Google revamps results for 400 medical conditions

SAN FRANCISCO — Type "common cold" into Google and you get a visually boring list that leads off with links to cold-remedy companies followed by medical definitions. But beginning Tuesday, that same search will generate everything from elaborate illustrations to an assessment of how common the condition may be.

With 5% of Google's 100 billion monthly searches focused on health terms, the Mountain View, Calif.-based company decided to consult with doctors and artists to provide users a better at-a-glance experience.

So far, 400 of the most common medical search terms — from arthritis to pinkeye — have gotten this treatment. Rabies, for example, features a drawing of a raccoon next to an arm with a bite, followed by comments such as "Very rare" and "Medically treatable by a doctor or professional."

"An average of 11 doctors have vetted each fact, and all (of the 400 conditions) were then reviewed by the Mayo Clinic," Amit Singhal, Google's vice president in charge of search, tells USA TODAY. "And this is just a start."

Singhal notes that the purpose of the redesign wasn't to play doctor. "We're hoping to provide a framework for a more informed conversation with your doctor," he says.

Much of the information about each condition is, in fact, sourced from the Mayo Clinic, the Minnesota-based medical non-profit. In the desktop version, users will still see the full list of search results from sites such as WebMD and Wikipedia on the left with the new template on the right. On mobile, scrolling down takes one to the traditional list of results.

As to why illustrations accompany the bulleted information, Singhal says: "A picture is worth a thousand words, especially when you're on mobile."

Internal medicine physician Philip Hagen is medical director for the Mayo Clinic's Healthy Living Online site and was one of the doctors checking Google's work. He says his role was "to apply a clinical lens and make sure the information was properly weighted."

By way of example, he says, under "the term 'headache' it's probably not helpful to tell everyone that a brain tumor could be a rare reason for that."

The new feature will take a few days to roll out, and for the moment is available only to those searching in the U.S. But that will change. Singhal, who hails from India, says the idea for the new medical search display stems from a desire to help those in developing countries.

"When you're a parent in India or Brazil or sub-Saharan Africa, and your child is sick and all you might have for help is your smartphone, this information might really matter," he says.