tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3364158.post115434853337955197..comments2023-10-26T09:46:09.197-04:00Comments on BIRDS ETCETERA: Birding and Other Outdoor Activities As Google Search TermsJohn L. Trapphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14001532550767505335noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3364158.post-1154451629810159752006-08-01T13:00:00.000-04:002006-08-01T13:00:00.000-04:00I find myself agreeming with most of what you have...I find myself agreeming with most of what you have to say, John. Hardcore birders are a relatively small subset of a larger audience of people who have an interest in wild birds. So if you majority of people with an interest in wild birds do not consider themselves birders, perhaps we need to coin another term to capture their interest, perhaps something like "wild bird enthusiasts" or "backyard bird enthusiasts" (after the Game Bird Journal: an Online Magazine Devoted to the Game Bird Enthusiast), which is sort of the niche that magazines like Birds & Blooms and Bird Watcher's Digest aim to reach.John L. Trapphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14001532550767505335noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3364158.post-1154396915709444692006-07-31T21:48:00.000-04:002006-07-31T21:48:00.000-04:00I understand how Google Trends works, but I think ...I understand how Google Trends works, but I think that the same vocabulary limitation applies. Going by my blog's referral listings, I see far more searches by people looking for information on specific birds than by people looking for the "birding" keyword. And that is despite having my site's advantages for that keyword. <BR/><BR/>There is also the related issue of different levels of birders and how they self-identify. "Birding" as a term seems in practice to be limited to a subset of the people who are actually interested in the hobby. Someone whose primary interaction with birds is at a backyard feeder is not necesarily going to use "birding" to describe that activity. But I do not think that person is any less a birder than someone with a 1,000-species life list.John B.https://www.blogger.com/profile/00163297234733313179noreply@blogger.com