ArticlePloS one2025
Analysis of web tracking and geolocation of German-language health websites.
Article in PloS one, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Nowadays, websites with health-related content are an essential source of information for consumers to find out about their diagnoses, therapies, but also about prevention aspects. The data protection of website visitors is of particular interest here, as the search for health information may allow conclusions to be drawn about their own illnesses or those of their relatives. With a main focus on privacy-relevant aspects, this study examines more than 231,000 German-language health websites from Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Of all successfully visited websites 56.04% stored at least one cookie. Up to 18.93% of the websites contained cookies that were not technically necessary and were set without explicit consent. The geolocation analysis revealed that among 16.30% of resolved hostnames, at least one IP address was detected that was not from the country suggested by the top-level domain.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.