Home Google Flu Trends: A Glimpse into the Future of Google Health

Google Flu Trends: A Glimpse into the Future of Google Health

It stands to reason that people who are “starting to come down with something” often take the opportunity to search for information on what ails them, even before they discuss their symptoms with a healthcare professional. Who gets more of those searches than anyone? Google, of course.

When Google started looking more closely at anonymous aggregate searches for “flu symptoms” and the like, they discovered that – after cross-referencing that data against information from the Center for Disease Control – they had the ability to predict flu outbreaks by monitoring search patterns. And now, they’ve published their findings as Google Flu Trends.

The effort, part of Google’s non-profit arm, google.org, could prove to be the first step toward the type of predictive medical informatics that have long been the Holy Grail of medicine:

“So why bother with estimates from aggregated search queries? It turns out that traditional flu surveillance systems take 1-2 weeks to collect and release surveillance data, but Google search queries can be automatically counted very quickly. By making our flu estimates available each day, Google Flu Trends may provide an early-warning system for outbreaks of influenza.”

Looking at the graphs, Google’s hypotheses about search terms predating disease outbreaks seem to be proven correct. Not satisfied with Google’s analysis? Feel free to download the data and work with it yourself.

Future Features for Google Heatlh

While influenza is the first target for the experiment, one can easily imagine the types of search data – and regional data – that could help healthcare professionals in the prediction of practically any disease. More importantly for Google, coupling this kind of anonymous aggregated data with other Google offerings could further the company’s moves into the healthcare space.

Just imagine, in the not too distant future, if you could be warned of potential disease outbreaks in your city when logging into your personal health record on Google Health. It’s not a huge intuitive leap, but it’s a leap that puts the responsibility for health in the hands of the individual.

Helping people manage their wellness and health in a preventative way instead of simply treating the disease? That’s a truly innovative – and much needed – way of approaching healthcare. Can Google leverage its wealth of data to help spark that healthcare innovation?

One would hope. Our health may depend on it.

About ReadWrite’s Editorial Process

The ReadWrite Editorial policy involves closely monitoring the tech industry for major developments, new product launches, AI breakthroughs, video game releases and other newsworthy events. Editors assign relevant stories to staff writers or freelance contributors with expertise in each particular topic area. Before publication, articles go through a rigorous round of editing for accuracy, clarity, and to ensure adherence to ReadWrite's style guidelines.

Get the biggest tech headlines of the day delivered to your inbox

    By signing up, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy. Unsubscribe anytime.

    Tech News

    Explore the latest in tech with our Tech News. We cut through the noise for concise, relevant updates, keeping you informed about the rapidly evolving tech landscape with curated content that separates signal from noise.

    In-Depth Tech Stories

    Explore tech impact in In-Depth Stories. Narrative data journalism offers comprehensive analyses, revealing stories behind data. Understand industry trends for a deeper perspective on tech's intricate relationships with society.

    Expert Reviews

    Empower decisions with Expert Reviews, merging industry expertise and insightful analysis. Delve into tech intricacies, get the best deals, and stay ahead with our trustworthy guide to navigating the ever-changing tech market.