to use chopsticks” follow a very similar pattern. Wonder why that is? Just check out the site. You’ll be surprised what tops the list in each country and which places need to fix the same things (washing machines in Russia and Columbia and windows in Brazil and Eritrea).
The visual also showcases data for the top searched “how to’s” around the world. The top ten are:

how to tie a tie

how to kiss

how to get pregnant

how to lose weight

how to draw

how to make money

how to make pancakes

how to write a cover letter

how to make french toast

how to lose belly fat

Check out the interactive guide here, to explore more of this fascinating data.

This data visualization is the latest in the Google News Lab’s series of collaborations with designers, working alongside the University of Miami’s Alberto Cairo to re-examine how news designers can tell stories using new types of data (including new sources of Google data) and by experimenting with new kinds of data visualizations. You can see some more of the projects we’ve launched so far here. We’ve loaded the top how-to’s data on our GitHub page for you to download and explore. And if you do, tell us more about you’re using the data at newslabtrends@google.com.

Google

Labels

#AI 1
#cbcindigenous 1
#chromebooks #googleforeducation #googlecanada 1
#Chromecast #ChromecastGames #Christmas #Xmas2015 #AngryBirds #Google #AngryBirdsFriends 1
#digitalskills 1
#EarthDay 1
#EnvironmentalInsights #EIE #ClimateAction 1
#Google 1
#Google #GoogleCanada #GrowwithGoogle 1
#Google #GoogleCanada #Innovation 5
#Google #GoogleCanada #Arctic #Whistler 1
#Google #GoogleCanada #DecadeinSearch #TorontoRaptors #Toronto #BiancaAndreescu #TragicallyHip #Drake #JustinBieber 1
#Google #GoogleCanada #EIE #EnvironmentalInsightsExplorer #Sustainability 1
#Google #GoogleCanada #EIE #EnvironmentalInsightsExplorer #Sustainability #ClimateAction 1
#Google #GoogleCanada #Google.org #ArcticEiderSociety #Inuit #CanadianArctic 1
#Google #GoogleCanada #GoogleCalendar #Android #iphone 1
#Google #GoogleCanada #GoogleKW #Waterloo #Engineering #Innovation 2
#Google #GoogleCanada #Stadia 1
#Google #GooglePlay #Family #FamilyLibrary 1
#Google #GooglePlayMusic #Beatles #Music 1
#Google #GooglePlayMusic #GooglePodcasts #GoogleCanada 1
#Google #Olympics #GoogleOlympics 1
#Google #Olympics #GoogleOlympics #GoogleCanada #Rio #Rio2016 2
#GoogleCanada 4
#googlecanada # google.org #challenge #GIC #ImpactChallenge #canada 1
#GoogleCanada #GooglePlay 1
#googlecanada #pixel3 1
#GoogleCanada #Pixel4 #NestMini #NestWifi #NestHubMax #PixelbookGo #Stadia #PixelBuds #Sustainability 1
#googlecanada #pixelslate 1
#GoogleExpeditions #SaveThePolarBears #GoogleCanada #PolarBearsInternational 1
#Googleforsmallbusiness 1
#GoogleMaps 3
#googlemaps #indigenous 1
#GoogleNewsInitiative 1
#GoogleSearch #Events #MarchBreak 1
#GoogleSearch #GoogleMaps 1
#GoogleStreetView #StreetView 1
#googletranslate 1
#GrowwithGoogle 2
#Indigenous #nationalaboriginalday #indigenousmapping #google #googlemaps #googleearths #canada #canada150 1
#JobsOnGoogle #Employment 1
#language 1
#madebygoogle #MadeToHelp #GoogleCanada #Google #Helpfulness #RonaldMcDonaldHouseCharities #RMHC 1
#MobileMonth 3
#Music 1
#NewsWise 2
#ParksCanada 1
#ParksDay 1
#photos #food #GoogleCanada 1
#PledgeToVote 2
#saferinernetday 1
#SmallBusiness 2
#Stadia 1
#StadiaMontréal 1
#StadiaTeam 1
#streetartproject 1
#StreetView 2
#ThinkBrand 3
#WorldEnvironmentDay #Environment 1
#YearInSearch 2
#youtube #creators #canada #montreal #quebec #YouTubeSpace 1
