Top

Biodiversity and Conservation

Published in:

01-06-2013 | Original Paper

Google search patterns suggest declining interest in the environment

Authors: Malcolm L. Mccallum, Gwendolyn W. Bury

Published in: Biodiversity and Conservation | Issue 6-7/2013

Activate our intelligent search to find suitable subject content or patents.

search-config

AI-assisted search

Off

Abstract

Public interest in most aspects of the environment is sharply declining relative to other subjects, as measured by internet searches performed on Google. Changes in the search behavior by the public are closely tied to their interests, and those interests are critical to driving public policy. Google Insights for Search (GIFS) was a tool that provided access to search data but is now combined with another tool, Google Trends. We used GIFS to obtain data for 19 environment-related terms from 2001 to 2009. The only environment-related term with large positive slope was climate change. All other terms that we queried had strong negative slopes indicating that searches for these topics dropped over the last decade. Our results suggest that the public is growing less interested in the environment.

previous article Adaptive management as a tool to improve the conservation of endemic floras: the case of Sicily, Malta and their satellite islands

next article Disentangling the effects of global climate and regional land-use change on the current and future distribution of mangroves in South Africa

Dont have a licence yet? Then find out more about our products and how to get one now:

Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik"

Online-Abonnement

Mit Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik" erhalten Sie Zugriff auf:

über 102.000 Bücher
über 537 Zeitschriften

aus folgenden Fachgebieten:

Automobil + Motoren
Bauwesen + Immobilien
Business IT + Informatik
Elektrotechnik + Elektronik
Energie + Nachhaltigkeit
Finance + Banking
Management + Führung
Marketing + Vertrieb
Maschinenbau + Werkstoffe
Versicherung + Risiko

Jetzt Wissensvorsprung sichern!

inform now

Springer Professional "Technik"

Online-Abonnement

Mit Springer Professional "Technik" erhalten Sie Zugriff auf:

über 67.000 Bücher
über 390 Zeitschriften

aus folgenden Fachgebieten:

Automobil + Motoren
Bauwesen + Immobilien
Business IT + Informatik
Elektrotechnik + Elektronik
Energie + Nachhaltigkeit
Maschinenbau + Werkstoffe

Jetzt Wissensvorsprung sichern!

inform now

Al-Eroud AF, Al-Ramahi MA, Al-Kabi MN, Alsmadi IM, Al-Shawakfa EM (2011) Evaluating Google queries based on language preferences. J Inf Sci 37:282–292CrossRef

Armstrong JS, Overton TS (1977) Estimating nonresponse bias in mail surveys. J Mark Res 14:396–402CrossRef

Askitas N, Zimmermann KF (2009) Google econometrics and unemployment forecasting. Appl Econ Quart 55:107–120CrossRef

Austin EW, Pinkleton BE (2001) The role of parental mediation in the political socialization process. J. Broadcasting Electron Media 45:221–240CrossRef

Ayers JW, Ribisl KM, Brownstein JS (2011) Tracking the rise in popularity of electronic nicotine delivery systems (electronic cigarettes) using search query surveillance. Am J Prev Med 40:448–453PubMedCrossRef

Ayers JW, Althouse BM, Allem JP, Childers MA, Zafar W, Latkin C, Ribisl KM, Brownstein JS (2012) Novel surveillance of psychological distress during the great recession. J Affect Disord 142:323–330PubMedCrossRef

Baily J (2012) The impact of social media on social movements: a case study of 2009 green movement and the 2011 Egyptian revolution. Dissertation, Washington State University, Pullman

Baker L, Wagner TH, Singer S, Bundorf MK (2003) Use of the internet and e-mail for health care information. J Am Med Assoc 289:2400–2406CrossRef

Baram-Tsabari A (2011) Exploring new web-based tools to identify public interest in science. Public Underst Sci 20:130–143CrossRef

Baum MA, Groeling T (2009) Shot by the messenger: partisan cues and public opinion regarding national security and war. Political Behav 31:157–186CrossRef

