Google data offers real-time indicator of business closures, says BoC research

Google Places database can reveal whether businesses are gone for good or just “hibernating”

Coronavirus data

Data from Google Places might be able to give policy-makers a means of tracking business closures during a fast-moving economic shock, research published by the Bank of Canada finds.

In the working paper, a team of economists uses data from Google Places, the database underlying Google Maps, to compute “reliable rates business exit, temporary closures, entry and reopening” in a timely manner. The database allows the researchers to track nearly 13,000 consumer-facing businesses from May to

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