Google app's new feature is a win for hypochondriacs

Googling your symptoms may not be such a bad idea after all.

The search giant is updating its apps to make it easier to find information about health conditions when you search for specific symptoms.

With the update, which is limited to searches on Google's iOS and Android app, searches for specific symptoms will surface related conditions in cards at the top of the search results (much like other search features that provide answers within the search results themselves.) If you search "swollen joints" for instance, the app will show information about arthritis and other relevant conditions.

The goal, Google says, is to make it easier to find information about your symptoms without clicking through several pages of websites. (It also reduces the need for hypochondria-inducing sites like WebMD.) In addition to conditions, search results will also tell you how common a particular condition is and how you can treat it at home or whether you may need to actually see a doctor.

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

While the Internet can be notoriously unreliable when it comes to finding accurate health information, Google says it worked with a team of doctors and other experts to ensure the results are relevant. 

"We create the list of symptoms by looking for health conditions mentioned in web results, and then checking them against high-quality medical information we’ve collected from doctors for our Knowledge Graph," Google product manager Veronica Pinchin writes in a blog post. "We worked with a team of medical doctors to carefully review the individual symptom information, and experts at Harvard Medical School and Mayo Clinic evaluated related conditions for a representative sample of searches to help improve the lists we show."

The feature is rolling out to US users Google's apps this week and Pinchin says the feature will improve as more people use it.  

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