{"id":5862,"date":"2019-08-15T12:38:50","date_gmt":"2019-08-15T12:38:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.kolabtree.com\/?p=5862"},"modified":"2020-11-09T10:33:33","modified_gmt":"2020-11-09T10:33:33","slug":"new-data-reveals-how-many-of-us-are-misdiagnosing-ourselves-using-google","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kolabtree.com\/blog\/new-data-reveals-how-many-of-us-are-misdiagnosing-ourselves-using-google\/","title":{"rendered":"New Data Reveals How Many of Us Are Misdiagnosing Ourselves Using Google"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_45_1 counter-flat ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" area-label=\"ez-toc-toggle-icon-1\"><label for=\"item-69f17781936c3\" aria-label=\"Table of Content\"><span style=\"display: flex;align-items: center;width: 35px;height: 30px;justify-content: center;direction:ltr;\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/label><input  type=\"checkbox\" id=\"item-69f17781936c3\"><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.kolabtree.com\/blog\/new-data-reveals-how-many-of-us-are-misdiagnosing-ourselves-using-google\/#Know_how_Google_vs_Doctor_affects_the_health_information_online\" title=\"Know how Google vs Doctor affects the health information online:\">Know how Google vs Doctor affects the health information online:<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.kolabtree.com\/blog\/new-data-reveals-how-many-of-us-are-misdiagnosing-ourselves-using-google\/#The_conversation_so_far\" title=\"The conversation so far\u00a0\">The conversation so far\u00a0<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.kolabtree.com\/blog\/new-data-reveals-how-many-of-us-are-misdiagnosing-ourselves-using-google\/#Where_do_you_get_your_health_information_from\" title=\"Where do you get your health information from?\u00a0\">Where do you get your health information from?\u00a0<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/www.kolabtree.com\/blog\/new-data-reveals-how-many-of-us-are-misdiagnosing-ourselves-using-google\/#Do_you_think_that_platforms_such_as_Facebook_and_Google_should_take_steps_to_reduce_the_spread_of_medical_information_by_people_with_little_or_no_medical_training\" title=\"Do you think that platforms, such as Facebook and Google, should take steps to reduce the spread of medical information by people with little or no medical training?\u00a0\">Do you think that platforms, such as Facebook and Google, should take steps to reduce the spread of medical information by people with little or no medical training?\u00a0<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/www.kolabtree.com\/blog\/new-data-reveals-how-many-of-us-are-misdiagnosing-ourselves-using-google\/#When_you_feel_ill_or_experience_unusual_symptoms_what_do_you_do_first\" title=\"When you feel ill or experience unusual symptoms, what do you do first?\u00a0\">When you feel ill or experience unusual symptoms, what do you do first?\u00a0<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/www.kolabtree.com\/blog\/new-data-reveals-how-many-of-us-are-misdiagnosing-ourselves-using-google\/#Have_you_ever_misdiagnosed_yourself_after_reading_medical_content_online\" title=\"Have you ever misdiagnosed yourself after reading medical content online?\u00a0\">Have you ever misdiagnosed yourself after reading medical content online?\u00a0<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/www.kolabtree.com\/blog\/new-data-reveals-how-many-of-us-are-misdiagnosing-ourselves-using-google\/#Have_your_say_Who_do_you_trust_more_-_Google_vs_doctor_Tell_us_by_leaving_a_comment_below_or_connect_with_us_on_Twitter\" title=\"Have your say. Who do you trust more \u2014 Google vs doctor? Tell us by leaving a comment below or connect with us on Twitter.\u00a0\">Have your say. Who do you trust more \u2014 Google vs doctor? Tell us by leaving a comment below or connect with us on Twitter.\u00a0<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Have you ever Googled your symptoms online? Most of us have. The public\u2019s over-reliance on the internet to discover health-related information is a frequent cause for concern. Here&#8217;s google vs doctor on healthcare news.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As early as 2016, a study appeared in JAMA Internal Medicine that focused on the accuracy of diagnosis online and offline. Forbes covered <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/robertglatter\/2016\/10\/13\/doctors-beat-online-symptom-checkers-new-study-finds\/#5a08a69a2d44\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">the results<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and as expected, doctors came out on top with better accuracy than generic symptom checkers.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The researchers argued doctors have superior knowledge, because of their rigorous training and all-important access to patient history. Both allow health professionals to make informed decisions, rather than a generic assumption about health.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A symptom checker is limited, as it can only provide the most common causes, related conditions and suggested treatments. Blanket answers online often lead to misdiagnosis as people can misinterpret the information. Readers could leap to a dramatic conclusion, fearing the worst possible case scenario. Receiving non-personalised information could also persuade people to ignore a serious health condition.