Google Ended a Health AI Feature That Pulled Tips From Strangers — With Zero Fanfare

A Google AI search feature that invited users to benefit from the health experiences of strangers online has been ended, the company confirmed. “What People Suggest” curated community health content from online sources using AI and was presented to users as a meaningful supplement to medical search results. Its removal was confirmed by Google with little explanation, and by three people with first-hand knowledge.
The feature was introduced publicly at “The Check Up,” a Google health event in New York in spring of last year. Karen DeSalvo, who was then chief health officer, wrote at the time that users genuinely value peer perspectives in health searches and that the feature was designed to deliver exactly that. It was made available initially to mobile users in the US.
Google’s statement about the removal was vague and, notably, pointed to a blog post that made no mention of the discontinued feature as evidence of public disclosure. This approach to communication was criticized as inadequate for a product that touched on sensitive health information. “It’s dead,” was how one informed source described it.
The withdrawal of this feature does not exist in isolation. Google has faced sustained criticism this year for allowing AI Overviews to distribute false health information to two billion users each month. The limited steps taken in response to that controversy — removing some medical AI Overviews — did not satisfy health advocates or experts.
Ahead of Google’s next health event, where AI health innovations are expected to be front and center, the company faces renewed pressure to be more forthcoming about the limitations and failures of its health products. Trust in health technology is difficult to build and easy to lose. The story of “What People Suggest” illustrates both of those truths.