Asking “Dr. Google” for a Second Opinion: The Devil Is in the Details

Considering how easy it is to access the Internet, it is natural to wonder whether people use this tool and which information they look for. Web searches might have an advantageous and/or harmful impact on patient-doctor decision-making. Google Trends (GT) is a free, easily accessible tool that enables analysis of worldwide “big data” on the relative popularity of a given search term over a specific period. GT is not a perfect tool due to its underlying limitations, and an appropriate examination is mandatory to elude misleading interpretation.