Ho-hum statistics come alive with Google Public Data Explorer

Last year Google launched a public data search feature that allowed users to find statistics within the company's search service. Public data search includes statistics from the World Bank, the U.S. Department of Labor Statistics and the U.S. Census Bureau, among others. It's a nice offering, but many users found that it was difficult to comb through so many statistics without an easy way to interpret them. In an attempt to address that issue, Google has launched Public Data Explorer. The service displays statistics taken from the various services currently included in its public data search in line graphs, bar charts or bubble charts. The charts are animated, allowing users to watch as the data points change throughout the years.