Google’s data tool has potential for countries with data gaps – IMF research

Authors explore how search queries can be used to track human behaviour

Google headquarters, California
Google headquarters, California
Photo: Christopher Jeffery

Google trends data could be used by low-income countries to find timely data crucial for policy decisions, according to a paper published by the International Monetary Fund.

In their paper, Futoshi Narita and Rujun Yin explore how Google trends data can be used to narrow information gaps and find patterns in search engine results that correlate with macroeconomic indicators, such as GDP and inflation.

“People may search for information online to make economic decisions or to look for some

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