Religion According to Google

Sam Rainer

April 22, 2010

The following maps are generated from religious references in user-created content indexed by Google.

The first map demonstrates which religions are more referenced than others in global searches. For example, blue means more search references to Jesus than Allah (green), Buddha (yellow), or Hindu (red).

The second map reveals which denominations are more searched in the US. Not surprisingly, Baptists (green) dominate the South and Mormons (purple) lead the Mountain West. More of a surprise was how Methodists (red) represent a thin barrier between the Baptist South and the rest of the nation.

You can see more maps here and here.

HT: Floating Sheep and Cool Infographics

4 comments on “Religion According to Google”

  1. Jeff says:

    Wow… Now Mr. Rainer, exactly how was this done, specifically?

    This is information in which can be put to use now.

    – Jeff

  2. Sam Rainer says:

    Jeff – The mechanics of how they did it is not revealed, but yes, it does open up the possibility for all sorts of research tied to search terms.

  3. Malcolm says:

    How did they track Amish?

    I have Amish neighbors… they don’t have computers, Internet or electricity generally.

    Would have rather had something like Pentecostal, Charismatic or something to represent Vineyard & other similar denom or group.

    Non-denominational would have been better than Amish! Ha!

  4. Sam Rainer says:

    They are simply tracking search references in specific areas, so someone must be searching for “Amish.” But you bring up a good point–there are other groups out there.

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