What you need to know
- Google is launching a new Perspectives carousel on Search to provide different viewpoints on a topic.
- The new About this author feature will provide background information about an author of a piece that appears in search results.
- About this result is expanding globally, while search advisories will be available in more languages.
Google Search is constantly evolving in ways that aim to make it easy to find what you’re looking for from trustworthy sources. In Google’s latest effort to expand Search and tackle misinformation, the company has announced new features and the expansion of some existing ones.
The biggest addition to Search is the new Perspectives carousel. This will surface relevant posts and content from various journalists and voices on a particular topic. It sounds fairly redundant, as it will sit right under the Top Stories section of the results page. However, according to Google, Perspectives will “give you a variety of noteworthy voices on a news topic, complementing the trustworthy reporting you already find on Search to help broaden your understanding.”
Google says Perspectives will be available soon for English speakers in the United States.
Another addition to Search is the new About this author feature, which is launching globally in English. Similar to About this result, this is meant to give the reader more context about who wrote a particular piece that shows up in results. It can be accessed by tapping the three dots on a search result and aims to help readers ensure that they can trust the author and their content.
In addition to these new features, Google is expanding on some existing ones. About this result will be available globally in the coming days in all languages where Search is available, meaning more users will be able to gain additional context about their search.
Google Search is also expanding the availability of its information quality advisories. This informs a user that a particular topic may not surface many trustworthy results for various reasons, particularly if a topic is relatively new, and the advisories will be available in German, French, Italian, Spanish, and Japanese “in the coming months.”
Lastly, Google is making About this page easier to access by putting it at the top of search results. It will also populate context from various sources about the website, allowing you to check if a site is trustworthy.
