Sources of alternative data

Alternative datasets are generated by many sources but can be classified at a high level as predominantly produced by:

• Individuals who post on social media, review products, or use search engines
• Businesses that record commercial transactions (in particular, credit card payments) or capture supply-chain activity as intermediaries
• Sensors that, among many other things, capture economic activity through images from satellites or security cameras, or through movement patterns such as cell phone towers

The nature of alternative data continues to evolve rapidly as new data sources become available and sources previously labeled "alternative" become part of the mainstream. The Baltic Dry Index (BDI), for instance, assembles data from several hundred shipping companies to approximate the supply/demand of dry bulk carriers and is now available on the Bloomberg Terminal.

Alternative data includes raw data as...