That's a good point Rob.

If you look at the individual results (rather than the aggregated), it does give you any news that maybe attributed to a search spike, although it has to be said, there is plenty of news Google hasn't flagged.

I think we also should bear in mind that the results reflect a trend over time, whereas a search for a fix would account for the occassional spike?

You decide - As I said, I wouldn't like to draw a conclusive conclusion 'cos who knows how Google calculates this stuff anyway!