Google Insights index: Germans, Americans search for 'banned' Galaxy Tab

(Samsung)

Tablet device the Galaxy Tab 10.1, which has been the center of a European legal dispute between manufacturer Samsung and rival Apple, was one of the most searched for product related terms in Germany and the US over the past week.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 has been the center of a public legal dispute concerning copyright infringement with rivals Apple for several weeks. As a result, on August 9 a court order banned Samsung from selling the tablet in Europe, except the Netherlands; however, this ban was over turned by a court in Dusseldorf on August 16.

Samsung is now able to sell the tablet across Europe, except in Germany, but the matter is not yet resolved and will be considered again at a August 25 court hearing.

This legal tussle, and the large amount of press attention surrounding it, is most likely the reason for the increased popularity in Google searches for the phrase "Galaxy Tab 10.1" over the past week.

Data from Google Insights shows that searches for the tablet computer increased 40 percent over the seven days prior to August 17 making it the fifth most searched for term in the category Products. The data also shows that the majority of these searches originated in Germany and the United States.

Other popular searches in the category "products" over the past week include exercise equipment "kettlebells" - a type of free weights used in strength training; the majority of these searches originated in the USA.

The search terms with the most significant growth worldwide in the last seven days, in the category Products as  measured by Google Insights, recorded on August 17 were:

01. kettlebell (+190%)
02. kettlebells (+140%)
03. 3ds (+50%)
04. ooma (+50%)
05. galaxy tab 10.1 (+40%)
06. Nintendo dsi xl (+40%)