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This piece of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kolabtree.com\/blog\/ensuring-reproducibility-in-ai-driven-research-how-freelance-experts-can-help-in-biotech-and-healthcare\/\">research<\/a> was of high importance as it should have made people aware of how ineffective looking for health symptoms online can be. But did it make any difference? Do we still frantically type in our health-related worries into Google before making an appointment with our GP? Our latest survey finds out.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Know_how_Google_vs_Doctor_affects_the_health_information_online\"><\/span>Know how Google vs Doctor affects the health information online:<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_conversation_so_far\"><\/span><b>The conversation so far\u00a0<\/b><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">After the 2016 study, the topic of symptom checking was covered by The Citizen, in an anecdotal article on why \u201cDr Google\u201d is a doctor\u2019s worst enemy stating google vs doctor comparison. Why? As <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/citizen.co.za\/news\/opinion\/opinion-columns\/1758678\/human-doctors-vs-dr-google\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">the text reveals<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, patients are beginning to question a doctor\u2019s authority and expertise when their diagnosis or advice doesn\u2019t match that of online information. WebMD is the online source mentioned \u2014 a domain constantly criticised for providing false information to readers. Vox even went as far to say the site is a \u201chypochondriac\u2019s nightmare\u201d in <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vox.com\/2016\/4\/5\/11358268\/webmd-accuracy-trustworthy\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">their commentary<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0 google vs doctor<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Of course, not every article touching on the topic is directly slating online content. Not many people can deny Googling symptoms to get an instant diagnosis is something they\u2019ve done in the past. Especially if you\u2019re <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/news\/uk\/politics\/gp-appointments-millions-nhs-doctors-jeremy-hunt-labour-jon-ashworth-a7879336.html\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">part of the 28%<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> of people who find getting a GP appointment \u201cnot very easy\u201d. Many Brits are dissatisfied with how difficult it is to speak to a GP. The slim opening hours offered by surgeries are another cause for concern. It\u2019s fair to say, these reasons could fuel internet searches for health-related information. After all, platforms such as Google and Facebook are accessible 24-hours per day.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/healthcare-network\/2015\/jun\/19\/google-search-doctor-diagnosis-imperfect-balance-bronte-doyne-cancer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Guardian says<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> this frequent act is \u201calways a perfect imbalance\u201d.\u00a0 As much as using search engines to get answers about your health could be harmful,\u00a0 it\u2019s also a sign patients don\u2019t feel listened to. The author of the article, Richard Vize \u2014 the editor of Health Service Journal \u2014\u00a0closes by saying \u201cthis is not a route to longer consultations and wasted time, but a strategy for improving outcomes and helping patients to be engaged in their own care.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A lot has changed since these initial articles were written, including Amazon\u2019s partnership with the NHS. Patients can now ask internet-powered Amazon Alexa health-related questions and receive NHS-approved answers through its voice.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The NHS believes this practice will give people \u201cbetter control of their healthcare\u201d \u2014 because they can quickly receive advice on topics such as how to treat a migraine. This news didn\u2019t come without a stampede of criticism. Just take a look at the altogether negative user comment in <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.pulsetoday.co.uk\/news\/all-news\/patients-to-access-health-information-through-amazon-alexa\/20039025.article\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">this announcement article<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If healthcare services had infinite resources, we\u2019d all agree that in-person, expert advice is the ideal alternative. As a scientific freelance platform, we believe research projects and online content greatly benefit from the insights gained through collaboration with qualified practitioners. The real question is, how does the ease of using Google influence many of us?\u00a0 And are new developments like the NHS integration in Amazon\u2019s Alexa really making it easier for us to avoid seeing a doctor?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Where_do_you_get_your_health_information_from\"><\/span><b>Where do you get your health information from?\u00a0<\/b><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To get a definitive answer to our question, we asked: \u201cwhere do you get your health information from?\u201d Thankfully, most people (56.7%) said their doctor was a chosen source of information.