Assessment of the Impact of Media Coverage on COVID-19–Related Google Trends Data: Infodemiology Study (Preprint)

BACKGROUND The influence of media coverage on web-based searches may hinder the role of Google Trends (GT) in monitoring coronavirus disease (COVID-19). OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to assess whether COVID-19–related GT data, particularly those related to ageusia and anosmia, were primarily related to media coverage or to epidemic trends. METHODS We retrieved GT query data for searches on <i>coronavirus</i>, <i>cough</i>, <i>anosmia</i>, and <i>ageusia</i> and plotted them over a period of 5 years. In addition, we analyzed the trends of those queries for 17 countries throughout the year 2020 with a particular focus on the rises and peaks of the searches. For <i>anosmia</i> and <i>ageusia</i>, we assessed whether the respective GT data correlated with COVID-19 cases and deaths both throughout 2020 and specifically before March 16, 2020 (ie, the date when the media started reporting that these symptoms can be associated with COVID-19). RESULTS Over the last five years, peaks for <i>coronavirus</i> searches in GT were only observed during the winter of 2020. Rises and peaks in <i>coronavirus</i> searches appeared at similar times in the 17 different assessed countries irrespective of their epidemic situations. In 15 of these countries, rises in <i>anosmia</i> and <i>ageusia</i> searches occurred in the same week or 1 week after they were identified in the media as symptoms of COVID-19. When data prior to March 16, 2020 were analyzed, <i>anosmia</i> and <i>ageusia</i> GT data were found to have variable correlations with COVID-19 cases and deaths in the different countries. CONCLUSIONS Our results indicate that COVID-19–related GT data are more closely related to media coverage than to epidemic trends.