Google has ended the operation of a search feature that used AI to curate health advice from anonymous internet users. The feature, “What People Suggest,” drew from online community discussions to provide users with peer health perspectives and was organized thematically by AI. Its removal was confirmed by Google and by three people with firsthand knowledge of the decision.
Introduced at Google’s New York health event, the feature was portrayed as a milestone in how AI could be used to make health search more relatable. Karen DeSalvo, Google’s chief health officer at the time, wrote that users benefit from seeing the health experiences of others alongside expert medical information. The feature was rolled out to mobile users in the United States as its initial audience.
The company cited search simplification as the reason for removal and stated that quality or safety was not a factor. However, the blog post offered as evidence of a public announcement made no mention of the feature being discontinued. Critics described the company’s handling of the situation as inconsistent and opaque.
The context includes an investigation published earlier this year revealing that Google’s AI Overviews were misleading billions of users monthly with inaccurate health information. Google’s limited response — removing AI Overviews from some health searches — was widely described as insufficient. The issue of AI health misinformation on Google’s platform has not been resolved.
Google’s upcoming health event will offer a new chapter in its AI health narrative. Whether the company can credibly advance that narrative after the failures of the past year, including the silent removal of “What People Suggest,” remains to be seen. Genuine transparency and rigorous product safety standards are the preconditions for restoring public trust.
