A Google search feature that used AI to gather and display health advice from anonymous internet contributors has been removed from the platform. “What People Suggest” was built to provide users with community health perspectives curated by AI, but has since been discontinued. Its removal was confirmed by three insiders and later acknowledged by Google in a statement that raised more questions than it answered.
The feature was first revealed at Google’s annual “The Check Up” health conference in New York. Karen DeSalvo, then the company’s chief health officer, wrote that it would help users find health perspectives from people with similar lived experiences. The AI grouped relevant online community discussions into themes and provided direct links to source content.
Google’s spokesperson attributed the removal to search page simplification, denying any connection to safety or content quality. When the company cited a blog post as its public notice of the change, that post turned out to contain no reference to the discontinued feature. One person familiar with the decision said simply, “It’s dead.”
The episode arrives in the context of significant criticism over Google’s approach to AI-generated health content. An investigation this year found that AI Overviews were providing false health information to approximately two billion monthly users. Although Google removed some medical AI Overviews in response, health advocates have pressed for more sweeping changes to how AI handles medical information in search.
Google’s upcoming health event is another opportunity to make the case for AI as a force for good in healthcare. But that case will only land if the company can demonstrate that it takes accountability seriously. The handling of “What People Suggest” is a cautionary chapter in Google’s health AI story — one that should inform every future decision the company makes in this space.