Google, almighty oracle of everything from movie times to marriage proposals, has just swallowed another industry whole.
World: meet Dr Google.
Today, it announced the launch of its new ‘health condition cards’, a catalogue of accurate medical information written by doctors for people searching online.
The cards will appear as a featured result in the Google search engine, and include the symptoms, diagnosis, treatment suggestions and prevalence of the condition searched.
LET THE SELF DIAGNOSIS BEGIN.
Google is already the first point of call for many people looking to find more information when they’re feeling unwell. Or have a strange rash. Or a mole that is starting to look cancerous. Wait, can you take a look at this? Does this look cancerous to you?
Sydney Breast Clinic, on breast screenings. (Post continues after video)
Google project manager Isobel Solaqua spoke to The Sydney Morning Herald this morning, and was quick to point out that the site is not intended to replace the services of doctors or health professionals.
“These health cards are meant to provide basic information about health conditions and a framework to help users dive deeper across the web and do deeper research as well as to have more informed conversations with their doctors,” said Ms. Solaqua.
The cards have been available on the US version of Google since 2015, and have had a great deal of interest. In a country in which health insurance is crucial, yet unaffordable to most, having accurate medical information at everyone’s fingertips was a massive step forward.
According to Google, one in twenty searches are medical related - which means we're either a bunch of hypochondriacs or people are just genuinely concerned with their health. Either way, the chances of you diagnosing yourself with a rare Indonesian tapeworm just became significantly lower.
But, as always, a real-life human doctor is your best bet.
Yes, even for the embarassing stuff.
Top Comments
No doubt this is because GP's are feeling the impact of the empowerment of their patients, who can now educate themselves about their own health before they need spend half an hour in a waiting room. What is wrong with people learning more about their bodies? I bet doctors google how to get more from their tax returns.
Why don't we focus on how many lives are being saved by people googling health conditions and seeking help sooner? Or how many people avoid taking damaging medication by googling other options first? GP's aren't our 'Specialists in Life', as their new campaign hopes to convince us. We are our own 'Specialists in life.'