is bitcoin bigger than we think?

[Ford]

Search volume in my earlier post is actually worse than I expected think it's an accurate reflection of how well known it is minus the fluctuation due to price jumping, etc.   I checked 'pokemon', gets 3 million hits, just randomly something I picked.  I would like to see what it looks like on Baidu also.

Yes, i thought it was low in your previous post too.
However saying this, i am a bitcoin fan, but dont really search for "bitcoin" as i think i already know all the sites that will be returned with this search..... (i also use UK POUNDS £, but have never searched google for them :-))

[Ford]

not really related but here are some funny results for google auto-complete

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=strange+google+autocomplete&espv=210&es_sm=122&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=m-BuUu3lAaSv7QbKy4G4Ag&ved=0CDcQsAQ&biw=1280&bih=911#imgdii=_

[ANiceJewishBoy]

The only real issue left is how to appeal to the "How Do I Get Free Coins" crowd. I think MCXnow interest rates and devcoins for writers is the answer.

As well as a mass grouping of BTCtalk YouTubers teaming up in threads, then eventually visiting each other and making videos together. And of course adding bitcoin addresses to their channels. If we can get YouTube to love bitcoin, we can get everyone to love bitcoin.

Imagine that a kid on Facebook or YouTube that has never had a job in his life, could contribute to the bitcoin community simply by becoming involved in Bitcoin, and getting others excited about it via the sharing of information.

Also, if there were more coins that were available to less computer literate people Bitcoin could thrive. Think about people that can't ever mine due to computer literacy restrictions.

[Anon136]

i just picked some random things off the top of my head with the intention of providing some perspective.



this train has clearly left the station

[molecular]

i just picked some random things off the top of my head with the intention of providing some perspective.



this train has clearly left the station

provide perspective on a postage stamp?

EDIT: thanks for resize

[Ford]

So, should the title of this thread be "is bitcoin SMALLER than we think?"

And what do people think will make it bigger?

personally i dont think facebook/youtube posting will help, as this has already been done.
i think the more bitcoin services there are, and simplification of buying and using bitcoins is essential for mainstream growth.

[molecular]

we still have ways to go:

[crumbs]

So, should the title of this thread be "is bitcoin SMALLER than we think?"

And what do people think will make it bigger?

personally i dont think facebook/youtube posting will help, as this has already been done.
i think the more bitcoin services there are, and simplification of buying and using bitcoins is essential for mainstream growth.

Depends on what you mean by "bigger."
 
There's no definite link between mass adoption and bitcoin price.  This is pretty obvious == watch the price rise & fall. The number of users obviously doesn't account for those changes.

I see no obvious connection between the number of services & bitcoin price ether -- for the same reason as above, +SR going offline as the price spiked.

There's arguably a weak link between public awareness of bitcoin and its price -- google searches spike during major price jumps -- but that's not the same as mass adoption (after a terrorist bombing, media buzz about terrorism increases & so do google searches, doesn't mean more people are becoming terrorists).

So maybe we should limit the scope to just one of these things -- raising the price, raising public awareness, or raising the user base.

[Hfleer]

So, should the title of this thread be "is bitcoin SMALLER than we think?"

And what do people think will make it bigger?

personally i dont think facebook/youtube posting will help, as this has already been done.
i think the more bitcoin services there are, and simplification of buying and using bitcoins is essential for mainstream growth.

Depends on what you mean by "bigger."
 
There's no definite link between mass adoption and bitcoin price.  This is pretty obvious == watch the price rise & fall. The number of users obviously doesn't account for those changes.

I see no obvious connection between the number of services & bitcoin price ether -- for the same reason as above, +SR going offline as the price spiked.

There's arguably a weak link between public awareness of bitcoin and its price -- google searches spike during major price jumps -- but that's not the same as mass adoption (after a terrorist bombing, media buzz about terrorism increases & so do google searches, doesn't mean more people are becoming terrorists).

So maybe we should limit the scope to just one of these things -- raising the price, raising public awareness, or raising the user base.

I don't think OP was talking about price.  Public awareness or user base sound about right and one will affect the other.

[Ford]

So, should the title of this thread be "is bitcoin SMALLER than we think?"

And what do people think will make it bigger?

personally i dont think facebook/youtube posting will help, as this has already been done.
i think the more bitcoin services there are, and simplification of buying and using bitcoins is essential for mainstream growth.

Depends on what you mean by "bigger."
 
There's no definite link between mass adoption and bitcoin price.  This is pretty obvious == watch the price rise & fall. The number of users obviously doesn't account for those changes.

