This is a gross misuse of statistics. Keep in mind this is an Op. Ed article, not a critically reviewed study.
What exactly is "their (regression) model?" (and what tests of validity were done?)--I tried to find it on the guy's website but it just said "data and notes coming shortly." Nothing suggests that their model explains past behavior, it just says "if our model is correct, Islamophobia and thus anti-Muslim hate crimes are currently higher than at any time since the immediate aftermath of the Sep. 11 attacks." When did this become a causal factor?
"We suspect these Islamophobic searches represent a similarly tiny fraction of those who had the same thoughts but didn’t drop them into Google." are you fucking kidding me? They extrapolated this from comparing it to "I hate my boss" searches and how many people quit their jobs based on "hating their boss." Here they have abandoned their original logic--that hate speech/emotional searches correlate with hate crime--in favor of a more readily compatible statistic (how "hating your boss" correlates with quitting your job). This is the logical fallacy of faulty comparison and anyone with a Ph.D in Economics from Harvard should know this (guy who did the research). But don't worry, they put a sentimental personal story immediately after, so people don't look too far into it.
The supplied study (Princeton) says absolutely nothing regarding Google searches--its simply a study that hypothesizes "emotional prejudices will predict direct, immediate forms of discrimination."
"It is not just that hatred against Muslims is extremely high today. It’s that it’s exceptional compared with prejudice against every other group in the United States." This is measuring the amopunt of Google searches regarding "Muslim" and "kill"--If a news story is constantly replaying on the news regarding recent Islamic group's attacks on different areas, of course searches containing Muslim and kill are going to go up! That doesn't mean that Muslim hate causes the searches.
Im bored/have better things to do:
This is a ridiculous study that provides absolutely no concrete evidence on the opinions presented. It is clearly a piece meant to create a divide in readers where you either hate what they say or you love it. People who love it will post it and it will be read by other people who will love it. OR they are trying to set a precedent that is statistically flawed: they are predicting "Muslim hate crimes" (Y variable) based on "hateful google searches regarding Muslims" (X variable). The amount of Omitted Variable Bias in such a regression would be astronomical. (control for time specific events you fucks)