Bentley RA, Ormerod P (2009) Were people imitating others or exercising rational choice in on-line searches for ‘swine flu’? Phys Soc 1:1–8

Bentley RA, Ormerod P (2010) A rapid method for assessing social versus independent interest in health issues: a case study of ‘bird flu’ and ‘swine flu’. Soc Sci Med 71:482PubMedCrossRef

Black L (2012) Stability in a sea of volatility: the predictive power of elite endorsements in the 2012 Republican presidential primary. Dissertation, Boston University

Bordo MD (2008) An historical perspective on the Crisis of 2007–2008 (December 2008). Working Paper No. w14569. National Bureau of Economic Research, Cambridge [WWW document] http://ssrn.com/abstract=1320795. Accessed 27 March 2013

Breyer BN, Eisenberg ML (2010) Use of Google in study of noninfectious medical conditions. Epidemiol 21:584–585CrossRef

Bromberg JE, Augustson EM, Backinger CL (2012) Portrayal of smokeless tobacco in youtube videos. Nicotine Tob Res 14:455–462PubMedCrossRef

Brownstein JS, Freifeld CC, Madoff LC (2009) Digital disease detection—harnessing the web for public health surveillance. New Engl J Med 360:2153–2157PubMedCrossRef

Brulle RJ, Carmichael J, Jenkins JC (2012) Shifting public opinion on climate change: an empirical assessment of factors influencing concern over climate change in the US, 2002–2010. Clim Chang 2012:1–20

Burstein P (2010) Public opinion, public policy, and democracy. Handb Politics 2010:63–79CrossRef

Cahill K (2007) Google tools on the public reference desk. The Ref Libr 48:67–79

Caijas M, Geiger P, Bienert S (2012) Green agenda and green performance: empiracle evidence for real estate companies. J Eur Real Estate Res 5:135–155CrossRef

Caneiro HA, Mylonakis E (2009) Google trends: a web-based tool for real-time surveillance of disease outbreaks. Clin Infect Dis 49:1557–1564CrossRef

Carpentier N, Rico L, Servaes J (2003) Community media: muting the democratic media discourse? Continuum J Media Cult Stud 17:51–68CrossRef

Carr LJ, Dunsinger SI (2012) Search query data to monitor interest in behavior change: application for public health. PLoS One 7:e48158PubMedCrossRef

Chadwick MG, Sengul G (2012) Nowcasting unemployment rate in Turkey: Let’s ask Google. Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey, Ankara

Chay S, Sasaki N (2011) Using online tools to assess public responses to climate change mitigation policies in Japan. Future Internet 3:117–129CrossRef

Choi H, Varian H (2012) Predicting the present with Google trends. Econ Rec 88:2–9CrossRef

Connolly MP, Postma M, Silber SJ (2009) What’s on the mind of IVF consumers? Reprod Biomed Online 19:767–769PubMedCrossRef

Cooper CB (2011) Media literacy as a key strategy toward improving public acceptance of climate change science. BioScience 61:231–237

Dalisay F, Hmielowski JD, Kushin MJ, Yamamoto M (2012) Social capital and the spiral of silence. Internat J Publ Opinion Res 3:325–345CrossRef

Davis NF, Smyth LG, Flood HD (2012) Detecting internet activity for erectile dysfunction using search engine query data in the Republic of Ireland. Brit J Urol Internat 110:E939–E942CrossRef

Dawson TP, Jackson ST, Ouse JI, Prentice IC, Mace GM (2011) Beyond predictions: biodiversity in a changing climate. Sci 332:53–58CrossRef

Deuze M (2006) Ethnic media, community media and participatory culture. Journalism 7:262–280CrossRef

Domhoff GW (2002) The power elite, public policy, and public opinion. In: Manza J, Cook FL, Page BI (eds) Navigating public opinion: polls, policy, and the future of American democracy. Oxford University Press, New York, pp 124–140

Ellery P, Vaughn W, Ellery J, Bott J, Ritchey K, Byers L (2008) Understanding internet health search patterns: an early exploration into the usefulness of Google trends. J Commun Healthc 1:441–456CrossRef

