The Bank of England has said it is using Google features to investigate unemployment, consumer spending and the housing market, reports the Guardian.
Its latest Quarterly Bulletin provides three examples of where it has used search volume patterns sourced from Google's Insights for Search.
"Internet search data have the potential to be useful for economic policy making," they say. "As further developments are made in this area, and the backrun of the data increases, these data are likely to become an increasingly useful source of information about economic behaviour."
The most striking results in the Bank's searches came from the "estate agents" search term, which appeared to closely track the change in average house prices over the last eight years. According to the pair, the Google search data, when correctly handled, gave a more accurate picture than other housing surveys.
The Bank has also monitored the popularity of searches for jobseeker's allowance and unemployment to obtain insights into the jobs market, and for VAT to look at consumer spending. It admits, however, that Google search data has its limitations, such as a lack of information on the volume of search, and possible changes in the backrun of data.
Previously, the Bank has used surveys of business leaders and consumers, and reports from its regional agents, to paint a picture of the UK economy. The move to include internet data has been welcomed in the City, although the Bank has been cautioned against putting too much faith in it.
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