Google has discontinued a Search feature called “What people suggest,” which used AI to summarize health tips and personal experiences gathered from online communities such as Reddit and other forums. The feature aimed to surface common suggestions and themes from real users to complement traditional search results for queries like “Why does my leg hurt?”
Introduced in early 2025, “What people suggest” was presented as a way to organize diverse perspectives found in online discussions into concise, easy-to-read summaries. Google described the feature as an AI-assisted tool intended to help users quickly understand what real people were saying about health experiences and everyday concerns. The summaries were primarily drawn from public forum posts and social platforms, including Reddit, X (formerly Twitter), Quora, and other discussion sites.
About a year after its launch, Google removed the feature from Search. The company confirmed the change and said the feature was turned off months ago as part of a broader effort to simplify the search results page. Google explained that it had identified a set of features that were not widely used and did not add significant value for most users, and that those features would be phased out in favor of streamlining the overall experience.
This feature was turned down months ago as part of a broader simplification of the search results page, which we shared publicly.
While Google previously posted an update announcing plans to remove lesser-used features, that public notice did not explicitly list “What people suggest” among the items to be cut. A company spokesperson later clarified that the decision to discontinue the feature was not driven by concerns about quality or safety. Google said it continues to help people find reliable health information from a variety of sources and still values first-person perspectives shared in forums, which many users find helpful.
…It had nothing to do with the quality or safety of the feature, and we continue to help people find reliable health information from a range of sources, including forums with first-person perspectives that people find incredibly useful.
The removal comes amid wider scrutiny of AI-generated health summaries. Earlier reports raised concerns that AI Overviews in Search sometimes produced misleading or inaccurate health information. In response to those concerns, Google adjusted AI-based features and in some cases limited or disabled AI results for certain sensitive health queries. The company has been refining how AI is applied in health-related contexts to better balance helpfulness with safety and accuracy.
For users, the change means Search will no longer show consolidated crowd-sourced suggestions framed by AI in the same way. Instead, Google appears to be focusing on presenting reliable, authoritative health information while still offering ways to find personal experiences and discussions through links to forums and community posts—without the automated summarization that the removed feature provided.
As the landscape of AI in search continues to evolve, Google and other platforms are weighing how to integrate community-sourced content responsibly. Summarizing real user experiences can offer practical perspectives, but it also raises challenges around context, accuracy, and potential misinformation—particularly for medical queries where professional guidance is important.
More on Google Search:
- Google Search, Maps, and AI modes can book services through Wix websites
- Google is making source links a bit more clickable in AI Overviews and AI Mode
- Google ‘Results about you’ Search removal tool now covers Social Security & IDs, more
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