Wash Your Hands, Check Google Flu Trends
A couple of weeks ago, I was at home with a fever, and while my fingers were trying to fall off I was searching Google for “flu symptoms.” I was one of the many Americans who tend to visit Google before they go to a doctor. Much to everyone’s dismay and/or excitement, the web today has turned into a galaxy of symptom-checkers, doctor-finders, health-calculators, drug guides and all sorts of medical advice that comes from PhDs, health insurance and media companies, MDs, regular people and all sorts of unusual suspects.
Capitalizing on this trend, many, including Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, launched their health portals and services in 2008. But most recently, Google created something that easily hits home with the general public and health professionals, as we enter the flu season, which Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates between October and April.
I have always been fascinated with the idea of what John Battelle cleverly nicknamed a “database of intentions” — millions of queries coming from across the globe that show what we are searching for, what we want to learn, buy, verify, answer, confirm, research and so forth. Google, with its massive reach worldwide, is still keeping its fingers on the pulse of the global online community. And lately we have been able to have a taste of that data too — take a look at what Americans and the world is searching for today on Google Hot Trends or Insights for Search.
It doesn’t take an Einstein or even another Brin and Page to figure out that persistent googling on “flu symptoms” and related terms coming from a particular geographical location might be an indication of a flu outbreak. However, a diligent scientist would have to correlate this data with other sources, which is exactly what Google engineers did. Below is a match of Google flu-related queries with the data from CDC that looks a lot like “Bingo!”
Someone at Google connected these dots and the result is Google Flu Trends, “where you can find up-to-date influenza-related activity estimates for each of the 50 states in the U.S.” Moreover Google Flu Trends ends up being about 10 days ahead of CDC in its reporting of flu outbreaks, which can make it indispensable for health professionals. So, wash your hands regularly and check Google Flu Trends or stay warm and drink liquids if you are already part of the trend.
P.S. As I was wrapping up the post, NYTimes.com prompted a debate on the potential privacy concerns, not dissimilar to previous privacy-related concerns in relation to Google.
Tags: Google, healthcare, search
