Googling as a Key:Exploring the Relationship between COVID-19 Cases and Internet Search Behavior

Abstract

In this study, we analyzed the relationship between the search behavior of users on COVID-19-related queries and the rates of COVID-19 cases. To do this, we first cleaned and visualized data from the COVID-19 Data Repository by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University, and also gathered data on the most frequently searched COVID-19-related queries using Google Trends. We observed a similarity in the search rates for these queries, which led us to investigate their correlation with COVID-19 cases. To investigate this correlation, we superimposed the search behavior data on top of the COVID-19 case data. We then conducted two statistical tests to further analyze our dataset, which helped us gain insights into the relationship between search behavior and COVID-19 cases. We found a significant relationship between the two variables, which has implications for understanding the public's awareness and response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Our findings suggest that monitoring search behavior may be a useful tool in tracking the spread of the disease and informing public health policies.