PS4: Is Playstation 4 Already More Popular Than Xbox One?

Could gamers be more interested in the PS4 than the Xbox One? The Xbox One was introduced during an event held by Microsoft last week. Since Microsoft took the wraps off the Xbox One, many gamers have voiced concerns about the Xbox One's policy toward used games and its always-on requirements. Both of these issues persist, and a Microsoft executive essentially acknowledged them when he said that Xbox One "policy decisions are still being finalized."

We've uncovered some current data from Google that suggests gamers may now be much more interested in the PS4 than the Xbox One. (The PS4 is set to be unveiled by Sony on June 10, at 9 p.m. at E3.) We looked at Google Adwords' "Find keywords" tool, which tells you how many searches a keyword gets per month. Here's what we saw when we typed in Xbox One.

According to Google Adwords, Xbox One has only gotten 201,000 searches this month. In fairness, the world has only known that the next Xbox would be called Xbox One for about a week-and-a half. Still, considering that 8.45 million people tuned into the Xbox One reveal event, according to Microsoft, we're surprised that the number is as low as it is.

Then, we entered "ps4" into Google Adwords. Here's how popular that search term is in comparison.

"PS4" is searched for 2,740,000 times per month, according to Google, while "xbox one" is searched for only 201,000 times per month. However, the world has known the name of the PS4 much longer than it has known about the Xbox One's name, which was commonly referred to as the Xbox 720 prior to Microsoft's reveal event. So, what happened when we entered Xbox 720 into Google Adwords?

According to Google, "Xbox 720" is searched for 1,500,000 times per month. While that seems like a much more accurate representation of overall interest in the Xbox One than the previous figure, that's still 1,240,000 fewer searches than what PS4 gets per month.

What could account for the PS4's superior popularity compared to the Xbox One, at least according to how Google sees it? We're willing to bet that this has something to do with the always-on connectivity issue and the backwards-compatability, or playability, of used games -- two issues that are worrying gamers. Until these issues are resolved and Microsoft provides concrete answers to these questions, gamers will be anxious about the Xbox One.

What do you think of this data from Google? Are you more interested in the PS4 than the Xbox One? If so, why? Are always-on and used games significant issues for you? Sound off in the comments below.