Use of the Google search term “Cloud Computing” started to grow in 2007 and peaked in 2011. Since then its use has tailed off and in mid-2013 the term “Big Data” overtook it. Big Data continues to grow, albeit much more slowly and may have now plateaued. It now looks like Blockchain will soon also overtake the use of the term Cloud Computing.
Whilst tracking Google searches may be a limited proxy for interest in a technology it is however still of value as a way of eliciting the general trend. Could this be a useful lens to view the hype cycle of these three technologies ? It’s certainly interesting to see that the steepness of the curve when each of the terms came into use differs. Perhaps surprisingly, it was Cloud Computing that ramped up fastest. So, maybe we’re nowhere near Peak Blockchain yet!
Whilst there’s continued acknowledgement that when someone says “Blockchain” they probably mean “Distributed Ledger” this clearly isn’t yet reflected in how people are searching google for information about the technology.
As the chart shows, there has been a massive spike since 2011 in use of the search term Blockchain. In comparison, the term “Distributed Ledger” is only just beginning to appear and in very low volumes.
It also looks like the Blockchain search is dominated by an interest in Bitcoin:
It will be interesting to see if Bitcoin continues to dominate the level of interest in Blockchain in 2016.
Firstly, what’s in a name? In the case of Distlytics, it has been formed from the words which describe what it does – Distributed Ledger Analytics.
Next, what’s a Distributed Ledger? Well, in basic terms it’s a protocol / technology / architecture that provides the ability for identical copies of a database to be held, simultaneously, by multiple parties. It’s the descriptive term of how the Blockchain technology that underpins crypto-currencies such as Bitcoin is used.
Finally, if you don’t know anything about Distributed Ledger or Blockchain technology then that’s ok…..that’s why Distlytics was formed.
