Google Users Research Articles

"Dr. Google, I am in Pain"-Global Internet Searches Associated with Pain: A Retrospective Analysis of Google Trends Data.

We aimed to rank the most common locations of pain among Google users globally and locally and analyze secular and seasonal trends in pain-related searches in the years 2004–2019. We used data generated by Google Trends (GT) to identify and analyze global interest in topics (n = 24) related to locations of pain and how these progressed over time. We analyzed secular trends and time series decomposition to identify seasonal variations. We also calculated the interest in all topics with reference to the relative search volume (RSV) of “Abdominal pain”. Google users were most commonly interested in “Headache” (1.30 [times more frequently than “Abdominal pain”]), “Abdominal pain” (1.00), and “Back pain” (0.84). “Headache” was the most frequent search term in n = 41 countries, while “Abdominal pain” was the most frequent term in n = 27 countries. The interest in all pain-related topics except “Dyspareunia” increased over time. The sharpest increase was observed for “Abdominal pain” (5.67 RSV/year), and “Toothache” (5.52 RSV/year). Most of the topics revealed seasonal variations. Among pain-related topics, “Headache,” “Abdominal pain,” and “Back pain” interested most Google users. GT is a novel tool that allows retrospective investigation of complaints among Internet users.

Using Google Trends to Predict Pediatric Respiratory Syncytial Virus Encounters at a Major Health Care System.

To assess whether Google search activity predicts lead-time for pediatric respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) encounters within a major health care system. Internet user search and health system encounter database analysis. Pediatric RSV encounter volumes across all clinics and hospitals in the Duke Health system were tabulated from 2005 to 2016. North Carolina Google user search activity for RSV were obtained over the same time period. Time series analysis was used to compare RSV encounters and search activity. Cross-correlation was used to determine the 'lag' time difference between Google user search interest for RSV and observed Pediatric RSV encounter volumes. Google search activity and Pediatric RSV encounter volumes demonstrated strong seasonality with predilection for winter months. Granger Causality testing revealed that North Carolina RSV Google search activity can predict pediatric RSV encounters at our health system (F = 5.72, p < 0.0001). Using cross-correlation, increases in Google search activity provided lead time of 0.21weeks (1.47days) prior to observed increases in Pediatric RSV encounter volumes at our health system. RSV is a common cause of upper airway obstruction in pediatric patients for which pediatric otolaryngologists are consulted. We demonstrate that Google search activity can predict RSV patient interactions with a major health system with a measurable lead-time. The ability to predict when illnesses in a population result in increased health care utilization would be an asset to health system providers, planners and administrators. Prediction of RSV would allow specific care pathways to be developed and resource needs to be anticipated before actual presentation.

Google Users as Sequences: A Robust Hierarchical Cluster Analysis Study

In this era of cloud computing, users encounter the challenging task of effectively composing and running their applications on the cloud. By understanding user behavior in constructing applications and interacting with typical cloud infrastructures, cloud managers can develop better systems that improve the users’ experience. In this paper, we analyze a large dataset of a Google cluster to characterize the users into distinct groups of similar usage behavior. We used a wide range of measured metrics to model user behavior in composing applications from the perspective of actions around application architecting, capacity planning, and workload type planning and to model user interaction behavior around the session view. The trajectories of users’ actions are represented as sequences using categorical and proportional encoding schemes. We used techniques from the sequence analysis paradigm to quantify dissimilarity among users. We employed a robust cluster analysis procedure based on the agglomerative hierarchical methods to optimally classify users into 12 classes. We used a variety of formal indices and visual aids to confirm the quality and stability of the outcomes. By visual inspection, we regrouped the obtained clusters into 5 main groups that reveal interesting insights about the characteristics which underline different groups’ utilization behavior.

