Probably Meaningless Comparison between UND and NDSU

[nodakvindy]

Saw this discussed on USCHO. Google has a new utility that will let you provide a search topic and then generate the locations that most search for it. I tried University of North Dakota, North Dakota State University and Fighting Sioux. Other variants were too skewed - Bison had all searches for the animal, UND had any German searches for that word.

Fighting Sioux not surprisingly peaks in late March and April. It nearly tops North Dakota State University for a brief period. A solo search for the term NDSU shows a similar peak following the win over the Badgers.

http://www.google.com/trends?q=North+Dakot...eo=all&date=all

[SiouxMD]

...but interesting nonetheless.

[Shawn-O]

While we're at it:

University of North Dakota, 60.1 million hits, North Dakota State University 44.8 Million hits. We win again!!

[CDog]

Those are results (not webpage hits). But if you look at it another way, by searching strictly for these terms with enclosed quotations :

"North Dakota State University" : Results 1 - 10 of about 3,120,000 for "North Dakota State University". (0.51 seconds)

"University of North Dakota" : Results 1 - 10 of about 2,870,000 for "University of North Dakota". (0.55 seconds)

Looks like we win in that "war" also.

Does this mean we have to give the Nickel back? Speaking of Nickel back, "This is how you remind me".

[bincitysioux]

.......Could care less if NDSU/UND ever meet up again.

Yet you still felt the urge to join a UND Fighting Sioux fan-site? BTW, welcome to the board Nano, now that you're a member, you have two places to discuss UND athletics, just like the rest of us!

[Sioux-cia]

Do you guys even have any students that know what the Nickel stands for? Or do they have to be reminded what it's about by the upperclassmen and die-hards who have been around for a while?

p.s. Could care less if NDSU/UND ever meet up again.

Unlike NDSU who, if you're an example, does not care for or place any importance on tradition, UND students know what the Nickel stands for and know it's ours. Won fair and square! Well maybe not fair considering how outclassed NDSU was at that game.

Hey, with your attitude, what the heck are you doing on a UND sports board anyway?

[Sioux-cia]

Yep, outclassed then and now. You're here aren't you!?

[Cratter]

And if you look at it another way,

http://www.google.com/trends?q=%22NDSU%22%...eo=all&date=all

I guess we won.

(Nice attempt on working the numbers in your favor though...)

(But yes, completely pointless, interesting, but pointless)

and if you do it the most fair way "University of North Dakota" vs "North Dakota State University"

UND wins throughout the region except for the Fargo area, of which it is (not so surprisingly) close.

Google Comparison

[Shawn-O]

Those are results (not webpage hits). But if you look at it another way, by searching strictly for these terms with enclosed quotations :

"North Dakota State University" : Results 1 - 10 of about 3,120,000 for "North Dakota State University". (0.51 seconds)

"University of North Dakota" : Results 1 - 10 of about 2,870,000 for "University of North Dakota". (0.55 seconds)

Looks like we win in that "war" also.

Umm...whatever you say, Poindexter.

[SiouxMeNow]

It's a free country isn't it?

Outclassed? Don't make me laugh.

You can't outclass a program that HAS no class

(WHOOP WHOOP!!)

(Oh my flame-o-meter is going off! must...log...off..before...I say...something...much worse...)

Ah what the heck...Yes it is a free country except at the circle-JOKE you guys call Bisonville!

(I feel better now! )

[redwing77]

[Cratter]

Thank you for adding intellectually to the conversation.

[tony]

and if you do it the most fair way "University of North Dakota" vs "North Dakota State University"

UND wins throughout the region except for the Fargo area, of which it is (not so surprisingly) close.

Google Comparison

Hehehehe! What a cool toy! It's nice to see both universities being searched for.

However, I can't help pointing out that "North Dakota State" is what gets written in articles on the sports page, not "North Dakota State University." For example, my news alert for google is set up to use "North Dakota State."

A truer comparison but definitely not perfect

UND kind of has a problem. "Sioux" gets you all the stories on the real Sioux and a ton of stories on Sioux Falls, Sioux City, etc. "UND" is German conjunction. Can't drop the "University of" or you get all the stories on North Dakota. I think it would be hard to get proper search results.

Pirates v Ninjas*

* This would seemingly prove once and for all the pirates rule over ninjas, but it could be that ninjas are so sneaky that they don't show up no matter how hard you search for them.

[Cratter]

Hehehehe! What a cool toy! It's nice to see both universities being searched for.

However, I can't help pointing out that "North Dakota State" is what gets written in articles on the sports page, not "North Dakota State University."

UND kind of has a problem. "Sioux" gets you all the stories on the real Sioux and a ton of stories on Sioux Falls, Sioux City, etc. "UND" is German conjunction. Can't drop the "University of" or you get all the stories on North Dakota. I think it would be hard to get proper search results.

However, I can't help pointing out that "North Dakota" is what gets written in articles on the sports page, not "University of North Dakota."

The way I have it set up is the way to go if you want a true comparison.

Searching "North Dakota State" gets you many things that aren't related to the university. North Dakota State College of Science, North Dakota State Parks, North Dakota State Symbols, North Dakota State Library....

The top two Google news stories (by relevance at the present time) about "North Dakota State" are about "North Dakota State Track."

North Dakota State

[HockeyMom]

It's a free country isn't it?

Outclassed? Don't make me laugh.

I drove down 19th Ave last week with the MISTAKE of having my moon roof open......to say that NDSU smells like shi$* is a big understatement.

[SiouxMeNow]

They do have a top-notch DI Equestrian program set up there by Argusville....IMPRESSIVE

[HockeyMom]

They do have a top-notch DI Equestrian program set up there by Argusville....IMPRESSIVE

Buildings built by NDSU Engineering.........