#youtube #creators #nextup #canada 1
#YouTube #GoogleCanada #GoogleAI #Innovation 1
#youtube #Toronto #Google #advertising #ad #pulse #youtubepulse 1
#YouTube #YouTubeFanFest #YTFF #Toronto #Google #iisuperwomanii #unicornisland #molsonamp 1
2018 1
360 1
Ads 15
Adwords 5
Agency 3
Agency Edge 2
AI 1
Allo 1
Analytics 1
Android 5
Android Apps 4
Arctic 6
art 1
Assistant 2
Availability 1
Award Winners 1
Back to School 7
bestbuy 1
bestbuycanada 1
Big Tent 1
Billboard Charts 1
Brand 4
Buffer Festival 2
Buffer Industry Day 2
Canada 3
Canada 150th 1
Canada NGO 1
Canadian 1
Canadian Innovation 2
Canadian Music 2
Canadiana 1
CBC 2
CBC News 1
CBCMusic 1
CBCNews 1
ChanningTatum 1
Chrome 9
Chrome Experiments 4
Chrome OS 3
Chrome Webstore 1
Chromebooks 5
Chromebox 1
Chromecast 6
chromecastultra 1
ChromeOS 1
Civic Engagement 3
Cloud 1
Cloud Computing 2
Codemakers 4
Comedy Week 1
Community Grants 4
Computational Thinking 1
contest 1
CS First 1
CSS3 1
D4G Canada 1
Daydream 1
Digital Economy 6
DIY Videos 2
Doodle 1
Doodle 4 Google Canada 2
Duo 1
Election 1
Elections 5
engineering 1
Enhanced Campaigns 1
EnMasse 1
Enterprise 5
eTowns 1
Francais 1
French 1
French Canadian 1
Full Value of Mobile 1
Geek Street 1
GIC 1
Gmail 4
Gmail App 1
Go North 1
GoneGoogle 4
GoNorth 1
google 4
Google Allo 1
Google App Engine 1
Google Apps 5
Google Apps for Business 2
Google AR & VR 1
Google Art Project 4
Google Assistant 1
Google Books 1
Google Calendar 2
Google Camp 1
Google Canada 4
Google Cloud 2
Google Cloud Platform 1
Google Cloud Storage 1
Google Coder 1
Google Cultural Institute 2
Google Currents 1
Google Developer 1
Google Docs 1
Google Doodle 1
Google Education Team 3
Google Engage 1
Google for Education 1
Google for Entrepreneurs 1
Google for non profits 1
Google for Seniors 1
Google Giving 1
Google Hangouts 3
Google Holiday 3
Google Impact Challenge 1
Google Kitchener-Waterloo 3
Google KW 2
Google Maps 30
Google Montreal 4
Google Music 1
Google My Business 1
Google Partner Serach 1
Google Partners 1
Google Play 10
Google Play Gift Cards 1
Google Play Music 4
Google Retail 2
Google Rise Award 1
Google Sites 1
Google Translate 1
Google TV 1
Google Waterloo 2
Google Wifi 1
Google+ 2
GoogleCanada 3
googleshop 1
GoogleWifi 1
Grammys 1
Grow with Google 1
Guest Blog 1
Hackathon 1
Hangouts 3
happy birthday Canada 1
Hardware 1
Holiday 2
Home 1
How-to 2
How-to videos 2
Innovation 6
Innovation Week 5
Insights 1
LilySingh 1
LiveCase 1
machine learning 1
Made by Google 1
madebygoogle 3
Maps 15
Mobile 12
Montreal 1
Multi-Screen 2
Music 2
MyLiveCase 1
O2S 1
Online Impacting Offline 1
Open Data 2
Peter Mansbridge 1
pixel 5
Play TV 1
playmusiccanada 1
Policy 1
Product 1
Product Launch 1
Products 1
ProudToPlay 1
Public Alerts 1
Quebec 1
Research 1
Retail 3
Search 10
Search Trends 23
security 2
Shopping 1
small business 2
SMB 6
Songza 1
STEM 2
STEM Education 5
Street View 1
StreetView 1
Super Bowl 1
technology 1
Templates 1
The National 1
TheHip 1
TheTragicallyHip 1
Think Insights 3
TouTube FanFest 1
Travel 2
Trends 12
Updates 1
Video 1
Video Trends 6
VideoCalling 1
Videos 1
Vimy150 1
Virtual Reality 1
VR 1
Web Audio API 1
WebGL 1
WebRTC 1
WomenatGoogle 7
World Teacher Day 1
YouTube 51
YouTube 360 1
YouTube Creators 14
YouTube Debates 1
YouTube FanFest 2
YouTube Gaming 1
YouTube Kids 1
YouTube Live 1
YouTube Music 7
YouTube Music Awards 2
YouTube NextLab 1
YouTube Partner Program 3
YouTube Rewind 2
YouTube Space 1
YouTube Space Toronto 1
YouTubeCreators 1
YouTubeRewind 1
YPP 2
Zeitgeist 2