Google Launches “Perspectives” and “About this” Features and What They Mean for You
In August 2022, Barry Schwartz let us peer into a new search feature that Google was testing. That time, Google kept mum about the granular details of this experiment, but let on that it would greatly help searchers find diverse information about the stuff they’re searching. The feature earned the name Perspectives.
This March, Google finally rolled out Perspectives and some extra features designed to make search experience easier, seamless, and more meaningful - and this starts by verifying the accuracy of the results that pop whenever a user launches a query.
ABOUT ‘PERSPECTIVES’
This feature manifests as a carousel of boxes with snippets of content from various verifiable sources. This may include reputable news sites, articles from journalists, and Tweets from other relevant voices. Perspectives appear right below Top Stories.
The goal of Perspectives is to elevate the search experience of users by showcasing news-worthy insights to broaden their knowledge and understanding on a certain topic. This feature will show both on mobile and on desktop.
Over the months, we’ve witnessed Google testing different snippet variations and user interfaces to support this new feature and fine-tune the user experience based on recent interactions around it.
ABOUT ‘ABOUT THIS AUTHOR’
This new feature deepens the search for users who want to learn more about the authors they read. It is the next iteration of Google’s current “About this result” feature, and is about to be launched globally in all languages in the succeeding days.
Today, all users can know more about the result by tapping or clicking on the three dots next to the results on Google SERPs. The feature also reveals how Google’s systems determined the result useful and relevant for the search query.
ABOUT ‘ABOUT THIS PAGE’
Additionally, the About this Page feature marked its release this March 2023. This feature enables users to gain access to information about the source and topic of a certain page. Say, for example, you want to search for a specific company, the top result will show an ‘About this Page’ view where you can quickly see what the page is about. It makes available information such as how the website describes itself, what others think about the company’s product or service, and any recent media coverage about it.
This information allows you to decide if you want to enter and further navigate the website. So far, this feature is now available globally in English.
WHY ROLLOUT SUCH FEATURES
August last year, Google rolled out advisories in Search results that are triggered when the system doesn’t have a high confidence in the overall quality of the search results. To date, the advisories are available across languages like Italian, German, Spanish, French, etc. The advisory serves as an extra feature to provide context about the entire set of results available on the page.
It’s worth noting that in recent months, Google has spent massive efforts in fine-tuning the fact-checking capability of the search engine. In the past, Google awarded a 13.2 million dollar grant to the International Fact-Checking Network to support the launch of a Global Fact Check fund. The fund will help support the campaign and effort of more than 100 fact-checking organisations from 65 countries, spanning over 80 languages.
WHAT IT MEANS FOR YOU
As SEO specialists and digital marketers, we aspire to own the premium spot in any estate that Google offers we can be in, especially featured snippets. This is a call for us to continually optimise our content for both accuracy and relevance. As of now, we are still collecting data around how ‘Perspectives’ interface affects how users behave and interact with these new features. We guess it’s something we should keep an eye on in the coming weeks and months.