[SiouxMeNow]

Buildings built by NDSU Engineering.........

Well...we all know what happened to the Leaning Barn of Buxton One too many spraypaintings by ag-school grads and it fell over! Another example of their overestimating their importance regardless of the infrastructure (if you know what I mean )

[HockeyMom]

Well...we all know what happened to the Leaning Barn of Buxton One too many spraypaintings by ag-school grads and it fell over! Another example of their overestimating their importance regardless of the infrastructure (if you know what I mean )

When the roof collapsed and someone from NDSU wrote "The Aurora" on it I about peed my pants laughing.....even though it was a slam on Forks, it was funny.

[tony]

Hehe, cratter, you really think people in the area looking for the latest breaking news on North Dakota State Symbols or whatever are typing in 'North Dakota State' into a the Google news search?

You said: "UND wins throughout the region except for the Fargo area, of which it is (not so surprisingly) close." You based that conclusion the assumption that people searching for news on NDSU would type 'North Dakota State University' rather than 'North Dakota State' into Google's search engine - even though most stories on NDSU athletics do not contain the phrase 'North Dakota State University' any more than stories on Ohio State contain the phrase 'Ohio State University.' I suppose it is possible that all those people in Bismarck and Minot were actually searching for breaking news about North Dakota State College of Science, North Dakota State Parks, North Dakota State Symbols, North Dakota State Library, etc, but that doesn't change the fact that NDSU not only was searched for seven times more than 'University of North Dakota' in Fargo but also that it has surprising penetration in India and mainland China.

Based on that, it'll be interesting to see if 'NDSU' surpasses 'University of North Dakota' as a search term down the road - because it kind of looks that way. A lucky deal for North Dakota State University that 'NDSU' is so unique - helps with branding, I'd think.

That said, folks interested in UND hockey, for instance, are probably not searching for a single phrase - they are probably typing in two separate search phrases: Sioux and hockey or something like that.

[The Sicatoka]

What happens when you put "state bird North Dakota" into the Google search box? How about "North Dakota state bird"?

Like someone said long ago, "Lies, damned lies, and (Google) statistics."

[tony]

What happens when you put "state bird North Dakota" into the Google search box? How about "North Dakota state bird"?

Like someone said long ago, "Lies, damned lies, and (Google) statistics."

Your point being? It's pretty easy to figure out the answers to your questions - go to news.google.com and type those search phrases in. Be sure to put them in quotes though as Google is measuring search phrases. If they weren't North Dakota State University would be counting all the stories containing the phrase "University of North Dakota."

Hehe, I can't help but notice that these stats only became lies when it became uncomfortably clear that there are a lot of people searching for information on my poor old Aggie Mater.

The answer to your questions is that both those phrases are unlikely to return any news stories... but you would use "North Dakota State Bird" or "North Dakota's State Bird" as your search phrase if that's the topic you wanted to get the latest news on. You sure wouldn't search using "North Dakota State" which was my original point.

[The Sicatoka]

Do it without the quote, as just four raw words like a Google novice would.

My point is: Google stats matter to anyone because .... ?

It must be summer because there must not be much else if those matter.

PS - I'm "dis"-ing both sides on this subject.

[nodakvindy]

Hehe, cratter, you really think people in the area looking for the latest breaking news on North Dakota State Symbols or whatever are typing in 'North Dakota State' into a the Google news search?

You said: "UND wins throughout the region except for the Fargo area, of which it is (not so surprisingly) close." You based that conclusion the assumption that people searching for news on NDSU would type 'North Dakota State University' rather than 'North Dakota State' into Google's search engine - even though most stories on NDSU athletics do not contain the phrase 'North Dakota State University' any more than stories on Ohio State contain the phrase 'Ohio State University.' I suppose it is possible that all those people in Bismarck and Minot were actually searching for breaking news about North Dakota State College of Science, North Dakota State Parks, North Dakota State Symbols, North Dakota State Library, etc, but that doesn't change the fact that NDSU not only was searched for seven times more than 'University of North Dakota' in Fargo but also that it has surprising penetration in India and mainland China.

Based on that, it'll be interesting to see if 'NDSU' surpasses 'University of North Dakota' as a search term down the road - because it kind of looks that way. A lucky deal for North Dakota State University that 'NDSU' is so unique - helps with branding, I'd think.

That said, folks interested in UND hockey, for instance, are probably not searching for a single phrase - they are probably typing in two separate search phrases: Sioux and hockey or something like that.

The problem is that you aren't comparing apples to apples. You'd need to compare a search for NDSU to one for UND, which is skewed by the fact the UND is a German word. Likewise the problems Bison and Sioux. The only full comparison is University of North Dakota and North Dakota State Univerisity. I stated this in the original post, which apparently no one read fully. I included Fighting Sioux because I believe that to be a distinct enough combination that it clearly refers to UND and was interested how that would compare.

I originally posted becuase I was quite surprised that there was such a pronounced advantage in favor of UND.

And google stats matter because they are a tangible sign of buzz and interest. Sure, this isn't a scientific sample, but if I'm a University I'd be pretty excited to know that there are nearly twice as many people searching for information on my school than my closest rival.

[NanoBison]

You mean just like searching for "North Dakota State", "University of North Dakota".

We come out on top in terms of "Buzz". Not quite twice as many for UND as you suggested earlier...

http://www.google.com/trends?q=%22North+Da...North+Dakota%22

Nice try though. Here's the popularity of the "Fighting Sioux" :

http://www.google.com/trends?q=%22North+Da...eo=all&date=all