We all know Google has their hands in a little bit of everything. One of the most useful and cost effective (can you say free?) utilities Google now offers is their public data graphing application.
Until now, many researchers had one of two options to compile, analyze and illustrate economic and demographic data. One, they could subscribe to pricey services like SRC’s Demographics Now or Nielsen’s Pop Facts. Or, two, they could struggle through compiling and formating publicly available data from the US Census Bureau’s American Community Surveys or the US Commerce’s Bureau of Economic Analysis.
Slowly, Google is moving into this space. Similar to Google Finance, Google’s Public Data Explorer now provides an ever-growing breadth of information which can be charted very easily in a clean, crisp format.
For example, imagine you are underwriting an office or retail portfolio in California and want to know if the state leads or lags the overall US unemployment rate. In only a couple clicks, you’ve got your answer:
How about another example, perhaps you have a client looking to develop an apartment community in the state of North Carolina, but wants to know if Asheville or Greenville has experienced a higher level of population growth.
It looks like Greenville has overtaken Asheville’s population over the last 10 years. Maybe the Greenville market deserves a closer look.
Sure, there are these examples are elementary, but the ease of use is incredible. Hopefully, Google will continue to enhance both the breath and depth of information they make available through this new service.
[...] Blytic is certianly more robust, as it allows users to create new graphics, but the concept is somewhat similar to Google’s Public Data utility. [...]