Embree BG, Whitehead PC (1993) Validity and reliability of self-reported drinking behavior: dealing with the problem of response bias. J Stud Alcohol 54:334–344PubMed

Francis LJ (1993) Parental influence and adolescent religiosity: a study of church attendance and attitude toward Christianity among adolescents 11 to 12 and 15 to 16 years old. Int J Psychol Religion 3:241–253CrossRef

Freeman B (2012) New media and tobacco control. Tob Control 21:139–144PubMedCrossRef

Gallagher CT, Assi S, Stair JL, Fergus S, Corazza O, Corkery JM, Schifano F (2012) 5, 6-Methylenedioxy-2-aminoindane: from laboratory curiosity to ‘legal high’. Hum Psychopharmacol 27:106–112PubMedCrossRef

Garrett RK (2009) Echo chambers online? Politically motivated selective exposure among internet news users. J Computer-Mediated Commun 14:265–285CrossRef

Gelpi C (2010) Performing on cue? The formation of public opinion toward war. J Confl Resolut 54:88–116CrossRef

Ginsberg J, Mohebbi MH, Patel RS, Bremmer L, Smolinski S, Brilliant MS (2009) Detecting influenza epidemics using search engine query data. Nature 457:1012–1014PubMedCrossRef

Goal S, Hofman JM, Lahaie S, Pennock DM, Watts DJ (2010) Predicting consumer behavior with web search. Proc Nat Acad Sci 107:17486–17490CrossRef

Guo S, Zhang G, Zhai R (2010) A potential way of enquiry into human curiosity. Brit J Educat Techn 41:E48–E52CrossRef

Hahn W, Morley CP, Morrow C, Epling JW (2009) The effect of media attention on concern for and medical management of methicillin-resistant Staphyloccoccus aureus: a multimethod study. J Publ Health Man Pract 15:150

Hample D (1980) Purposes and effects of lying. South Speech Commun J 46:33–47CrossRef

Howard PN, Parks MR (2012) Social media and political change: capacity, constraint, and consequence. J Commun 62:359–362CrossRef

Hsu S (2004) The effects of an environmental education program on responsible environmental behavior and associated environmental literacy variables in Taiwanese college students. J Environ Edu 35:37–48CrossRef

Huss JW III, Lindenbaum P, Martone M, Roberts D, Pizarro A, Valafar F, Hogenesch JB, Su AI (2010) The gene wiki: community intelligence applied to human gene annotation. Nucleic Acids Res 38:D633–D639PubMedCrossRef

Iversini A, Marchiori E, Dedekind C, Cantoni L (2010) Applying a conceptual framewort to analyze online reputation of tourism destinations. Inf Commun Technol Tour 2010:321–332

Jackson P (1983) Principles and problems of participant observation. Geografiska Annaler: series B. Hum Geogr 65:39–46

Jakubowicz K (2010) Community media: “Flavour of the decade” worldwide. A keynote address at the AMARC Europe Conference. Telematics Inform 27:119–121CrossRef

Jimenez NR, Scifo S (2010) Community media in the context of European media policies. Telematics Inform 27:131–140CrossRef

Johnson TJ, Kaye BK (2000) Using is believing: the influence of reliance on the credibility of online political information among politically interested internet users. Journalism Mass Commun Q 77:865–879CrossRef

Johnson T, Kaye B (2010) Choosing is believing? How web gratifications and reliance affect internet credibility among politically interested users. Atl J Commun 18:1–21CrossRef

Jones RE, Dunlap RE (1992) The social bases of environmental concern: have they changed over time? Rural Sociol 57:28–47CrossRef

Kadry B, Chu LF, Kadry B, Gammas D, Macario A (2011) Analysis of 4999 online physician ratings indicate that most patients give physicians a favorable rating. J Med Internet Res 13:E95PubMedCrossRef

Kaesbauer M, Hohenstatt R, Reed R (2012) Direct versus search engine traffic: an innovative approach to demand analysis in the property market. Internat J Hous Markets Anal 5:392–413CrossRef

