Google to show health information directly in its search results

Google is altering the way it displays search results. Over the next few days, Google Search will begin to dish out health bits of facts with search news. This is Google’s new attempt at health news, in fact, this could be a way to reimagine the now defunct Google Health.

This is not a first for Google. Its feet are firmly planted in the health space, having previously launched feature where people can connect to a doctor via video and its .

In an official blog post, Google says that that when users ask it about common health conditions, they will start getting relevant medical facts right up front from Knowledge Graph, which supports Google’s instant search results and Google’s Now personal assistant and app. The results will show typical symptoms and treatments and “whether it’s critical, if it’s contagious, what ages it affects, and more”.

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Some of the search results will show high quality illustrations from licensed medical illustrators. The plan by Google is not to give a complete diagnosis because medical cases can be unique to a person but the search result, the company says, will make it easier to do more research on other sites around the web and enable users to know what questions to ask their doctor.
The update will roll out in the USA first and later in other regions.

The company says that to compile, curate and review the information that the search shows up, it worked with a team of medical doctors, led by its own Dr. Kapil Parakh, MD, MPH, PhD.

On its , Google writes that “all of the gathered facts represent real-life clinical knowledge from these doctors and high-quality medical sources across the web, and the information has been checked by medical doctors at Google and the Mayo Clinic for accuracy”.