The flu season is back, and panic over the H1N1 flu is still building amongst citizens throughout the world, especially after the new release of H1N1’s death toll in the United States estimating at 3,900 (The Canadian Press).
Just when we think the media have done all they could to inform the masses about vaccines, preventions and current news; Google jumped right in, providing yet another genius idea in an effort to ease the concerns of many with their new feature- Google Flu Trends and the Flu Shot Finder. 
It has been observed that certain key terms entered in search engines are good indicators of flu activity. Therefore, ‘Google Flu Trends uses aggregated Google search data to estimate current flu activity around the world in near real-time’ (Google Flu Trends). 
Flu Shot Finder helps one find locations that provide seasonal and H1N1 flu vaccines across the United States. The feature has collected data from 20 states, and is looking to cover all 50 states as the feature continues to develop. Locations that could be found today include ‘chains such as Walgreens, CVS and PDX participants, such as Kmart, Duane Reade, WinnDixie and Giant Eagle’ (Official Google Blog).
It is amazing what the internet can do today, Google in particular- from the ‘Street View’ feature on Google Map to ‘Flu Shot Finder’. Google wants to be included in everything, expanding its organization and rapidly covering every inch of the world, through the power of the internet.
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