Matt Homer, a columnist for the Daily Utah Chronicle, used Google Trends and got what he called “bizarre results,” finding that Salt Lake City users are searching for “pornography,” “repentance” and “fry sauce” at a greater rate than any other location in the U.S.
Google Trends allows users to track keyword searches by location. Users enter a keyword and Google Trends tells them which locations use that keyword most frequently.
Homer said he decided to use Google Trends to verify reports that Salt Lake City ranks No. 1 in the U.S. for pornography searches.
“Salt Lake City ranks first in the nation for searches using the term ‘pornography,’ but only fifth in the entire world,” he said. “Who searches for ‘pornography’ more than we do? India. Enter a few off-color words and, before long, you'll notice something eerily nasty about the land of curry.”
While Homer’s study was not scientific, he did note that users seemed more than comfortable searching both for pornography and so-called conservative keywords.
Salt Lake City ranks in the top 10 for the following searches: “President Bush,” “patriotism,” “Fox News,” “marriage amendment,” “Sean Hannity” and “American flag.”