Google Expands Health Data In Search Database, Along With Advertising Options

Google said Thursday search results pertaining to health or medical conditions will likely become more factual in the coming weeks because its database filled with information will more than double.

Google launched structured and curated medical content in February with about 400 conditions, but the engine will serve information on more than 900 conditions listed within the next few weeks. The company plans to update the overall design on both Web and mobile, and add downloadable PDFs.

The opportunities for brands -- from consumer product goods to nutrition -- to advertise on google.com expand with the amount of data stored in the database, from health care and health and beauty to fitness and well-being.

"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," writes Prem Ramaswami, product manager at Google, in a blog post. "We think it's important for people to have facts on these diseases, such as Dengue Fever (already included), Chikungunya, and Leishmaniases (to be added soon)."

Today the feature is available only in U.S. English, but Google plans to expand it to more languages and regions.

When someone searches for a medical condition they will see three tabs: About, Symptoms, and Treatments. Today, Google serves this medical information for the most frequently searched-for health conditions, and will continue to increase the number of conditions covered.

The data comes from a combination of algorithms and medical professionals to create this medical information. The algorithms find and analyze health-related information from high-quality sites across the Web, per Google. Then, teams of doctors review and refine the information and licensed medical illustrators create the visuals.

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