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Here is a recent Google correlate query:
http://www.google.com/trends/correlate/search?e=internet+usage&t=weekly#

As you can see in the search box at that link, I entered "internet usage" and Google did the rest. It shows a value of 0.9298 as the "correlation" with the query "data mining". However, when I read page 2 of the Google white paper [PDF], it says:

The objective of Google Correlate is to surface the queries in
the database whose spatial or temporal pattern is most highly correlated
with a target pattern. Google Correlate employs a novel approximate nearest
neighbor (ANN) algorithm over millions of candidate queries in an online
search tree to produce results similar to the batch-based approach employed
by Google Flu Trends but in a fraction of a second. For additional details,
please see the Methods section below....

So, my question is:
Is Google using a normal Pearson or Spearman correlation to find this stuff or are they using something else? If so, can you explain the general technique?

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Also, notice in the plot that the search for "internet usage" (and "data mining") drops during the summer months and really dives around Christmas. I would guess that kids and their homework have something to do with this.

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    $\begingroup$ Aren't these just Pearson correlation coefficients as reported on the tutorial? (Section Correlated Queries) $\endgroup$
    – chl
    Commented May 27, 2011 at 20:16
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    $\begingroup$ @chl: You're right. I clicked on the FAQ's, but got sidetracked by the Whitepaper. So, they're using correlation of a time series (not the change in the time series). That's like calculating the correlation of a stock price, not returns. That's a little surprising. $\endgroup$
    – bill_080
    Commented May 27, 2011 at 20:23
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    $\begingroup$ @chl: although your answer is a little obvious, it IS still an answer, and you should make it so, so it can be accepted. $\endgroup$
    – naught101
    Commented Mar 29, 2012 at 9:39
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    $\begingroup$ @bill_080 Any response from google about why the data differ between the two systems? I actually found this question seeking an explanation related to your observation $\endgroup$
    – chandler
    Commented Nov 21, 2012 at 17:22
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    $\begingroup$ @chandler : Google never answered the e-mail. I played with both Trend and Correlate for a while, but neither were as useful as I expected, so I moved on. $\endgroup$
    – bill_080
    Commented Nov 21, 2012 at 20:21

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As chl points out, the Google Correlate tutorial states that Google Correlate uses Pearson's product-moment correlation coefficient.

They don't mention which language this is implemented in, although Google does use R for some applications, so I'd be guessing that.

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  • $\begingroup$ Thanks for taking care of filling this thread. (I totally forgot about it, despite your ping :-) $\endgroup$
    – chl
    Commented May 15, 2012 at 6:39

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