Google plans to formally launch its health platform in early 2008, said Marissa Mayer, Google's head of search, at the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco.

Mayer said that Google has developed an online health platform prototype that includes:

• Personal health records;
• Healthcare-related search functions;
• Diet and exercise regimens; and
• A localized "find a doctor" application.

“Google is not a doctor, but people come to us with a lot of health information searches,” noted Mayer. “There is a big user information need, which we should ultimately fill.”

Microsoft, Google’s rival, introduced plans last month for HealthVault, an electronic health record service.

“As this rolls out and consumers truly can discover what is state of the art and what they should know about their treatments, where they are being treated, how they are being treated and how they will manage their diseases or recovery, this consumer awareness will lead to far greater consumer control, far better health data and, inevitably, to a very different health world than the current one,” said Adam Bosworth, former Google VP and Google Health architect.