Kahn ME, Kotchen MJ (2010) Environmental concern and the business cycle: The chilling effect of recession. Working Paper No. 16241. National Bureau of Economic Research, Cambridge [WWW document] http://www.nber.org/papers/w16241. Accessed 27 March 2013

Kulkarni G (2012) Patterns of consumer interest across developed and emerging markets. Internat Bus Econ Res J 11:603–610

Lax JR, Phillips JH (2009) Gay rights in states: public opinion and policy responsiveness. Am Political Sci Rev 103:367–386CrossRef

Levy BLM, Zint MT (2012) Toward fostering environmental political participation: framing an agenda for environmental education research. Environ Education Res 2012:1–24CrossRef

Li Y, Deng K (2012) User browsing interest in the propagation of public opinion in Tibetan internet to determine research. In: Computer Science and Information Processing (SIP), International Conference on Computing and Processing, 22–26 August 2012:859–862

Lincoln NP (2011) The relationship between internet marketing, search volume, and product sales. Honors Thesis. The Ohio State University, Columbus

Lindh J, Magnusson M, Grunewald M, Hulth A (2012) Head lice surveillance on a deregulated OTC-sales market: a study using web query data. PLoS One 7:e48666PubMedCrossRef

Lipsman A (2009) Google gets 76 billion search per month of 113 Billion total. WebSite 101. Reston, Virginia. September 1 [WWW document] http://website101.com/press/google-76-billion-searches/. Accessed 27 March 2013

Lundholm C (2011) Society’s response to environmental challenges: citizenship and the role of knowledge in Factis Pax. J Peace Educ Soc Justice 1:80–96

Margetts HZ (2012) The internet and public policy. Policy Internet 1:1–21CrossRef

Markey PM, Markey CN (2010) Changes in pornography—seeking behaviors following political elections: an examination of the challenge hypothesis. Evol Hum Behav 31:442–446CrossRef

Markey PM, Markey CN (2012) Annual variation in internet keyword searches: Linking dieting interest to obesity and negative health outcomes. J Health Psychol. doi:10.1177/1359105312445080

Martin DR, Pracheil BM, DeBoer JA, Wilde GR, Pope KL (2012) Using the internet to understand angler behavior in the information age. Fisheries 37:458–463CrossRef

Matthes J, Morrison KR, Schemer C (2010) A spiral of silence for some: attitude certainty and the expression of political minority opinions. Commun Res 37:774–800CrossRef

Mazur A (2009) American generation of environmental warnings: avian influenza and global warming. Hum Ecol Rev 16:17–26

McCarthy MJ (2010) Internet monitoring of suicide risk in the population. J Affect Disord 122:277–279PubMedCrossRef

McGraw KM (1998) Manipulating public opinion with moral justification. Annals Am Acad Political Soc Sci 560:129–142CrossRef

McKenzie-Mohr D (2000) Fostering sustainable behavior through community-based social marketing. Amer Psychol 55:531CrossRef

McNab C (2009) What social media offers to health professionals and citizens. Bull World Health Organ 87:566PubMedCrossRef

Moe WW, Schweidel DA (2012) Online product opinions: incidence, evaluation, and evolution. Mark Sci 31:372–386CrossRef

Mohommed A, Wahbeh A, Alsobeh A, Ale’roud A, Alsmadi I (2012) Examining web search trends across Arab countries. Arabian J Sci Engin 37:1585–1593CrossRef

Mostashari F (2007) Can internet searches provide useful data for public health surveillance. Adv in Dis Surveillance 2:209

Munk M (2010) “Pine mouth” syndrome: cacogeusia following ingestion of pine nuts (genus: punus). An emerging problem? J Med Toxicol 6:158–159PubMedCrossRef

Negra C, Manning RE (1997) Incorporating environmental behavior, ethics, and values into nonformal environmental education programs. J Environ Educ 28:10–21

Nerlich B (2010) Climategate: paradoxical metaphors and political paralysis. Environ Values 19:419–442CrossRef

Nie NH, Miller DW III, Golde S, Butler DM, Winneg K (2010) The world wide web and the US political news market. Am J Political Sci 54:428–439CrossRef