I see no obvious connection between the number of services & bitcoin price ether -- for the same reason as above, +SR going offline as the price spiked.

There's arguably a weak link between public awareness of bitcoin and its price -- google searches spike during major price jumps -- but that's not the same as mass adoption (after a terrorist bombing, media buzz about terrorism increases & so do google searches, doesn't mean more people are becoming terrorists).

So maybe we should limit the scope to just one of these things -- raising the price, raising public awareness, or raising the user base.

I don't think OP was talking about price.  Public awareness or user base sound about right and one will affect the other.

Yes, i mean more of the user base than the price.
From my point of view as a merchant, the more people that use it, the more use bitcoin will be to me and others (this may increase the price, but that's not of a main/real benefit to merchants).

[kriwest]

1. Tell 10 people you know about bitcoin
2. Provide each of those people with 0.1 BTC for free (spread the wealth)
3. Ask them to tell a friend about bitcoin and that they should give that friend 10% of that 0.1 that they just received.
4. Infinite Loop
4. ??
5. NEXT STOP SATURN. ONWARDS TO ALPHA CENTAURI.

[ANiceJewishBoy]

So, should the title of this thread be "is bitcoin SMALLER than we think?"

And what do people think will make it bigger?

personally i dont think facebook/youtube posting will help, as this has already been done.
i think the more bitcoin services there are, and simplification of buying and using bitcoins is essential for mainstream growth.

It's not about making Facebook posts and YouTube videos, it is about giving the people that do that the ability to earn coins without mining. And not just through tips.

That is the future. That is how everyone comes to Bitcoin.

[rampalija]

we need something big that accepts BTC, i guess in near future paypal will do something to accept BTC they will not have any options if they want to survive

[DoomDumas]

Google:
how do I buy


look at what comes up

http://howdoyoubuybitcoins.com/ is found as the 9th result

Quite impressive  

p.s. Im using DuckDuckGo (and a VPN) to search google, that way, google results are more neutral instead of user orriented !

[DoomDumas]

I think that Bitcoin is as big as I think it is - a $2B economy with >10K businesses and hundreds of thousands of users.

Based on data from http://www.similarweb.com/website/bitcointalk.org, it looks like the forum gets about 1M pageviews per day.

Google:
how do I buy

look at what comes up

You do know that Google search results and autocomplete are targeted? If you look at Bitcoin all day, it will give you Bitcoin-related results... It has little to do with Bitcoin's popularity.

AFAIK targeting is done only for language, location... and previous searches only if you allow Google to keep your search history.

Dont be so naive, they also use your gmail content, G+ content too, they are even able to differentiate different user from the same IP.. Quite a lot of researsh have been made from them about it, and they use a lot of trick to target/track user.. Do you know each page you visit that contains a G+ / FaceeBook / Twitter / Linked / .. share button are relaying your IP to those site.. Dont beleive they wont use this data !
So they all know your IP visited this page.  I bet there is something similar with GoogleAds..

Then I also use ShareMeNot http://sharemenot.cs.washington.edu/

[stereotype]

we need something big that accepts BTC, i guess in near future paypal will do something to accept BTC they will not have any options if they want to survive

Golden Arches? That would get people interested.    

[waqas]

we need something big that accepts BTC, i guess in near future paypal will do something to accept BTC they will not have any options if they want to survive

Golden Arches? That would get people interested.    

paypal must think about this otherwise its must be in history books only no place for this in near future without bitcoin

[Hfleer]

we still have ways to go:

So bitcoin and bombs spiked around the same time?
Update on that chart i posted, BTC searches got as high as 5 million in Novemeber and December, and still over 2 million on the most recent month they showed.

[zimmah]

I get "How do I buy on ebay" as my first response.

Buying Bitcoins does show up forth on my list though.

for me it's

1) stock
2) bitcoin
3) a house
4) shares
5) a domain name

when i use incognito mode it's:

1) a house in skyrim
2) dogecoins <-- wow
3) bitcoins
4) stocks

[billysweird]

I think that Bitcoin is as big as I think it is - a $2B economy with >10K businesses and hundreds of thousands of users.

Based on data from http://www.similarweb.com/website/bitcointalk.org, it looks like the forum gets about 1M pageviews per day.

Google:
how do I buy

look at what comes up

You do know that Google search results and autocomplete are targeted? If you look at Bitcoin all day, it will give you Bitcoin-related results... It has little to do with Bitcoin's popularity.

^ this

I though people already knows this

^^ this again because it's important.

That's true only if you allow Google to keep your search history

I always clean the cookies, how does it work?