Most of us have probably turned to Google at least once for help in figuring out what’s wrong with us when we’re not feeling well, but it can be tough to navigate all of the search results that we’re presented and find leigitamte info. Google’s latest search improvement aims to help us find helpful info when we’re ill.
In the coming days, Google will be rolling out search cards that show health conditions related to your symptoms. For example, searching “headache on one side” will show cards with info on headaches, migraines, sinusitis, and the common cold. You can also search for individual symptoms like “headache” and get a description of the issue, some ways to treat the issue yourself, and some ways to tell if you should seek medical care.
Google says that it’s created its lists of symptoms by reading health conditions in search results and checking them with information gained from doctors that’s in its Knowledge Graph. However, Google notes that the info that it provides is meant to be informational only and not a substitute for visiting a real doctor.
With these health condition search cards, Google will make it much easier to find info related to what’s ailing you. And while you should visit a doctor if you’re really concerned with your health, these cards will serve as a good starting place because they’ll provide quick info that you know isn’t being made up by some random internet troll.
Google says that its health condition cards will appear in English in the U.S. first, with more symptoms, languages, and countries to be added later.