Nisbet MC, Myers T (2007) The polls—trends twenty years of public opinion about global warming. Public Opin Q 71:444–470CrossRef

Nisbet EC, Nisbet MC, Scheufele DA, Shanahan JE (2004) Public diplomacy, television news, and muslim opinion. Harv Intern J Press/Politics 9:11–37CrossRef

Noelle-Neumann E (1974) The spiral of silence: a theory of public opinion. J Commun 1974:43–51CrossRef

Norris P (2003) Digital divide: civic engagement, information poverty, and the internet worldwide. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

Nougairède A, Lagier J-C, Ninove L, Sartor C, Badiaga S, Botelho E, Brouqui P, Zandotti C, De Lamballerie X, La Scola B, Drancourt M, Gould EA, Charrel RN, Raoult D (2010) Likely correlation between sources of information and acceptability of A/H1N1 swing-origin influenza virus vaccine in Marseille, France. PLoS One 5:e11292PubMedCrossRef

O’Heffernan P (1994) A mutual exploitation of media influence in U.S. Foreign policy. In: Bennet WL, Paletz DL (eds) Taken by storm: the media, public opinion, and U.S. Foreign Policy in the Gulf. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, pp 231–249

Ortiz JR, Zhou H, Shay DK, Neuzil KM, Fowlkes AL (2011) Monitoring influenza activity in the United States: a comparison of traditional surveillance systems with Google Flu Trends. PLoS One 6:e18687PubMedCrossRef

Page BI, Shapiro RY (1983) Effects of public opinion on policy. Am Political Sci Rev 77:175–190CrossRef

Pervaiz F, Pervaiz M, Rehman NA, Saif U (2012) Flubreaks: early epidemic detection from Google flu trends. J Med Internet Res 14:e125PubMedCrossRef

Philpott TG, Swettenham J (2012) The complexities of governing in a social media world. Healthc Manag Forum 25:62–65CrossRef

Preis T, Reith D, Stanley HE (2010) Complex dynamics of our economic life on different scales: insights from search engine query data. Philos Trans Royal Soc A 368:5707–5719CrossRef

Preis T, Moat HS, Stanley HE, Bishop SR (2012) Quantifying the advantage of looking forward. Sci Rep 2:350PubMed

Rader HB (2011) Extension is unpopular—on the internet. Extension 49:6

Rainie L (2010) How media consumption has changed since 2000. Pew Internet & American Life Project, Washington, D.C.

Ratchford BT, Talukdar D, Lee M (2001) A model of consumer choice of the internet as an information source. Intern J Electron Commer 5:7–21

Reilly S, Richey S, Taylor JB (2012) Using Google search data for state politics research: an empirical validity test using roll-off data. State Politics Policy Q 12:146–159CrossRef

Rennie E (2006) Community media: a global introduction (critical media studies). Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham

Ripberger JT (2011) Capturing curiosity: using internet search trends to measure public attentiveness. Policy Stud J 39:239–259CrossRef

Saebo O, Rose J, Molka-Danielsen J (2010) eParticipation: designing and managing political discussion forums. Soc Sci Comput Rev 28:403–426CrossRef

Scharkow M, Vogelgesang J (2009) Google Insights for Search—a new method for measuring the public sgenda? Fachgruppentagung Research and Methods of Journalism DGPuK, February [WWW document]. http://underused.org/docs/google_scharkow_vogelgesang2009.pdf. Accessed 27 March 2013

Scharkow M, Vogelgesang J (2011) Measuring the public agenda using search engine queries. Intern J Public Opin Res 23:104–113CrossRef

Scheitle CP (2011) Google’s Insights for Search: a note evaluating the use of search engine data in social research. Soc Sci Q 92:285–295CrossRef

Schmidt T, Vosen S (2011) Forecasting private consumption: survey-based indicators vs Google Trends. J Forecast 30:565–578CrossRef

