Search engine giant, Google has announced the launch of health knowledge panels in Nigeria, which will appear at the top of any health-related search result and provide a snapshot of the condition, symptoms and treatment of more than 800 commonly searched for health conditions.
The launch of health knowledge panels is based on the fact that Google is where most people turn when they have health questions. In fact, 1 in 20 Google searches are for health-related information. With this in mind, Google developed its health knowledge panel, which is now available in twenty countries in Africa including Nigeria. The health knowledge cards are available on both mobile and desktop, and cover over 800 health conditions curated to display facts for health problems and symptoms based on peoples’ search interests.
Speaking on the launch, Tamar Yehoshua, Google’s VP of Product Management said, “Nigerians are turning to Google Search to find answers to a variety of topics ranging from health, to financial well-being to entertainment and sports to national interests. In fact, Search growth in Nigeria has been accelerating and has been recently outpacing the global growth average, proof that Google Search has become an important information destination for the people.”
As we roll out this feature in Nigeria, our hope is to help to provide knowledge to Nigerians searching for information about common health issues. We collaborated with a team of medical experts from institutions such as the University of Ibadan and the Mayo Clinic to ensure that all the gathered facts represent real-life clinical knowledge from health institutions and experts around the world.
Google had earlier pre-announced plans to launch a number of new features like Health Searches, Google posts and Sports Searches for users of Google Search in Nigeria at the ‘Google for Nigeria conference in July’.
It should be noted though that the health card feature is intended for informational purposes only, users are advised to consult a medical professional regarding actual health concerns.