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>26.2% of the public favour the results at the top of Google \u2014\u00a0those sites deemed worthy of high visibility after <a href=\"https:\/\/www.smartinsights.com\/search-engine-optimisation-seo\/how-to-fix-your-website-if-you-were-hit-by-google-medic\/\">Google\u2019s Medic update<\/a><\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>, which cracked down on health-related content.<\/strong> A smaller portion of people (25.1%) uses the internet with more restraint, taking advice only from trusted government websites. An even lower proportion (8.4%), selected the answer \u201cThe Internet (other sources)\u201d. Only 4.5% claimed social media networks were their go-to source for medical advice.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-5863 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.kolabtree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Google-Doc-1.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1050\" height=\"497\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.kolabtree.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Google-Doc-1.png 1050w, https:\/\/www.kolabtree.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Google-Doc-1-300x142.png 300w, https:\/\/www.kolabtree.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Google-Doc-1-1024x485.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.kolabtree.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Google-Doc-1-768x364.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1050px) 100vw, 1050px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A minority (14.5%) say they speak to friends and family about health issues, while 15.4% of people chose the answer \u201cNone of the above\u201d. Perhaps this portion of people represents those who are starting to make use of applications such as Amazon Alexa\u2019s NHS health integration.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It seems the legitimacy of professional practices still influences most people to visit their local GP. However, when you break down the results, it appears more people are scouring different corners of the internet to find solutions. The final result? Slightly more people (64.2%) are using the internet to read up on health-related queries versus those visiting the doctor (56.7%), but it\u2019s a close call with no real \u201cwinners\u201d in this round.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It\u2019s important to note that people could vote for more than one source of information. For example, they could select both visiting the doctor and using Google to get information. The average number of options chosen was 1.5, meaning most people use more than one method to check health content.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">These results become even more interesting when we use sub-filters such as gender or age. For example, 60% of women get health information from their doctor \u2014 as opposed to 53.4% of men. It\u2019s also women who trust government websites more and men who are more likely to go for sites that rank well.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Does this mean men are more prone to receiving misinformation than women? It could be this is more of a generational trend, as older generations tend to get medical advice from their doctors, while young people tend to go to Google.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Do_you_think_that_platforms_such_as_Facebook_and_Google_should_take_steps_to_reduce_the_spread_of_medical_information_by_people_with_little_or_no_medical_training\"><\/span><b>Do you think that platforms, such as Facebook and Google, should take steps to reduce the spread of medical information by people with little or no medical training?\u00a0<\/b><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Just because people use online platforms to find information doesn\u2019t mean they think they\u2019re doing a great job \u2014 right? Our next question attempts to uncover how the same audience perceives the responsibility of the platforms they frequently rely on.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It seems the conversation around online misinformation has impacted on people\u2019s beliefs about monitoring medical information online.\u00a0 <strong>A whopping 59.4% of people think the named platforms should be active in reducing the impact of content written by non-experts.\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-5864 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.kolabtree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Google-Doc-2.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1043\" height=\"358\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.kolabtree.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Google-Doc-2.png 1043w, https:\/\/www.kolabtree.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Google-Doc-2-300x103.png 300w, https:\/\/www.kolabtree.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Google-Doc-2-1024x351.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.kolabtree.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Google-Doc-2-768x264.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1043px) 100vw, 1043px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The lowest portion of respondents (14.1%) selected \u201cno\u201d, indicating platforms shouldn\u2019t take steps to reduce the spread of non-expert medical information. A slightly larger segment (26.6%) said they weren\u2019t sure about the matter.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In this question, it seems once again that men and younger people are more susceptible to receiving false information online. 