Visual network analysis of the Baidu-index data on greenhouse gas

Abstract

Baidu search engine is the most common one adopted by Chinese Internet users, and Baidu index provides a platform to capture the behaviors of massive users on Baidu, which is one important statistical tool to mine the Internet users’ behaviors and characteristics in China. Here, we utilize the Baidu index data on greenhouse gas from January 1, 2011 to November 29, 2019, to perform the related statistical analyses at first. Then, on the basis of Baidu index time series data, the corresponding network is constructed by use of the visibility graph method. Finally, the topology of the generated network is analyzed from different perspectives. Our results indicate that people’s attention to greenhouse gases obeys the power-law distribution, and we can identify the significant nodes and find some outliers in time series data by use of the topological properties of networks. Taking together, the current model offers a novel means to represent and depict the time series data of Baidu index through the complex network analysis.