Researchers, policymakers, and communities need real-time data to identify emerging issues and trends; these data, in turn, can inform policy decisions and programmatic responses. Digital trace data, including sources such as Google Trends (see box), hold significant promise in providing researchers, practitioners, and policymakers with free, accessible, and timely insights on children and families’ needs, preferences, and behaviors. In this brief, we explore the potential for Google Trends data to provide information regarding families’ child care needs during the COVID-19 pandemic.