61.9% of women, as opposed to 56.8% of men, believed platforms should take more steps to prevent the spread of inaccurate medical information. Generally speaking, the older the participants got, the more they were in favour of monitoring medical information. Only 61.2% of 18-24-year-olds answered \u201cyes\u201d to this question, compared to 73.5% of people aged 65+.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"When_you_feel_ill_or_experience_unusual_symptoms_what_do_you_do_first\"><\/span><b>When you feel ill or experience unusual symptoms, what do you do first?\u00a0<\/b><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Both the internet and doctors are neck and neck when it comes to where people find information related to their health. Discovering people\u2019s favoured information source could take us one step closer to understanding the real battle between Google and health experts. In short, we wanted to find out which source those who used several sources checked first?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Could it be people use Google and internet searches as a preliminary check before ultimately going to visit the doctor? Or perhaps health issues that appear out-of-hours are first checked online to assess the severity of the situation?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Interestingly, the results suggested the opposite. The majority of respondents (56.8%) said the first action they would take is to call their GP. The remaining audience (43.2%) said they would Google their symptoms. Again, these statistics are fairly level, dismissing our initial speculations about Google acting as a preparation tactic.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-5865 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.kolabtree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Google-Doc-3.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1014\" height=\"272\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.kolabtree.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Google-Doc-3.png 1014w, https:\/\/www.kolabtree.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Google-Doc-3-300x80.png 300w, https:\/\/www.kolabtree.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Google-Doc-3-768x206.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1014px) 100vw, 1014px\" \/><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As with the other questions, we filtered further by gender and age to gain better insight.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Women are more likely to Google their symptoms first (50.9%) than to call their GP (49.1%). If we compare this to men, they report calling their GP first 64.7% of the time and Googling their symptoms first only 35.3% of the time.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Younger generations are much more likely to Google first. 56.7% of 18-24-year-olds take to Google first, compared to 43.3% who say they call their GP. We can compare this to the age group 65+, who say they Google their symptoms first only 19.2% of the time. The rest \u2014 80.8% \u2014initially call their GP. These results demonstrate a generational divide \u2014 younger people trust information online and have come to rely on it.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Have_you_ever_misdiagnosed_yourself_after_reading_medical_content_online\"><\/span><b>Have you ever misdiagnosed yourself after reading medical content online?\u00a0<\/b><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Our final question attempts to uncover just how unsafe and ineffective online diagnosis can be. Previous research has already shown a doctor\u2019s diagnosis to be superior when compared with online symptom checkers. With so many people still choosing to check online content at some stage, we wanted to know how often this resulted in misdiagnosis.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14px;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-5866 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.kolabtree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Google-Doc-4.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1001\" height=\"257\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.kolabtree.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Google-Doc-4.png 1001w, https:\/\/www.kolabtree.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Google-Doc-4-300x77.png 300w, https:\/\/www.kolabtree.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Google-Doc-4-768x197.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1001px) 100vw, 1001px\" \/><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14px;\">It appears the majority of people (73.1%) haven\u2019t misdiagnosed themselves after reading medical content online. Only 26.9% of respondents answered yes.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, the study\u2019s entire audience answered this question \u2014 including those who admit to avoiding online content. While the unfiltered answer suggests less than 30% of people misdiagnose because of online information, the results change quite dramatically when we filter them by age.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Throughout the study, younger respondents have shown their favour towards online content. Within this question, almost half (44.1%) of 18-24-year-olds have misdiagnosed themselves online. Those aged 65+ \u2014 those who admit to avoiding online content when it comes to health \u2014 present a stark contrast. Only 10.6% of this age group think they have experienced misdiagnosis after reading online content. This data suggests misdiagnosis online is common in those who regularly turn to internet sources for health-related information.