Google Doubles Medical Conditions in Knowledge Panels & Adds Features

Google Google expanded their medical results earlier this year to bring detailed and verified medical information into the knowledge panel for commonly searched for medical conditions.  Google is now enhancing this even further by doubling the number of medical conditions available via knowledge panel by adding more commonly searched conditions.

This will bring the number to nearly 900 health conditions.

They have also made changes to make it easier for searchers to access the information they are looking for, by automatically showing the tab specific to the search – for example a search with “symptoms” would show the symptoms tab instead of the main tab.

Here is searching for “chicken pox symptoms” instead of just “chicken pox”.

However, this particular knowledge panel isn’t nearly as obvious, since it collapses the list of symptoms and it lacks the image that accompanies the more generic “chicken pox” search.

They have also added a nice feature – download PDF – which makes it easy for people to share information with doctors, family members or even in schools.  This can be found at the very bottom of the knowledge panel.

They have also expanded the sources for this information.  Previously it stated it was from “Mayo Clinic and others”, but now they list a wide variety of sourcesThey are also planning to add more tropical diseases that were missed the first time they added medical conditions.

 We’re making sure to include neglected tropical diseases, a set of infections that affect over 1.5 billion people including 500 million children in poorer regions. We think it’s important for people to have facts on these diseases, such as Dengue Fever (already included), Chikungunya, and Leishmaniasis (to be added soon).

This is still only available in the US – although it can be accessed through Google.com currently – but Google plans to expand it to more languages and countries.

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Jennifer Slegg

Founder & Editor at The SEM Post

Jennifer Slegg is a longtime speaker and expert in search engine marketing, working in the industry for almost 20 years. When she isn't sitting at her desk writing and working, she can be found grabbing a latte at her local Starbucks or planning her next trip to Disneyland. She regularly speaks at Pubcon, SMX, State of Search, Brighton SEO and more, and has been presenting at conferences for over a decade.

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