New Google Functionality for Symptom Searches
Nathan Stewart
February 17, 2012
The What…
On the weekend of February 11th, Google launched new search functionality that directly focuses on health and health-related searches. This functionality does not currently have a given name but we are calling it “Symptom Search.” When users search for a health-related symptom, like “headache,” they will encounter a list of possible health issues that could be causing that symptom. Below are “before” and “after” screen shots of this new functionality.
Before launch of Symptom Search
After launch of Symptom Search
If a user clicks on any of the listed health issues, he or she is taken to the Google Search Results Page for that particular issue. In other words, using the example above, if the user who searched for “headache” clicks on the “Migraine” link, he or she would be taken to the Search Results Page for “Migraine,” as if that had been the search term. This can be viewed below.
The Why…
The reasoning behind this added functionality was given in a recent blog post by Google, which states that their data indicates that users who search for symptoms often search for related conditions soon afterwards. Google hopes to make the overall search experience easier by collapsing these steps into one search. Google has also stated that the list of related conditions and the functionality behind it is NOT human controlled, but is pulled from an algorithm that aggregates what is written on the Web about the searched symptom (though it does seem to favor trusted sources like nih.gov and Wikipedia). It has also been mentioned that this will in no way affect Google AdWords or Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Marketing results on any searches.
What Does it Mean?
While this is a new feature with a yet-to-be determined impact, it clearly could dramatically affect the strategic approach to SEO and paid searches. With Google now displaying potential conditions related to a symptom search prior to all organic results, the patient search pathway may potentially be accelerated. There is a possibility that users may self diagnose too early or search too broadly, resulting in more issues than solutions. However, if users can quickly and successfully move past the “symptom” information-seeking phase and into the “condition” information phase, then both Organic and Paid Searches may need to shift away from optimization for symptoms towards optimization for the condition. This could increase the importance of having a condition-specific site, such as RA.com or migraines.com.
We do not recommend adjusting search marketing and optimization strategies at this time. We will continue to monitor this development and keep you informed as this situation evolves.