• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, July 6, 2015

With the long Independence Day weekend, people in the U.S. who are searching on Google's engine want to know more about the economic situation in Greece and the meaning of the confederate flag.

The New York Times recently analyzed Google's search data, which showed how New Yorkers use the search engine within 24 hours. The research suggests that typically, search rates for "weather," "prayer" and "news" peak before 5:30 a.m. Search rates for "suicide" peak at 12:36 a.m. and are at the lowest levels around 9 a.m., according to the analysis.

The search data from Google trends data paints a picture of Internet habits, but it only reflects a proportion of all searches, not volumes. It measures search interest in topics.  July 3 and 4 were relatively light days for searches on news in the United States. On Sunday at 7:30 a.m. GMT, the topic of "news" once again created interest.

So what news did people in the United States search for Monday, July 6, 2015, following the long Independence Day weekend? On Monday, news on Greece topped the list. People searched for an update on the economic situation in Greece. News on Nascar, MSN, Greek, ISIS, and Chicago followed.

People looked for sales during the Independence Day weekend, Friday through Sunday, especially at Victoria's Secret. They also searched for sales on fireworks. Come Monday, searches for sales dropped to a week low. The topic of "sales" was replaced by searches "confederate flag for sale" after the long weekend, though the searches were not as strong as the searches for "sale" during the prior few days.

On Monday people searched for "rebel flag." They also wanted to know the meaning of "confederate flag." The top search terms for the confederate flag included "rebel flag for sale," "original confederate flag for sale," "confederate flag for sale amazon," and "confederate flag for sale."

Most of the interest was generated by the Southeast in states like Arkansas, West Virginia, Tennessee, Alabama, Kentucky, Louisiana, North Carolina, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and South Carolina, respectively.