However did people win radio trivia contests before the advent of the Internet?
Taking a look at the newly launched “Hot Trends” component of Google Trends, you’ll see that two of today’s early morning hot trends are “what part of a graduate’s costume gave the cordon bleu cooking school its name” and “what sports league was born in 1949 when the baa absorbed the remains of the nbl.”
Hot Trends, as the name implies, is an immediate snapshot of what searches are popular on Google. It’s an excellent addition to the basic Google Trends, which has never been more than a fun toy due to its delayed data (sometimes by weeks or months, according to Google). Check out Barry’s post at Search Engine Land for more on how the new feature works.
As for the queries I mentioned above, those look like early morning radio show trivia questions to me. Given many layusers’ propensity to type full sentence queries into Google, the queries make perfect sense.
If I were a popular radio show, I’d start planning my trivia questions weeks in advance and buy AdWords corresponding to the keywords in those questions.
As for the answers to the above questions: According to Le Cordon Bleu Paris, “The origin of the expression “Cordon Bleu” comes from the 1578 foundation of the Order of Knights of the Holy Spirit. The members of the order wore a medal suspended on a blue ribbon and their spectacular feasts became legendary.” The second answer: the NBA.