> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.philsimon.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# Platforms and Trends
- URL: https://www.philsimon.com/platforms-and-trends/
- Published: 2012-04-04T10:27:30.000Z
- Updated: 2025-07-06T17:46:47.000Z
- Description: Have we really entered the Age of the Platform?
- Author: Phil Simon
- Tags: Platforms, Strategy, Frenemies, Google, The Age of the Platform

I love [Google Trends](https://www.google.com/trends/?ref=philsimon.com). It's a really neat plank in its platform, even if relatively few people know about it. Check out the graph below on news references with the word *platform*:

Interestingly, it's always been a popular search term. Only recently has its frequency in the news picked up.

And Google's just pulling data from other sites here. Go to [TechCrunch](https://techcrunch.com/search/platform?ref=philsimon.com) and you'll see that platform is referenced more than 140,000 times. By way of comparison, [*Facebook*](https://techcrunch.com/search/facebook?ref=philsimon.com) is referenced 500,000 times.

The Age of the Platform is here.