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.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 338-341 |
Number of pages | 4 |
Journal | Health Policy |
Volume | 123 |
Issue number | 3 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Mar 2019 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Health behaviours
- Health policy
- Internet
- Social media
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Health Policy