diberry - 6:05 am on Dec 18, 2012 (gmt 0)

This years can be tracked to Dec 14th evening. Traffic started to have weird patterns where one hour would be normal and the next hour would be less than normal. Now, it's all less than normal.

Any chance any of that was due to the Sandy Hook shooting? The news broke Friday morning while many would have been at work or school.

I'm not trying to convince anyone that Google isn't making any changes, but remember there has been a LOT going on. People in the US are wondering if their paychecks are going to shrink in January, and big business is worried the debt ceiling debate will cause an economical debacle that makes the recession look like a cakewalk. These things have to be squeezing the markets at both ends, altering shopping habits, changing what businesses feel they can afford to spend on new employees and initiatives... these things are likely to impact searching and buying habits.