# Google Trends: test demand and seasonality with search interest

Source: https://sarang.pro/google-trends-demand-research-guide/
Author: Sarang | Published: 13 February 2026

**The site:** [Google Trends](https://trends.google.com/trends/). Cost: Free. Useful for: marketing and search.

## What it is
Google Trends shows how search interest in a term changes over time and across places. It does not show search volumes. Google explains that each data point is divided by the total searches for its place and time range, then scaled from 0 to 100 based on the topic's share of all searches, using a sample of Google searches.

On the current Explore page you can compare up to 8 groups of terms at once and set location and time filters. Trending now shows what is spiking. Related searches at the bottom of a results page list top and rising terms, and a rising term labelled Breakout has grown by more than 5,000 per cent.

## Use it for
- Checking whether interest in a product category is growing, flat or falling
- Finding seasonal peaks to time campaigns and stock
- Comparing the words people use, such as one product name against another
- Finding rising related searches for content and keyword ideas
It is a fast, free way to test a hunch about demand before paying for keyword tools or research.

## How to use it
- Open trends.google.com and go to Explore.
- Enter your first term, then add others to compare.
- Use Change filters to set the country or region and the time period.
- Read the line chart for trend and seasonality, remembering it shows relative interest.
- Scroll to the related searches and look at both the top and the rising terms.
Use a time range of five years when you look for seasonality. One year can hide whether a peak is a pattern or a one-off.

## Example
A jewellery brand planning its year could compare interest in two product terms in the United Kingdom over five years. If both peak every December and one is steadily rising, that suggests when to promote and which word to use in ad copy and product titles.

## Watch out for
- Numbers are relative, on a 0 to 100 scale, not counts of searches.
- The data comes from a sample, so small terms can look noisy.
- Two regions with the same score do not necessarily have the same search volume.
It works well alongside AnswerThePublic, Similarweb and Meta Ad Library.