Google Trends: Opportunities and limitations in health and health policy research

Vishal S. Arora, Martin McKee and David Stuckler

Health Policy, 2019, vol. 123, issue 3, 338-341

Abstract: Web search engines have become pervasive in recent years, obtaining information easily on a variety of topics, from customer services and goods to practical information. Beyond these search interests, however, there is growing interest in obtaining health advice or information online. As a result, health and health policy researchers are starting to take note of potential data sources for surveillance and research, such as Google Trends™, a publicly available repository of information on real-time user search patterns. While research using Google Trends™ is growing, use of the dataset still remains limited. This paper offers an overview of the use of such data in a variety of contexts, while providing information on its strengths, limitations, and recommendations for further improvement.

Keywords: Health policy; Social media; Internet; Health behaviours (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (24)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:hepoli:v:123:y:2019:i:3:p:338-341

DOI: 10.1016/j.healthpol.2019.01.001

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