When search does not equate to action

I don't really like American Idol, I actually prefer the early episodes when they focus on the people who cannot sing. Nonetheless, I want to look at a peculiar thing that happened tonight. Typically, search trends for these shows can help to predict who the eventual winner will be. (There is a great article that goes into past trends in more depth on Mashable.)

The assumption is that search volume = interest = intent to vote. This is similar in marketing where search volume = interest = intent to buy. Tonight, however, that trend was bucked. See the charts below.

But, Lambert didn't win tonight. Kris Allen did. Lambert owned the search trends all the way back to late January, so why didn't he convert more voters?

I think the point here is that search volume doesn't guarantee intent to act. What is your take? What does this mean for companies/products who generate interest without generating conversion? How do you make sure you have both? How do you sustain over time?

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Technorati Tags: marketing, Matt Dickman, search, Techno//Marketer, trends