Correlate is a new, typically quirky beta service from Google.
It’s tricky to understand the concept at first, but essentially
the service does for data what TinEye does for online images –
provides a reverse search mechanism for finding similar data-
sets from trends. Correlating one set of information with
another. The idea comes from Google’s successful experiment to
use the frequency of Google searches for keywords associated
with flu symptoms, to provide advanced warning of flu outbreaks.
At the time of writing, Correlate works for two types of
information: time-series, and US States. Trends are matched with
variations in Google Search keyword frequency over time or by
State. You can enter a search term, or upload your own data. As
this is correlation, not cause and effect, it often produces odd
results. For instance one of the closest geographic correlations
for Facebook is Tapeworm in humans. Uploading data for hate
group numbers per capita, I found a correlation with several
dubious searches people are