Swine Flu Infects the Web
Written by Andy Kazeniac (contact - e-mail) -- May 1st, 2009 |
Share - Save - E-mail
Swine flu may not have officially reached pandemic levels yet, but the hype certainly has. It seems to be the headline in every publication and I can hardly have a conversation about anything without swine flu creeping in. And people have been turning to the web for the latest information from a variety of sources.
Search destinations for ’swine flu’ span several different categories, from major news sites to social networks. Searchers are doing their historical research too - CapitalCentury.com has seen a spike in interest due to an article about the 1976 outbreak of swine flu. Official government channels are the destination of choice for the updates on the outbreak though, with cdc.gov receiving one third of all search referrals for the term.
With information and speculation about swine flu coming from all over, it’s good to see that people are looking to the CDC most often to get the official word. I just hope that the chart of confirmed swine flu cases doesn’t look like this in a couple weeks.
Did you like that post? You'll love these.
- Finding Watchmen: Why social media matters in film marketing
- Jon and Kate Divorce Rumor Searches Soar, those for Britain’s Got Talent’s Susan Boyle Plunge
- April Search Market Share: Sponsored Referrals Drop Dramatically
- Sept Data is Live: 2009 is BIG for Back to School
- From G.I. Joe to Jakten På Hukommelsen: How do searches differ across movie genres?
Done reading? subscribe: To get an automatic feed of all future posts subscribe here, or to receive them via email enter your email address in the box in the right column.
Link to This Post:
Get the 
May 1st, 2009 at 12:44 pm
interesting you say this. The plot thickens.
get a load of this scary Report.
http://forecastfortomorrow.com/Files/swineflu.pdf
May 2nd, 2009 at 10:58 am
It’s crazy to see the long reaching impact of swine flu. I work for a company that sells medical supplies. “Masks” have been at the top of our site search list for weeks.
May 4th, 2009 at 10:59 am
The last thing this world needs right now is a deadly flu outbreak. Hopefully this will be brought under control very soon.
May 4th, 2009 at 9:33 pm
As we see from this post, without the internet the people would be much less informed about swine flu, and probably more likely to unconsciously spread it. On the other hand though, many people probably wouldn’t know about it and be making such a big deal out of an illness so few people have at this point.
May 5th, 2009 at 12:48 pm
It’s already on the downswing. As soon as they got it under control in Mexico City, the hype died down, since it wasn’t really dangerous in any other city. All that’s left now is the wrap-up. Anyone trying to cash in on the hype is going to be left high and dry.
May 6th, 2009 at 10:09 am
nice text thanks for all
May 6th, 2009 at 10:09 am
It’s quite good site. You guys too should have a look at it.
May 25th, 2009 at 10:38 pm
There was a lot of hype back them, but things sure seem to have slowed down over the month. My hometown made national news when they practically closed the town down.
Its a shame that so many people have died, but its not nearly as bad as it was made out to be.
July 8th, 2009 at 4:26 pm
So far, not bad as far as keeping swine flu under control. While it’s not exactly spreading like wildfire, though, it’s still important that this hype continues. If people take their health for granted, and aren’t careful, then it’s more likely to spread than if they continue the hype about it and also continue to be extra cautious.