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This topic has already influenced major changes in online platforms such as Facebook. As recently as July, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/time.com\/5619736\/facebook-health-claims-news-feed\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Facebook announced<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> they would de prioritising posts with sensational health news to combat misinformation online.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This change follows public criticism of Facebook content \u2014\u00a0specifically from users who have seen alternative cancer therapies and speculation on vaccine side-effects on their news feeds. The new Facebook update won\u2019t remove similar content.\u00a0 Instead, users will be less likely to see non-expert health content at the top of their feeds. Products that make bold health claims \u2014 such as weight loss pills \u2014 will also be de-ranked by Facebook.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Search engines have also begun to make adjustments regarding health-related content. Although Google hasn\u2019t confirmed any of their latest algorithm changes targeted health-related websites, many search experts suspect it was. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/googles-august-first-core-algorithm-update-who-did-it-impact-and-how-much-303538\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Google\u2019s August 2018 update<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> was coined the Medic update because of its supposed focus on health content. It seems \u2014 in a similar approach to Facebook \u2014 that Google is monitoring quality factors to decide which medical content should be most visible online.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As Google is a search engine \u2014 not the owner of the internet \u2014 they will not be responsible for permanently removing content online. However, they can determine how different websites and pages perform in searches. So, post-Google Medic, users will be less likely to see non-expert health information on the first page of Google search results.\u00a0 This summarizes Google vs doctor outcomes.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Have_your_say_Who_do_you_trust_more_-_Google_vs_doctor_Tell_us_by_leaving_a_comment_below_or_connect_with_us_on_Twitter\"><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Have your say. Who do you trust more \u2014 Google vs doctor? Tell us by leaving a comment below or connect with us on <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/kolabtree\">Twitter<\/a>.\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Have you ever Googled your symptoms online? Most of us have. The public\u2019s over-reliance on the internet to discover health-related information is a frequent cause for concern. Here&#8217;s google vs doctor on healthcare news. As early as 2016, a study appeared in JAMA Internal Medicine that focused on the accuracy of diagnosis online and offline.<\/p>\n<div class=\"read-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.kolabtree.com\/blog\/new-data-reveals-how-many-of-us-are-misdiagnosing-ourselves-using-google\/\" title=\"Read More\">Read More<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":5871,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[443,435,433],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v20.1 (Yoast SEO v20.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Google vs Doctor \u2013 Who Do You Trust More?\u00a0| Kolabtree Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Is the internet a reliable source of health-related information? How many people have misdiagnosed themselves? Read more on Google vs Doctor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.kolabtree.com\/blog\/new-data-reveals-how-many-of-us-are-misdiagnosing-ourselves-using-google\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"New Data Reveals How Many of Us Are Misdiagnosing Ourselves Using Google\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Is the internet a reliable source of health-related information? How many people have misdiagnosed themselves? Read more on Google vs Doctor\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.kolabtree.com\/blog\/new-data-reveals-how-many-of-us-are-misdiagnosing-ourselves-using-google\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Kolabtree Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/kolabtree\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-08-15T12:38:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-11-09T10:33:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.kolabtree.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/healthcare-misdiagnosing-google.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"426\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ramya Sriram\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@kolabtree\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@kolabtree\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ramya Sriram\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"10 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Google vs Doctor \u2013 Who Do You Trust More?\u00a0| Kolabtree Blog","description":"Is the internet a reliable source of health-related information? 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