Online Information of COVID-19: Visibility and Characterization of Highest Positioned Websites by Google between March and April 2020—A Cross-Country Analysis

Anna Kłak, Jolanta Grygielska, Małgorzata Mańczak, Ewelina Ejchman-Pac, Jakub Owoc, Urszula Religioni and Robert Olszewski
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Anna Kłak: Department of Environmental Hazards Prevention, Allergology and Immunology, Medical University of Warsaw, st. Banacha 1a, 02-091 Warsaw, Poland
Jolanta Grygielska: Gerontology, Public Health and Didactics Department, National Geriatrics, Rheumatology and Rehabilitation Institute, st. Spartańska 1, 02-637 Warsaw, Poland
Małgorzata Mańczak: Gerontology, Public Health and Didactics Department, National Geriatrics, Rheumatology and Rehabilitation Institute, st. Spartańska 1, 02-637 Warsaw, Poland
Ewelina Ejchman-Pac: Gerontology, Public Health and Didactics Department, National Geriatrics, Rheumatology and Rehabilitation Institute, st. Spartańska 1, 02-637 Warsaw, Poland
Jakub Owoc: Gerontology, Public Health and Didactics Department, National Geriatrics, Rheumatology and Rehabilitation Institute, st. Spartańska 1, 02-637 Warsaw, Poland
Urszula Religioni: Collegium of Business Administration, Warsaw School of Economics, st. Madalińskiego 6/8, 02-513 Warsaw, Poland
Robert Olszewski: Gerontology, Public Health and Didactics Department, National Geriatrics, Rheumatology and Rehabilitation Institute, st. Spartańska 1, 02-637 Warsaw, Poland

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 3, 1-26

Abstract: Background: The WHO has used the term “infodemic” to describe the vast amount of false and true information that was making it difficult for people to find reliable information when they needed it. The infodemic spreads faster than COVID-19 itself. The main objective of the study was to characterize and analyze content about COVID-19 returned by Google during the pandemic and compare it between countries. Methods: The study was conducted between 30 March and 27 April 2020. The information was searched through local Google websites using the “COVID-19”, “Coronavirus”, “SARS-CoV-2” and “fake news” keywords. The search was conducted in Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Singapore, Spain, UK and the USA. The total number of the analyzed webpages was 685. Results: The most frequent types were News websites 47% (324/685) and Governmental 19% (131/685) while the least were Health portals 2% (17/685) and Scientific journals 5% (35/635), p < 0.001. United States and Australia had the highest share of Governmental websites. There was a positive correlation between the amount of preventive information and a number of SARS-CoV-2 infections in countries. The higher the number of tests performed, the higher was the amount of information about prevention available online. Conclusions: Online information is usually available on news and government websites and refers to prevention. There were differences between countries in types of information available online. The highest positioned (the first 20) websites for COVID-19, Coronavirus and SARS-CoV-2 keywords returned by Google include true information.

Keywords: COVID-19; Coronavirus; SARS-CoV-2; fake news; misinformation; Internet; Google; online information; infodemic; infodemiology (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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