Mission:
To provide up-to-date estimates of flu activity in the United States based on aggregated Google search queries.

Background:
Google Flu Trends was launched after the Google team discovered the close relationship that exists between the number of people who perform online searches for flu-related topics and the number of people who actually have the flu. Although not every person who performs a flu-related search is actually sick, the team noticed that a pattern emerges when search queries from each state and region are aggregated. (Similar trends have been noted for allergies and sunburns.)

During the 2007-08 flu season, an early version of Google Flu Trends was used to share data from nine U.S. regions with the epidemiology and prevention branch of the CDC's influenza division. In what is a potentially exciting development, the project was able to accurately estimate flu levels one to two weeks faster than published CDC reports.

Outstanding Web Features:
The Google Flu Trends homepage offers current data on flu activity across the United States as well as in each state, and an interactive map that shows whether flu activity in each state is low, moderate, or high. Visitors to the site can also search for flu shot locations close to where they live, browse flu-related news stories, and download and analyze raw data. In addition, the site includes an in-depth FAQ and an explanation of how the project works.