I just learned about Google Trends, a newish feature of the mighty browser that lets you explore all sorts of search trends on the World Wide Web. The data used go back to the beginning of 2004. You enter any word or phrase and you get a chart with the trend of its usage on Google together with the appearance of the key articles in the major newspapers in which the word or phrase has appeared. The trend is also associated with bar charts of the countries, cities, and languages in which the word or phrase appears most often. The speed of data retrieval is stupendous. Anyhow, the word I looked for on my first try was “Motovun.” The chart shows at once that the fame of this little town is very much associated with the Motovun Film Festival, which started in 1999. Several interesting things are abundantly clear at the first sight of the chart. First, it shows sharp spikes around the last week in July, when the festival is actually held. Second, the spikes are dropping in height, suggesting that the festival is gradually losing its popularity in Croatia and the region. And third, the base of each spike is widening, implying that Motovun is now attracting attention for reasons other than the festival itself. An amazing tool, indeed.