Pulse: The New Science of Harnessing Internet Buzz to Track Threats and Opportunities
PULSE The New Science of Harnessing Internet Buzz to Track Threats and OpportunitiesThe Internet contains the largest repository of human knowledge, interests, and activities ever constructed. Yet this powerful tool is still vastly underutilized. Written by Douglas Hubbard—bestselling author ofHow to Measure Anything—Pulseshows you how to harness the explosive potential of the Internet and mobile devices to measure data and trends economically and in real time—vital information that traditionally costs millions of dollars and lags weeks and months behind the events being measured.Featuring a complementary website (www.pulsethenewscience.com) rich with links, analysis, examples, and spreadsheets,Pulseuses real-world examples to illustrate how:A Canadian epidemiologist tracking "flu symptoms" searches on Google is able to track flu outbreaks faster than Canadian health authorities. His success inspired Google's "Flu Trends" tool.Tracking Twitter comments about upcoming movies could reliably predict box office success better than any other method.The number of "unemployment" Google searches nationwide tracks very closely to Bureau of Labor Statistics unemployment reports, which releases its data monthly after sampling 60,000 households while Google trends data is available weekly—and for free.Tracking Twitter comments produces nearly the same results for consumer confidence and political polls as Gallup polls—except that Twitter results are real time and free.By tapping into the digital footprints of two billion Internet users, executives can mine real-time data to fundamentally change how you make some of the most important decisions you face in business and government. Access real-time raw data and calibrate it against traditional methods to greatly improve your organization's trend forecasting, productivity, and bottom line. Learn how to track trends, threats, and opportunities.Success in business may come down to who exploits the Pulse to its fullest potential.