We concluded the Google search engine may have shortcomings when used to obtain information on dietary supplements & cancer after we assessed the quality of online health and nutrition information

Using the Google™ Search Engine for Health Information: Is there a Problem? Case Study: Supplements for Cancer. Hannah C Cai, Leanne E King, Johanna T Dwyer. Current Developments in Nutrition, nzab002, February 3 2021, https://doi.org/10.1093/cdn/nzab002

Abstract: We assessed the quality of online health and nutrition information using a Google™ search on “supplements for cancer”. Search results were scored using the Health Information Quality Index (HIQI), a quality rating tool consisting of 12 objective criteria related to website domain, lack of commercial aspects, and authoritative nature of the health and nutrition information provided. Possible scores ranged from 0 (lowest) to 12 (“perfect” or highest quality). After eliminating irrelevant results, the remaining 160 search results had median and mean scores of 8. A quarter of the results were of high quality (score of 10–12). There was no correlation between high quality scores and early appearance in the sequence of search results, where results are presumably more visible. Also, 496 advertisements, over twice the number of search results, appeared. We concluded the Google™ search engine may have shortcomings when used to obtain information on dietary supplements and cancer.

Keywords: Health Information Quality Index (HIQI), Google search, ranking, authoritative information, commercial, advertisement, online, nutrition