I suspect it operates in somewhat the same way enrollments here operate. Publicity about something sparks interest and resultant searches. Or perhaps those places just have a greater need for a trim, and they are finally recognizing it.... I suspect the Hijra topic in India would stir the greatest interest there. Beyond that, merely speculation...

My feeling is that in the areas that dropped off or went lower on the list individuals doing the searches have acquired internet addresses (such as eunuch.org) and no longer need to search. The former searchers are then replaced on the list with new searchers from new areas. --FLO--

I'd speculate that Atlanta went from #1 to #10 because you pulled the first search in mid-May 2006 and that was about a month after the North Carolina arrests, which were just up the street from Atlanta. So the local media outlets were probably being swamped with searches about the "local" story.