Yahoo! Clues is a free online search phrase tool that lets you explore how people are using Yahoo! Search. Simply enter a word or phrase and Yahoo! Clues will display information about that search term’s popularity over time, across demographic groups, and in different locations. You can also enter a second search term to compare both terms side by side.

Yahoo! Clues provides the following categories of information:

• Searches Over Time: This chart provides search volume trends over time: the past day, 7 days, or 30 days;
• By Demographic: Provides a demographic breakdown of age, gender, or both;
• By Income: Provides a breakdown of income distribution for your search term using anonymous aggregated zip code information from Yahoo! Search matched against per capita income data from the US Census Bureau;
• By Location: This map shows where the greatest concentrations of searches originated. Currently, only Yahoo! Search information originating from the United States is available. You may click on the list of states to get detailed information on where searches are coming from within that state;
• Search Flow: This section provides a list of the most probable previous and next user searches from an analysis of aggregated search patterns across Yahoo! Search. The top item under ‘Previous Queries’ represents the most probable search term people tried before your search term. Similarly, the top item under ‘Next Queries’ represents the most probable search term people tried after your search term; and
• Related Searches: Provides a list of the most common related search terms across Yahoo! Search and is not limited to the user search patterns displayed in “Search Flow”.

Yahoo! Clues doesn’t provide indepth market research insights but can provide some useful bits of information about your target audience.

For example, the search above reveals that men aged 45 to 54 who searched for Christmas also searched for outdoor Christmas decorations and Radio City Christmas spectacular. While women in the same age bracket who searched for Christmas also searched for Christmas cookies and clipart.

Does Yahoo! Clues give any insights into your target audience?

Yahoo! Clues »