“What is bitcoin?” was the 4th most search what is term on google this year.For a long time now, bitcoin has been compared with internet in its early form. From being called the internet of money, now the digital currency has reached another great height.Bitcoin has passed times of immense controversies. While it has not yet reached a very stable state, the crypto currency is gathering people’s attention very effectively.As promotional activities and merchant adoptions are increasing, questions are being raised about bitcoin.
And the most common question of them all is, “what is bitcoin?”Google is the most popular online search engine used by people from all around the world.The website has recently revealed its most anticipated search lists for 2014. The data collections are almost towards its end and what made a top 5 in one of these lists was surprising.In the list of most searched “What is…?” terms of 2014, “What is Bitcoin?” was officially the 4th most searched for term.There was many more list that Google published but this particularly caught eyes of bitcoin enthusiasts. “What is Bitcoin?” was the 10th most searched “What is…?” term 1 year back.
The term wich secured the top spot in the list of “What is…?” term for 2014 was Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). It is very likely that the viral #IceBucketChallenge, which was social media campaign, played a big role to make this happen.The Bitcoin community has lost Hal Finney, one of the pioneering members, to ALS. The community also raised donations in bitcoins to help the fight against ALS.Life-threatening Ebola was on number 2 spot on the list while Islamic State in Iran and Syria (ISIS) was 3rd on the list.This shows that the ongoing and extremely viral turmoil in Middle East is concerning rest of the world too.
After bitcoin, was Asphyxia on the “What is…?” list. The #ICantBreathe movement is perhaps what helped Asphyxia become the 5th most searched “What is…?”All the events, public musings and social trends of this year can be presented as aggregated search data.Renowned company Google’s unparalleled position in the search engine space is what makes this possible. Although there are Internet bots and many other search engines, everyone agrees that the statistical significance of Google search data is unmatchable.Co-founder of Wikipedia, the online information platform, Jimmy Wales once said that if something is not on Google, it does not exist.In this case, Silk Road 1.
0, 2.0, and other similar platforms would be exceptions as Google chooses to ignore them.The fact that “what is bitcoin” was the 4th most asked “what is” on google is indicating something important. It is showing that people’s interest in the digital currency and its potential is slowly increasing.Internet users are curious and what to know what the digital currency is and how it works.
This is a great signal and it might even lead to increased use and mainstream adoption one day.
