It is difficult for a group like ACSH to present "hard data" on the impact ACSH's publications have on improving public knowledge on topics related to chemicals, nutrition, the environment, lifestyle and public health. But one possible measure for evaluation is the extent of coverage ACSH receives in major Internet search engines such as Google, the top-ranked Internet search engine, which accounts for over a third of all Internet searches performed.
A search on the topics listed below reveals that ACSH's scientific positions are readily accessed on Google and indeed in many cases, ACSH reports appear at the top of the Google search.
In other words, the Google search summarized below indicates that Internet searches on a very broad range of public health topics repeatedly points the searcher to the websites of the American Council on Science and Health.
ACSH interprets these findings as clear evidence that ACSH materials are being widely accessed by a very large number of people.
Top placement in Google is primarily configured by the volume of traffic and the number of links a particular website receives, in addition to the calculated importance of the pages by which a website is being linked. Because of the democratic nature of the ranking process, top billing in Google searches is clear and unbiased evidence that ACSH reports are accessed frequently by large numbers of Internet users.
Google's ranking process, which takes into account not only how many links there are to a given webpage but also the importance (popularity) of those links- is in and of itself evidence that ACSH's information is posted prominently on other high-traffic webpages.
Search topics and ACSH's Google ranking as of October 23, 2003:
| Acrylamide and cancer . . . . . #1 | Arsenic in drinking water . . . . . #1 |
| Cancer epidemic . . . . . #1 | Chemoprevention heart disease . . . . . #1 |
| Children environmental chemicals . . . . . #l | Cigarette warning label (two different ACSH items) . . . . . #1 & #2 |
| Cranberry scare . . . . . #1 | Drug supplement interactions . . . . . #1 |
| Eggs in the diet . . . . . #1 | Food cancer . . . . . #1 |
| Health hype . . . . . #1 | Irreversible effects smoking . . . . . #1 |
| Junk food tax . . . . . #1 | Lead and health . . . . . #1 |
| Moderate alcohol health . . . . . #1 | Natural carcinogens . . . . . #1 |
| Nutrition information women's magazines . . . . . #1 | Nutrition reporting women's magazines . . . . . #1 |
| Rodent carcinogen . . . . . #1 | Safety of over the counter pain relievers . . . . . #1 |
| School buses diesel fuel . . . . . #1 | Tobacco women's magazines . . . . . #1 |
| Trace levels chemicals human body . . . . . #1 | Alar . . . . . #2 |
| Olestra health . . . . . #2 | Cancer scares . . . . . #3 |
| Chemoprevention cancer . . . . . #3 | Colon cancer risk factors . . . . . #3 |
| DBCP drinking water . . . . . #3 | Fears about health . . . . . #3 |
| Mass hysteria . . . . . #3 | Safety American food supply . . . . . #3 |
| Accuracy CBS 60 Minutes . . . . . #4 | AIDS in New York . . . . . #4 |
| Cyclamates . . . . . #4 | Dry cleaning PERC . . . . . #4 |
| Endocrine disrupters . . . . . #4 | Fat replacers . . . . . #4 |
| PCBs and cancer . . . . . #4 | Pressure treated wood . . . . . #4 |
| Real versus hypothetical risks . . . . . #4 | Risk factors breast cancer . . . . . #4 |
| Risk factors prostate cancer . . . . . #4 | Saccharin cancer . . . . . #4 |
| Animal studies predicting human risk . . . . . #5 | Aspirin health . . . . . #5 |
| Fluoridation safety . . . . . #5 | Soda health . . . . . #5 |
| Cancer clusters . . . . . #6 | Celebrities disease . . . . . #6 |
| Children health plastic toys . . . . . #6 | Malaria DDT . . . . . #6 |
| Media reports safety breast implants . . . . . #6 | Safety plastic medical devices . . . . . #6 |
| Three Mile Island . . . . . #8 | Do French fries cause cancer? . . . . . #8 |
| Fast food addictive . . . . . #8 | Real health risks . . . . . #8 |
| Cigarettes and health . . . . . #9 | Food scares . . . . . #9 |
| Olestra . . . . . #9 | Functional foods . . . . . #10 |
| Health risks . . . . . #10 | Causes of cancer . . . . . #11 |
| Health hoaxes . . . . . #11 | Health risks smokeless tobacco . . . . . #11 |
| Delaney clause . . . . . #12 | Environmental chemicals cancer . . . . . #12 |
| Toxic terror . . . . . #12 | Proposition 65 . . . . . #14 |
| DDT health . . . . . #15 | Food irradiation . . . . . #15 |
| Perchloroethylene . . . . . #15 | Effects environmental tobacco smoke . . . . . #16 |
| Carcinogens . . . . . #18 | Secondhand smoke and risk . . . . . #19 |
| Lower drinking age to 18 . . . . . #20 | Aspartame health . . . . . #21 |
| Food safety . . . . . #22 | Eggs and health . . . . . #25 |
| Junk science . . . . . #34 | Health priorities . . . . . #36 |
| Terrorism preparedness . . . . . #37 | PCBs farmed salmon . . . . . #52 |
| Animal cancer tests . . . . . #55 | Cancer laboratory animals . . . . . #56 |
| Perchlorate . . . . . #57 | Meat and health . . . . . #59 |
| Food additives cancer . . . . . #66 | Obesity lawsuits . . . . . #66 |
| Phthalates . . . . . #68 | Health myths . . . . . #78 |
| Scientists speak out . . . . . #79 |
As of October 23, 2003, the URL www.acsh.org itself appears on 1,930 different web pages. The number of items on Google mentioning "ACSH" or "American Council on Science and Health" is 17,400 and 3,370,000, respectively.
Increasing ACSH's public impact:
ACSH's current Google rankings are impressive and indicate that ACSH's message is being received by a sizeable audience of Internet users. With plans for an improved computing system (courtesy of a grant from the E.L. Wiegand Foundation) and an enhanced website scheduled to be launched by the end of the year, ACSH's ability to effectively disseminate public health information will continue to expand.