Sears RV (2008) America’s renaissance of hope. Policy Options 29:10–15

Shen F, Want N, Guo Z, Guo L (2009) Online network size, efficacy, and opinion expression: assessing the impacts of internet use in China. Intern J Public Opin Res 21:451–476CrossRef

Soroko SN (2003) Media, public opinion, and foreign policy. Press/Politics 8:27–48

Sutherland WJ, Adams WM, Aronson RB, Aveling R, Blackburn TM (2009) One hundred questions of importance to the conservation of global biological diversity. Conserv Biol 23:557–567PubMedCrossRef

Tedin KL (1974) The influence of parents on the political attitudes of adolscents. Am Political Sci Rev 1974:1579–1592

Vanderelst D, Speybroeck N (2010) Quantifying the lack of scientific interest in neglected tropical diseases. PLoS Negl Tropical Dis 4:e576CrossRef

Vayena E, Mastroianni A, Kahn J (2012) Ethical issues in health research with novel online sources. Am J Public Health 102:2225–2230PubMedCrossRef

Vosen S, Schmidt A (2011) Forecasting private consumption: survey-based indicators vs Google trends. J of Forecast 30:565–578CrossRef

Warren C (2012) Risk and the sacred: environment, media, and public opinion in Bali. Oceania 82:294–307CrossRef

Weeks BE, Friedenberg LM, Southwell BG, Slater JS (2012) Behavioral consequences of conflict-oriented health news coverage: the 2009 mammography guideline controversy and online information seeking. Health Commun 27:158–166PubMedCrossRef

Westwood S (2010) How to measure public opinion in the networked age: working in a Googleocracy or a Googlearchy? What kind of information society? governance, virtuality, surveillance, sustainability, resilience. IFIP Adv Inf Commun Technol 328:150–160CrossRef

Wilde GR, Pope KL (2013) Worldwide trends in fishing interest indicated by internet search volume. Fisheries Man and Ecol 20:211–222

Wray-Lake L, Flanagan CA, Osgood DW (2010) Examining trends in adolescent environmental attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors across three decades. Environ Behav 42:61–85PubMedCrossRef

Yang A (2012) Association of internet search trends with suicide death in Taiwan. Eur Psychiatry 27(supplement):1

Yang AC, Huang NE, Peng CK, Tsai SJ (2010) Do seasons have an influence on the incidence of depression? The use of an internet search engine query data as a proxy of human affect. PLoS One 5:e13728PubMedCrossRef

Yin S, Ho M (2012) Monitoring toxicological outbreak using internet search query data. Clin Toxicol 50:818–822

Zheluk A, Gillespie JA, Quinn C (2012) Searching for truth: internet search patterns as a method of investigating online responses to a Russian illicit drug policy debate. J Med Internet Res 14:e165PubMedCrossRef

Zhu JJ, Wang X, Qin J, Wu L (2012) Assessing public opinion trends on user search queries: Validity, reliability, and practicality. Ann Conf World Assoc Public Opin Res, Hong Kong, June 14–16

Title: Google search patterns suggest declining interest in the environment
Authors: Malcolm L. Mccallum
Gwendolyn W. Bury
Publication date: 01-06-2013
Publisher: Springer Netherlands
Published in: Biodiversity and Conservation / Issue 6-7/2013
Print ISSN: 0960-3115
Electronic ISSN: 1572-9710
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-013-0476-6

Springer Professional

Abstract

Please log in to get access to your license.

Dont have a licence yet? Then find out more about our products and how to get one now:

Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik"

Springer Professional "Technik"

Other articles of this Issue 6-7/2013

Adaptive management as a tool to improve the conservation of endemic floras: the case of Sicily, Malta and their satellite islands

Conservation value of alternative land-use systems for dung beetles in Amazon: valuing traditional farming practices

Effects of prescribed burning and harvesting on ground-dwelling spiders in the Canadian boreal mixedwood forest

Temporal dynamics of diversity in a tropical fruit fly (Tephritidae) ensemble and their implications on pest management and biodiversity conservation

Food security versus biodiversity protection: an example of land-sharing from East Africa

Areas of high diversity for the world’s inland-breeding waterbirds