Google Cures the Flu
A lot of people don’t like the idea of “Big Brother” tracking what you search on the Internet. In a new development by Google, it could actually help you avoid an outbreak of the flu.
Last year, Google started tracking searches for flu and flu remedies. They took the total number of searches by geographic area and started looking to see if there was a correlation between people searching on flu related topics and actually getting the flu. Turns out there is a direct correlation.
The Google search data can predict a flu outbreak about two weeks sooner than the current CDC process. The CDC process is very accurate, but involves monitoring about 1500 doctors from around the country as they treat approximately 16,000,000 patients.
So the Google network is a little faster than the doctor network.
Bear in mind that last year was the first year for tracking the Google data vs the CDC data; however everyone expects the correlation will hold true this year as well.
This is truly amazing when you think about what Google can “see” ……Google knows on a real time basis, the ideas, concerns and in general what we all think is important. I wonder what would happen if Google and Yahoo shared search data….this could be even more meaningful.
Visit http://www.google.org/flutrends to see the actual flu data, how it maps to Maryland vs. the US as well as where you can find a flu shot if you so desire. If you are interested in more information regarding who is searching on what topic, you can also go to http://www.google.com/trends to find more trends on what topics the world is searching on.