The impact of the 2018 world cup on the popularity of russian cities and their attractiveness for google users

The purpose. Studying changes in the image of large cities after hosting major sport events, based on Internet metric indicators, is a new effective area in sport management. Its attractiveness is associated with unique information that is difficult to obtain with classical research methods and its applicability to the scientific- cognitive process and on practice. The main purpose of the study is to identify changes in the popularity of Russian cities and their attractiveness for Google users during and after the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Research methods and organization. The article reveals methodology, main indicators and specific results of a study of the impact of the 2018 World Cup on the popularity of Russian cities on the Internet and on their attractiveness. We analyzed data obtained using the “Google. Trends” tool for assessment of user interest on the Internet, as “Google” is the most common search engine in the world [Alexa, 2019]. Research results The results revealed that after the World Cup popularity indicators returned to their previous level, and in some cities, they even decreased. Despite the fact that the observation period lasted for one year, the most popular queries in the global Internet space in Russian cities were about World Cup matches and related events. Users from around the world had little interest in the history or culture of cities. In addition, the CIS countries traditionally became the main producers of popularity during the observation period. Conclusion. The analysis revealed that there were no changes in the popularity of Russian cities in the global Internet space after the World Cup. In addition, there was a decline in interest for some cities. Russian cities were extremely attractive for users of the Internet space only during the World Cup.

Heartburn-Related Internet Searches and Trends of Interest across Six Western Countries: A Four-Year Retrospective Analysis Using Google Ads Keyword Planner.

The internet is becoming the main source of health-related information. We aimed to investigate data regarding heartburn-related searches made by Google users from Australia, Canada, Germany, Poland, the United Kingdom, and the United States. We retrospectively analyzed data from Google Ads Keywords Planner. We extracted search volumes of keywords associated with “heartburn” for June 2015 to May 2019. The data were generated in the respective primary language. The number of searches per 1000 Google-user years was as follows: 177.4 (Australia), 178.1 (Canada), 123.8 (Germany), 199.7 (Poland), 152.5 (United Kingdom), and 194.5 (United States). The users were particularly interested in treatment (19.0 to 41.3%), diet (4.8 to 10.7%), symptoms (2.6 to 13.1%), and causes (3.7 to 10.0%). In all countries except Germany, the number of heartburn-related queries significantly increased over the analyzed period. For Canada, Germany, Poland, and the United Kingdom, query numbers were significantly lowest in summer; there was no significant seasonal trend for Australia and the United States. The number of heartburn-related queries has increased over the past four years, and a seasonal pattern may exist in certain regions. The trends in heartburn-related searches may reflect the scale of the complaint, and should be verified through future epidemiological studies.

Are the Internet users concerned about molar incisor hypomineralization? An infoveillance study.

Molar incisor hypomineralization (MIH) is a developmental enamel defect characterized by well-demarcated discolorations frequently detected in molars, causing pain and esthetic alterations. To assess the interests of Google users on MIH-related information. Digital data were collected in Google Trends through two search strategies, 'molar incisor hypomineralization' (topic) and 'MIH' (search term), between January 2004 and November 2018. ARIMA models were applied to analyze trends of curves and to predict the activity of Google users during 12months. Autocorrelation and partial autocorrelation (ACF/PACF) plots were used to detect trends in the variation of relative search volume (RSV) related to search strategies over time. The most popular queries were analyzed qualitatively, whereas geographical heat maps were retrieved to determine search volumes according to countries (P<.05). Gradual increasing trends were detected, with forecasts indicating similar levels of RSVs to the period between December 2017 and November 2018. Most popular queries and topics were associated with MIH diagnosis, being retrieved predominantly in European countries. The activity of Google users related to this condition is maintained low, with a reduced intensification over time, suggesting that the awareness on MIH is probably confined to dentists and affected people worldwide.

Levels of toothache-related interests of Google and YouTube users from developed and developing countries over time.

