README.md

---
license: cc-by-4.0
pretty_name: "'Flock camera' — how a surveillance brand name entered US search"
tags:
  - google-trends
  - surveillance
  - search-trends
---

# "Flock camera" — how a surveillance brand name entered US search

Google Trends aggregates covering **how the American public learned the phrase "Flock
camera"**: a **53-week** US interest-over-time series comparing three names for the same
technology, a **51-state** regional breakdown, and the **complete** rising and top
related-query sets (9 and 25 rows — not selections). Snapshot **2026-07-27**.

Companion to the study **["Flock Camera" Searches Just Hit a 12-Month High. "License Plate Reader" Never Moved.](https://crawlora.net/blog/flock-camera-search-surge-2026?utm_source=huggingface&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=flock-camera-search-surge-2026)**

## Headline findings

- **A brand name beat the technology's real name, by roughly 50 to 1.** US search
  interest in `Flock camera` sat flat between **1 and 4 for 36 consecutive weeks**
  (2025-07-27 → 2026-03-29), broke that ceiling on **2026-04-12**, and reached **100** —
  its 12-month peak — in the week of **2026-07-26**. Over the same 53 weeks,
  `license plate reader`, the generic name for the same device, **never once exceeded 2**.
- **The public is still at the definition stage.** All **9 of 9** rising related queries
  are asking what the thing is, led by *"what is a flock camera and what does it do"* at
  **+950%**. None concerns privacy law, contracts, or removal.
- **Then it wants a map.** The two highest-volume related queries are **tied at the
  ceiling** — `flock map` (100) and `flock camera map` (100) — with `flock camera
  locations` (19), `flock cameras map` (8) and `flock camera near me` (5) behind them.
- **The geography inverts the news coverage.** Interest is highest in **West Virginia
  (100)**, Arkansas (57), Kentucky (55), Idaho (53) and North Dakota (52); lowest in
  **Hawaii (17)**, New York (18), DC (20), New Jersey (22) and California (24) — despite
  California and the Northeast generating a large share of national reporting.
- **Nothing in either query set is about interfering with equipment.** Across all 25
  distinct queries, the nearest is `deflock` (top, value 4) — a camera-mapping project.

## Files

| File | Contents |
| --- | --- |
| `data/summary.json` | Full aggregate: pull parameters, per-keyword peaks and baselines, region extremes, query-set counts and caveats |
| `data/interest-over-time-weekly.csv` | 53 weekly points, US, `today 12-m`, for `Flock Safety`, `license plate reader` and `Flock camera` on one shared scale |
| `data/interest-by-region.csv` | 51 rows (50 states + DC), US, `today 3-m`, `Flock camera` |
| `data/related-queries.csv` | Complete rising (9) and top (25) related-query sets, US, `today 3-m`, `Flock camera` |

## Methodology

Pulled live on **2026-07-27** via [Crawlora](https://crawlora.net?utm_source=huggingface&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=flock-camera-search-surge-2026)'s Google Trends
endpoints: `google_trends_explore_interest_over_time` (`geo=US`,
`time_range=today 12-m`, web search, all three keywords in **one call**),
`google_trends_explore_interest_by_region`, `google_trends_explore_rising_queries` and
`google_trends_explore_top_queries` (each `geo=US`, `time_range=today 3-m`,
keyword `Flock camera`).

The DeFlock figures in `summary.json` (121,464 LPRs mapped; 94 cities listed as
rejecting) were scraped from deflock.org's front page the same day via Crawlora's
`web_scrape` endpoint.

## Caveats — please read before using

- **Google Trends values are relative, not search counts.** A value of 100 means "the
  highest point in this particular pull," not a volume.
- **Only the three interest-over-time keywords are comparable to each other.** They were
  requested in a single call, so Trends normalized them onto one shared 0-100 scale —
  which is what makes "100 versus never above 2" a valid statement. **The region series
  is a separate call on its own 0-100 scale** (100 = highest state) and must **not** be
  compared against the time-series numbers.
- **`Flock` is a polluted query term** (birds, the former browser, flock printing,
  church usage). This shows up in the data: `what is a flock` appears in both query sets
  and is certainly not all ALPR intent. The paired terms (`flock camera`, `flock camera
  map`) are the cleaner signal.
- **Region data is interest, not deployment.** A state ranking high means people there
  searched the term relatively more, not that it has more cameras.
- **`related_topics` returned empty** for this keyword — no error, simply no mapped topic
  entity. It is not included here.
- **The DeFlock numbers are the project's own self-reported counts**, not an
  independently audited census, and they change continuously.
- **This is a snapshot of a moving story.** The finding that 100% of rising queries are
  definitional is specific to the three months ending 2026-07-27 and is expected to
  change as the topic matures.

## Scope

These are aggregates only: search-interest values and query strings. No personal data, no
user-level records, and nothing tied to any individual.

## License

[CC BY 4.0](LICENSE) — free to use with attribution to
[Crawlora](https://crawlora.net?utm_source=huggingface&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=flock-camera-search-surge-2026). See `CITATION.cff`.