Google Adds Medications To Its Knowledge Graph

Nov 30, 2012 at 3:28pm ET by Matt McGee

google-health-medical Searchers in need of medical information will begin seeing detailed information on medications as part of Google’s Knowledge Graph product.

In today’s announcement, Google says it’ll source the data from sources like the National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, the US Food & Drug Administration, the Dept. of Veterans Affairs and others.

Here’s a screenshot from Google’s announcement, using the drug Naproxen as an example.

naproxen-knowledge-graph

Google has created a number of health-related search features over the years, including a health OneBox that’s been around since August 2009. It shows up on a variety of medical-related searches, from conditions to symptoms to, yes, medications.

adderall

We’ve reached out to Google to ask if the new Knowledge Graph display will eventually replace the health OneBox. No reply yet.

Postscript, 7:40 p.m. ET: Google tells us that the new Knowledge Graph display for medications is replacing the previous medication OneBox display, and this is still rolling out so all users may not see it quite yet.

Related Topics: Channel: Consumer | Google: Health | Google: Web Search | Top News

About The Author: Matt McGee is Editor-In-Chief of Search Engine Land. His news career includes time spent in TV, radio, and print journalism. His web career continues to include a small number of SEO and social media consulting clients, as well as regular speaking engagements at marketing events around the U.S. He blogs at Small Business Search Marketing and can be found on Twitter at @MattMcGee and/or on Google Plus. You can read Matt's disclosures on his personal blog. See more articles by Matt McGee

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http://www.chaddo.com/index.php/local-seo/ Chad Kimball

I like this. If I were searching for ‘naproxen’ this is what I would want to see.
http://www.bobthepharmacist.com/ Bob Diamond R.Ph

Sounds like a good move; especially for over-the-counter non-prescription medicines where a patient doesn’t normally have easy access to a pharmacist for dependable advice about warnings and interactions, etc.
daveintheuk

Great idea! I wish I could replace my doctor with an algorithm too. Yes – that is definitely a good idea – I cannot imagine any possible problems with this.
http://www.microsourcing.com/ MicroSourcing

It’s a relevant feature than can help a lot of Internet users who intend to self-medicate. Health care is a big concern for a lot of people. However, this new feature shouldn’t be used as a substitute for doctor’s consultations.
http://www.socialbakers.com/ Peter Kelly

This is absolutely a good move. People are trying to self-medicate themselves all day long – this will only help them to find the right solution to their problem. It will significantly help people to find only relevant search results. However, the problem with that could be that people would start to stop visiting their doctor, because they will now think that they are capable enough to “cure” themselves without any help.
Angela Duff

It seems like a good idea in theory, but I’m not so sure about this one. I’ve searched a few prescription drugs and saw that information in this box was pulled from Wikipedia. The pharmaceutical industry is so regulated, so it could be worrisome to pharma brands to see info about their drugs being pulled from not the most reliable sources of information. Pharma has a lot of rules to play by and this seems to conflict with most of them.