Google introduced an AI search feature promising to revolutionize how people access community health knowledge, then removed it months later without public notice. “What People Suggest” gathered health advice from internet communities, organized it by theme using AI, and presented it within search results. Three sources confirmed the removal, and Google subsequently acknowledged it with a limited and disputed explanation.
The feature debuted at Google’s “The Check Up” health conference in New York, where then-chief health officer Karen DeSalvo made the case for combining expert and peer health perspectives in search. The AI drew from online community discussions and provided users with thematic health insights alongside links to the original forum posts. The feature was first made available to US mobile users.
The company described the removal as part of a search simplification effort unrelated to safety or quality. However, when challenged to demonstrate where the decision was publicly communicated, Google pointed to a blog post that contained no mention of the feature’s discontinuation. The response was widely criticized as an example of how not to handle a health product removal.
Google’s difficulties with health AI are not isolated to this feature. An earlier investigation found widespread inaccuracies in Google’s AI Overviews for health queries, which reach approximately two billion users monthly. Though Google removed some medical AI Overviews after the investigation, the broader problem of AI health misinformation on its platform remains an active concern.
The upcoming “The Check Up” event, led by Google’s new chief health officer Michael Howell, will give the company another platform to articulate its vision for AI in healthcare. What observers will be watching for is not just new product announcements but evidence that Google has internalized the lessons of “What People Suggest” — and is ready to pursue health AI with the seriousness and transparency it demands.