Google Alerts basically allows you to search for a given keyword or phrase say, "education", "the war on terror" or "justin timberlake" and sends you alert emails with a comprehensive list of links from news, blogs and the web. Its a really great way to keep track of what you're interested in or curious about.
I've had a google alert for "health care" on since the alert function began earlier this year. I'm used to getting about 5 links for every email alert I get, but recently it has grown exponentially to 10 and sometimes more than 20 links at a time. I assume this means that more people are writing about health care and more people are searching for it as well.
Unsurprising as health care is one of the hottest topics in the upcoming election, yet an unexpected discovery within the google alerts application.