BackgroundThe preferences of Web users can be influenced by distinct factors of populations. Hence, hypothetically, source-based patterns of health-related Web searches might differ between individuals from developed and developing countries, due to their distinct educational, social, economic, political, cultural, and psychosocial backgrounds. In this context, this study aimed to determine the trends of toothache-related searches performed on Google Search and YouTube, regarding differences between developed and developing countries.MethodsThis retrospective longitudinal study analyzed computational metadata on toothache-related interests of Internet users. Google Trends was accessed to obtain the monthly variation of relative search volume (RSV) of the topic “Toothache-Disease” on Google (G) and YouTube (YT) through 2008–2017. Autocorrelation and partial autocorrelation plots, ARIMA models, Kruskal–Wallis, Dunn’s and T tests were performed for evaluating trends, 12-month forecasts and the differences of annual ratios of YT/G searches between developed and developing countries, respectively (P < 0.05).ResultsUptrends of RSVs were observed in both country groups over time, although 12-month forecasts tended to plateau.The volumes of searches were higher in developed countries in comparison to developing ones; however, this difference was not observed regarding Google searches performed between 2016 and 2017. Independently of country groups, the ratios YT/G remained relatively constant throughout the period, indicating a greater interest in toothache-related information available on Google.ConclusionIn conclusion, toothache-related searches from Google and YouTube increased during the last decade. The preferences of Web users seemed to be influenced by the differences between developed and developing countries, such as the availability and penetration of the Internet, and education levels.

Understanding users Display-Name Consistency across Social Networks

Online users create their profiles on numerous social platforms to get benefits of various types of social media content. During online profile creation, the user selects a username and feeds his/her personal details like name, location, email, etc. As different social networking services acquire common personal attributes of the same user and present them in a variety of formats. To understand the availability and similarity of personal attributes across various social networking services, we propose a method that uses the different distance measuring algorithms to determine the display-name similarity across social networks. From the experimental results, it is found that at least twenty percent GooglePlus-Facebook and Facebook-Twitter users select the same display name, while forty five percent Google and Twitter user select identical name across both the social networks.

Global Internet Data on the Interest in Antibiotics and Probiotics Generated by Google Trends.

Data from the Google search engine enables the assessment of Google users’ interest in a specific topic. We analyzed the world trends in searches associated with the topics “antibiotics” and “probiotics” from January 2004 to June 2019, using Google Trends. We analyzed the yearly trends and seasonal variation. We performed an R-Spearman rank correlation analysis of the relative search volume (RSV) of the topics in 2015 with antibiotic consumption, health expenditure per capita, and the 2015 Human Development Index (HDI) of the country. The mean interest in the topic of antibiotics was equal to RSV = 57.5 ± 17.9, rising by 3.7 RSV/year (6.5%/year), while that of probiotics was RSV = 14.1 ± 7.9, which rose by 1.7 RSV/year (12.1%). The seasonal amplitude of antibiotics was equal to RSV = 9.8, while probiotics was RSV = 2.7. The seasonal peaks for both topics were observed in the cold months. The RSV of probiotics, but not antibiotics, was associated with antibiotic consumption (Rs = 0.35; p < 0.01), health expenditure (Rs = 0.41; p < 0.001), and HDI (Rs = 0.44; p < 0.001). Google users’ interest in antibiotic- and probiotic-related information increases from year to year, and peaks in cold months. The interest in probiotic-related information might be associated with antibiotic consumption, health expenditure, and the development status of the Google users’ country.

Hack for Hire

Hack-for-hire services charging $100-$400 per contract were found to produce sophisticated, persistent, and personalized attacks that were able to bypass 2FA via phishing. The demand for these services, however, appears to be limited to a niche market, as evidenced by the small number of discoverable services, an even smaller number of successful services, and the fact that these attackers target only about one in a million Google users.

