Google has removed an AI-powered feature that organized and displayed health advice from internet users, and the manner of its removal has raised serious transparency questions. “What People Suggest” gathered community health perspectives from online discussions and presented them using AI-organized themes. Three people familiar with the matter confirmed the removal before Google acknowledged it publicly.
The feature was announced at Google’s health event in New York by then-chief health officer Karen DeSalvo, who described the tool as an important way to surface peer health experiences for users. The AI organized relevant community discussions into searchable themes, with links to the original source material. Mobile users in the US were the initial audience for the feature.
Google stated the removal was about search page simplification and denied any safety implications. When asked to show where the decision was publicly communicated, the company cited a blog post that contained no mention of “What People Suggest.” The discrepancy has been widely criticized.
The removal happens in the context of an investigation that found Google’s AI Overviews were providing false health information to approximately two billion monthly users. Although Google adjusted some medical AI Overviews in response, health professionals have pushed for more systemic change to how the company handles health information in AI-powered search.
With its next health event scheduled, Google will have another chance to shape the narrative around its AI health strategy. Doing so credibly will require more than new product announcements — it will require transparent, honest communication about what has failed and what is being done to prevent similar failures in the future.