Brilliant use of search data

NY Times reports that Google is now charting the spread of the flu using aggregated search data superimposed on zip/state data. If there's a spike in searches on "flu symptoms" for example, in New England, then the hypothesis is that there is an uptick in the incidence of flu. The data are supporting the notion, too. That is SO COOL.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/12/technology/internet/12flu.html