Digital Evidence Identification on Google Drive in Android Device Using NIST Mobile Forensic Method

The use of cloud storage media is very popular nowadays, especially with the Google Drive cloud storage media on smartphones. The increasing number of users of google drive storage media does not rule out the possibility of being used as a medium for storing illegal data, such as places to store negative content and so on. On a smartphone with an Android operating system that has a Google Drive application installed, digital evidence can be extracted by acquiring and analyzing the system files. This study implemented a mobile forensic method based on guidelines issued by the National Institute of Standards of Technology (NIST). The results of this study are presented in the form of data recovery in the deleted Google Drive storage media, which results in the form of headers of the data type in the form of deleting account names, deleted file types, and timestamp of deleted files. Digital evidence obtained with 59 Axiom Magnet software found in the Entry227 file, with 46 files, if the percentage is a success rate of 77%.

How reference books can help users of Google

How reference books can help users of Google

Digital behavior surveillance for monitoring the interests of Google users in amber necklace in different countries.

To determine the interests of Google users in information about amber necklace in distinct countries over time. This longitudinal retrospective study analyzed the amber necklace-related computational data generated from the activity of Google users from17 countries, by the application of Google Trends. Four search strategies were defined in English, Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian, for retrieving the monthly variation of relative search volume (RSV) between January 2004 and September 2018, including all categories and sources of search. Trends and 12-month predictive interests of users were analyzed by forecasting autoregressive integrated moving average models, while the influences of seasonality were evaluated by generalized additive models. The most popular queries employed for Google users were determined to qualitative analysis. P values<0.05 were considered significant. In general, RSV curves were characterized by uptrends in most studied countries over the years, without the influence of monthly or quarterly seasonality. The queries were frequently associated with a desire for additional information, with respect to the definition, usability, and teething symptoms relief promoted by amber jewelries. These findings indicate an increasing interest of Google users in amber necklace-related topics in different countries.

PUBLIC AWARENESS OF NON-VITAMIN K ORAL ANTICOAGULANTS VERSUS WARFARIN: AN INFODEMIOLOGY APPROACH

Infodemiology is the science of determinants and distribution of information on electronic media. Google Trends (GTr) reports trends of search terms of Google users and is a useful tool to assess demand-based infodemiology indicators. Non-Vitamin K Oral Anticoagulants (NOACs) were introduced in

Energy demand estimation using quasi-real-time people activity data

This study proposes an approach to estimate quasi-real-time electricity/energy demand in each commercial building using Google’s Populartime data. The Populartime data records real-time human locations/activities that are collected from users of Google’s maps on smartphones. The proposed approach considering changes by hour and by day of the week is applied to Sumida-ward, Tokyo, Japan. The result suggests the usefulness of our approach for energy demand monitoring considering quasi-real-time human activities.

The Analysis of the Relationship between the Review Scale and Posting Information of Company and Purchasing Patterns -Focusing on Amazon and Google Users

The Analysis of the Relationship between the Review Scale and Posting Information of Company and Purchasing Patterns -Focusing on Amazon and Google Users

Digital behavior surveillance: Monitoring dental caries and toothache interests of Google users from developing countries.

To determine the differences between the levels of interest of South American Google users on information related to dental caries and toothache over time. The monthly variation of Relative Search Volume (RSV) for both queries was obtained in Google Trends between 2004 and 2017. The association between RSVs, Internet penetration, and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) for dental caries in permanent teeth were tested by distinct regression models. Forecasting ARIMA models were developed to analyze trends and predict the interests until December 2018. In general, toothache-related searches presented an uptrend associated positively with Internet penetration and negatively with DALYs, whereas dental caries-related searches presented a downtrend associated negatively with Internet penetration and positively with DALYs. The seasonality affected only dental caries curves, with the highest rates observed in the first trimester and the lowest rates in June, July, and December. The levels of interests of South American Google users in seeking dental caries and toothache information appear to have a direct connection with the burden of untreated dental caries lesions and Internet penetration. The no association between dental caries- and toothache-related interests reinforces the unfamiliarity of most people about the relationship of dental pain with the final stages of chronic oral diseases.

