A few weeks ago we were intrigued by a selection of what Hitwise's Sandra Hanchard called "search value determinants," or word pairings used in search with regard to modifiers like "price" and "cheap," et cetera.



Sandra's examination focused on the Asia Pacific region, but Bill Tancer has answered our hopes of following up with the same type of analysis for the US. And really, even as difficult as it may be for an Australian and an American to have a comprehensible conversation – is it a bell pepper or a capsicum? – Tancer reveals both use the words "discount" and "used" in much the same way.

In the US, people are searching for "discount" tires, furniture, hotels, airfare, auto parts, and shoes, mostly, but want "cheap" tickets, flights, textbooks, and car rentals.

If they're looking for "prices" specifically, they're specifically looking for gas, gold, cars, stocks, silver, oil, and live stock. But if it's a "deal" they want, they want it at the last minute on travel, on cell phones, on hotels, on cruises, and trips to Las Vegas.

Anything "used" is reserved for cars, books, trailers, boats, and auto parts.

But my favorite are the "free" things. Searchers want free music, games, MySpace layouts, ringtones, credit reports, and sex stories.

Sex stories? Really? What, is the guy at the gym, or by the water cooler, or in your fantasy football group charging now to tell of his weekend exploits? 

keyword research word pairings