Mapping Melanoma with Google – A Record Breaking Summer and Insights into Public Awareness Using Google Trends

Abstract

Introduction: UK melanoma incidence is continuing to rise, resulting in a growing economic burden to the NHS and wider economy. Public awareness campaigns have aimed to tackle this issue, yet the real-world impact on the UK population is poorly understood. Google Trends is a tool that identifies search interest patterns by keywords, incidence and geography. The study aim is to characterise UK and international search trends for skin cancer, tanning methods and sun protection. Methods: Google Trends was systematically searched using terms associated with artificial UV tanning, sun protection and skin lesions, including cancer. The searches compared the UK to Australia and the USA (2004-2018). Results: Search terms of artificial UV tanning (“sunbed”, “tanning bed” and “tanning salon”) peak annually during May, whereas the highest volume of searches for sun prophylaxis (“sun cream”, “sunscreen”, “sun protection”) and skin lesions (“mole”, “skin cancer”) occurs during June. Troughs appear from November to January. Australia and the USA’s sun protection searches occur before summer peaks. Conclusions: Skin cancer-related searches occur on a predictable cycle, peaking during summer and declining over winter. The UK interest in tanning peaks during late spring/early summer, not traditionally targeted for campaigning, whilst skin cancer searches peak mid-to-late summer. This is likely post-sun damage. Australians search for skin cancer advice in their spring, supporting their well-studied culture of skin cancer awareness. These lessons can inform UK health policy. Google Trends is useful for characterising search interest, which may reflect public awareness.