Challenging Google Search filter bubbles in social and political information: Disconforming evidence from a digital methods case study

This article engages in the debate on supposed online ‘filter bubbles’ by analysing a panel of Google users’ search results on a standardized set of socio-politically themed search queries. In general, the query results appear to be dominated by mainstream media sources, followed at a large distance by civil society and government resources. By means of mixed model regression analyses, with the prominence of different source types in the search results as dependent variables, it was tested whether search results vary across Google Search users. The results indicate that the inclusion of participants as a random effect does not explain variance when controlling for the different query keywords and the time at which the queries were ran. Hence, this study does not support the occurrence of ‘filter bubbles’ in Google Search results in the context of social and political information.

What Can Google Inform Us about People's Interests regarding Dental Caries in Different Populations?

The diagnosis or suspicion of dental caries can lead people to seek additional information on the Internet through the use of structured queries in search engine tools. This action generates a considerable volume of data, which can be analyzed to provide a better understanding of the public's behavior linked to the consumption of oral health information. This study aimed to assess the volume and profile of web searches on dental caries-related queries performed by Google users from different countries. The monthly variation of the Search Volume Index (SVI) for dental caries was obtained in Google Trends for the period between January 2004 and September 2016. The validity of SVI data was assessed by their levels of stability and correlation with the disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) for permanent teeth. In all countries, a trend of an increasing interest of Google users in dental caries issues was revealed by the comparison of the means observed in the predictive models and those in the last 12 months. The interest levels varied throughout the year, with the observation of the highest SVI values in the spring and the lowest in the summer. The most popular queries were markedly associated with symptoms and treatments, with a little interest in prevention. In conclusion, the use of Internet data mining could be helpful in establishing the dental needs of specific population groups in a near real-time, since the web consumption of dental information is increasing in importance and appears to have a direct relation with untreated dental caries.

Analysis of the interests of Google users on toothache information.

BackgroundThe knowledge on health interests of a given population of Internet users might contribute to the increase of evidence on community’s dental needs, and consequently, to the improvement of public health planning. The frequency of searches for specific issues on Google can be analyzed by the application of Google Trends.AimIn this study, we aimed to characterize the interests on toothache information of Google users from the United States, United Kingdom, Australia and Brazil.MethodsThe monthly variation of relative search volume (RSV) and the lists of main toothache-related queries were determined from January 2004 through April 2016 using Google Trends. Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA) forecasting models were developed to determine predictive RSV values for toothache for additional 12 months. Autocorrelation plots and general additive model (GAM) were applied to determine trends and seasonality in RSV curves. Through linear regression models, we assessed the association between the variation of annual means of RSV values and national statistics for toothache in the U.S. and U.K. Subsequently, the distribution of main queries according to the identification of endodontic pain, type of searching information, and the interest in self-management of toothache was evaluated for the four countries.ResultsThe autocorrelation plots showed patterns of non-stationary time series. The monthly variation influenced the data of the U.S. and U.K., with the higher RSV values found respectively in January/July and December. Also, the interest on toothache in the U.K. increases in the second semester and in the fourth quarter, especially in December. Additionally, an annual variation affected significantly all time series, with the increment of RSV means over the years, varying from 265% in the U.S. to 745% in Brazil. In parallel, the increments in RSV values were also observed in all predictive curves. The annual variation of observed and fitted RSV values was directly associated with the increase of toothache visits in the U.S. and urgent dental treatments in the U.K. Moreover, the queries typed on Google were markedly linked to searches on endodontic pain information, especially in Brazil, where the residents usually searched for relief and/or self-management of pain.ConclusionsTherefore, these findings indicate an increasing interest of Google users on toothache-related topics, regardless of country and season. The Internet activity can be used by policy makers as a complementary source of data for the development and implementation of strategies to control and prevent toothache complications.