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Google Medical Update: Why Is the Search Engine Decreasing Visibility of Health and Medical Information Websites?

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  • Artur Strzelecki

    (Department of Informatics, University of Economics in Katowice, 40-287 Katowice, Poland)

Abstract

The Google search engine answers many health and medical information queries every day. People have become used to searching for this type of information. This paper presents a study which examined the visibility of health and medical information websites. The purpose of this study was to find out why Google is decreasing the visibility of such websites and how to measure this decrease. Since August 2018, Google has been more rigorously rating these websites, since they can potentially impact people’s health. The method of the study was to collect data about the visibility of health and medical information websites in sequential time snapshots. Visibility consists of combined data of unique keywords, positions, and URL results. The sample under study was made up of 21 websites selected from 10 European countries. The findings reveal that in sequential time snapshots, search visibility decreased. The decrease was not dependent on the country or the language. The main reason why Google is decreasing the visibility of such websites is that they do not meet high ranking criteria.

Suggested Citation

  • Artur Strzelecki, 2020. "Google Medical Update: Why Is the Search Engine Decreasing Visibility of Health and Medical Information Websites?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(4), pages 1-13, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:4:p:1160-:d:319852
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Artur Strzelecki, 2019. "Google Web and Image Search Visibility Data for Online Store," Data, MDPI, vol. 4(3), pages 1-10, August.
    2. Christos Ziakis & Maro Vlachopoulou & Theodosios Kyrkoudis & Makrina Karagkiozidou, 2019. "Important Factors for Improving Google Search Rank," Future Internet, MDPI, vol. 11(2), pages 1-12, January.
    3. Mikołaj Kamiński & Igor Łoniewski & Agata Misera & Wojciech Marlicz, 2019. "Heartburn-Related Internet Searches and Trends of Interest across Six Western Countries: A Four-Year Retrospective Analysis Using Google Ads Keyword Planner," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(23), pages 1-15, November.
    4. Michael R. Baye & Babur De los Santos & Matthijs R. Wildenbeest, 2016. "Search Engine Optimization: What Drives Organic Traffic to Retail Sites?," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(1), pages 6-31, March.
    5. Jeremy Ginsberg & Matthew H. Mohebbi & Rajan S. Patel & Lynnette Brammer & Mark S. Smolinski & Larry Brilliant, 2009. "Detecting influenza epidemics using search engine query data," Nature, Nature, vol. 457(7232), pages 1012-1014, February.
    6. Arora, Vishal S. & McKee, Martin & Stuckler, David, 2019. "Google Trends: Opportunities and limitations in health and health policy research," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 123(3), pages 338-341.
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