Who will get the Olympics? Madrid, says Google index

AP -- Madrid's Olympic bid

Who will get the 2016 summer Olympic Games?

That's one of the world's hottest questions right now. The city chosen to host the 2016 Olympics will be announced tomorrow in Copenhagen, Denmark.

The field is down to four finalists to host the Olympics: Madrid, Rio de Janeiro, Tokyo and Chicago.

Rio and Chicago are seen as the favorites to host the Olympics in 2016, and many think the Obamas' visit to Denmark on behalf of their Chicago hometown will swing the voters toward the Windy City.

But Madrid will emerge as the winner of the 2016 Games, if Google Trends has any predictive value.

There has been more Internet search traffic for Madrid over the past 12 months and 30 days than any of the other three finalists. Chicago is second, and Rio is third.  

Nobody is making the claim that this is a scientific way to predict the results of the Olympic Games host question. It's entirely possible that Madrid's higher traffic count is unrelated to its Olympic bid.

But the index would seem to have at least some merit. Decision-makers have to carefully research each potential host city to determine how good a fit it would be for the Olympic Games. Google is now the de facto starting point for research.

The decision on who will host the 2016 Olympics is scheduled to be announced tomorrow at 12:30 EDT. We'll see if the "Google Index's" choice of Madrid was correct.