It struck me as offensive, too, the first time I read it. I know they are geeks, but I thought QA combs through every potential blog post... it really surprised that this metaphor comparing Google users with monkeys, survived. :-o

And BTW, tell them Yogi Berra is spelled with two 'r's. :-P

It's an interesting article, and it certainly explains why Google might be interested in acquiring Twitter.

The post mentions car sales trends as one example. Now suppose Google notices that the number of people tweeting "I'm going to buy a car" starts to increase. Can Google somehow get more profitable car advertising from that knowledge? Or can they sell that information to the auto trade?

Let's take it one step further. Supposing Google notices a surge in tweets saying "I'm going to buy a house". Google will know that the property market is about to turn and can make a killing on real estate investments.

Owning the world's information, and being the company best-placed to consolidate and interpret it, would be extremely powerful.

I've often thought Google Trends data could be used in this way. I believe Google has access to a lot more valuable trend data than they release to the public.

April 16 Google quarterly figures.

Despite the severe economic crisis, we think that Google will once
again surpass expectations.

Google trends shows that google adwords search popularity in the last
month has grown rapidly.

Many shift a larger share of their budget to Google adwords as a
measurable tool. Using Google adwords you know exactly what an
incoming address cost.

Using Google adwords targeted addresses in the short term may
generate.

Can Google Trends google insights or a way to predict economic
activity? We know the answer on April 16.

http://www.google.com/insights/search/#q=google%20adwords&cmpt=q