Google: US Flu Activity Already Nearing Seasonal Peak
I remain fascinated what you can do with search data. You can truly read minds since how we search is becoming a direct reflection our society.
Google has a site called Flu Trends where they use search data to assess how widespread the flu is in a few different regions of the world, as well as state by state in the US. I pulled up the US page this morning and was shocked by the activity. Even though it's early in the season, flu-related activity in the US is already nearing the seasonal peak point of prior years.
With companies, NGOs and governments partnering together for greater good, I hope Google is sharing this aggregate data to help officials make smarter decisions about how to keep us as healthy as possible. Fascinating stuff.
Comments 5 Comments
I'm not sure that an ad agency could have done a better job of making it viral (no pun intended).
But you can tell how much people are thinking about it, and that's still useful information. Perhaps more useful to people involved in marketing and publicity.
@Victus hang in there. I don't live too far from you!