When Google got flu wrong
When influenza hit early and hard in the United States this year, it quietly claimed an unacknowledged victim: one of the cutting-edge techniques being used to monitor the outbreak. A comparison with traditional surveillance data showed that Google Flu Trends, which estimates prevalence from flu-related Internet searches, had drastically overestimated peak flu levels. The glitch is no more than a temporary setback for a promising strategy, experts say, and Google is sure to refine its algorithms. But as flu-tracking techniques based on mining of web data and on social media proliferate, the episode is a reminder that they will complement, but
What the influencers are saying
-
Ivan Oransky
RT @bmahersciwriter: Google Flu tracker scores a whiff on the 2012-13 flu season http://t.co/Z8YX1xWG
-
Farzad Mostashari
An unrecognized gem re big data & flu: http://t.co/7SxgSBIJ “Google Flu Trends overestimated this year's outbreak. http://t.co/A1riTEce”
-
KentBottles
RT @zimbalist: Big data, big error: Google Flu Trends grossly overestimated this year's outbreak. Ooops. http://t.co/gglozv5q
-
Medgadget
"When Google got flu wrong" http://t.co/bvbMCtpJ
-
Alex Howard
Google Flu Trends overestimated peak flu levels this year. @NatureNews: http://t.co/g00akG28 "A lesson in mining & modeling"-@jonathanstray
-
bacigalupe
When #Google got #flu wrong US outbreak foxes a leading web-based method for tracking seasonal flu @Nature http://t.co/LVdTp0Da
Related Reading
 |
To upload an avatar photo, first complete your Disqus profile. | View the list of supported HTML tags you can use to style comments. | Please read our commenting policy. |
