• The Korea Journal of Herbology
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.93-100
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• 2016

Objectives : The internet is the most common method to investigate information. It is showed that 75.2% of Internet users of 20s had health information search experience. So this study is aim to understanding of interest of public about the herbal medicine using internet search query volume data.Methods : The Naver that is the top internet portal web service of the Republic of Korea has provided an Internet search query volume data from January 2007 to the current through the Naver data lab (http://datalab.naver.com) service. We have collected search query volume data which was provided by the Naver in 606 herbal medicine names and sorted the data by peak and total search volume.Results : The most frequently searched herbal medicines which has less bias and sorted by peak search volume is 'wasong (와송)'. And the most frequently searched herbal medicines which has less bias and sorted by total search volume is 'hasuo (하수오)'.Conclustions : This study is showed that the rank of interest of public about herbal medicines. Among the above herbal medicines, some herbal medicines had supply issue. And there are some other herbal medicines that had very little demand in Korean medicine market, but highly interested public. So it is necessary to monitor for these herbal medicines which is highly interested of the public. Furthermore if the reliability of the data obtained on the basis of these studies, it is possible to be utilizing herbal medicine monitoring service.

• The Korea Journal of Herbology
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• v.36 no.5
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• pp.1-14
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• 2021

Objectives : From January 2020, when the first confirmed case of COVID-19 in Korea, the use of health information using the Internet is expected to increase. It is expected that there will be a significant change in the general public's interest in Korean herbal medicines for health care. Therefore, in this study, we tried to confirm the change in the search trend of Korean herbal medicines after the COVID-19 epidemic. Methods : Using the "Naver DataLab (http://datalab.naver.com)" service of a Korean portal site Naver, search volume was investigated with 606 Korean herbal medicines as keywords. The search period was from January 2020, right after the onset of COVID-19, to June 2021. The search results were sorted by the peak search volume and the total search volume. Results : 'Cheonsangap (천산갑, 穿山甲, Manitis Squama)' was the most searched Korean herbal medicine in the peak search volume and total search volume with least bias. Conclusions : The problem of supply and demand of Korean herbal medicines of high public interest was identified. Broadcasting and media exposure were the factors that had a big impact on the search volume for Korean herbal medicines. As it was confirmed that the search volume for Korean herbal medicines increased rapidly due to media exposure, it is necessary to provide correct information about Korean herbal medicines, improve public awareness, and manage stable supply and demand based on continuous search trend monitoring.