Click to Skip Ad
Closing in...

Google claims it can predict box office performance with 94% accuracy

Published Jun 7th, 2013 7:45PM EDT
Google Box Office Predictions

If you buy through a BGR link, we may earn an affiliate commission, helping support our expert product labs.

A new study from Google suggests that the company can predict which new movies will be a hit up to four weeks before they reach theaters. The study, titled “Quantifying Movie Magic with Google Search,” found that by using data from Google’s search engine, the company can predict a film’s opening weekend box office results with 94% accuracy. Google examines the search volume for a movie’s trailer four weeks before the films hits theaters. As the release approaches, however, the company’s predictions become slightly less accurate. One week before the movie arrives in theaters, Google uses search volume for a film’s title rather than the trailer, and combines it with theater availability to make predictions that were found to be 92% accurate. Google notes that if a film receives at least 250,000 more searches than another film opening in the same week, it will make an average of $4.3 million more during its opening weekend.

Dan joins the BGR team as the Android Editor, covering all things relating to Google’s premiere operating system. His work has appeared on Fox News, Fox Business and Yahoo News, among other publications. When he isn’t testing the latest devices or apps, he can be found enjoying the sights and sounds of New York City.