Google Search introduces new feature to reduce clicks

Google Search’s update hopes to be able to guess what information users need. Image: Google Blog via AFP Relaxnews

Google’s latest improvements to their search engine aim to get users the answers they need quicker, and potentially with less clicks.

When you type a query into Google’s search engine, there’s the Search button, which leads you to a snippet of information and various link suggestions, as well as a more playful option (“I’m feeling lucky”), a click that will send the user directly to a webpage of Google’s choosing. More specific searches may require full sentences or multiple keywords for a better chance of getting relevant results.

But the search engine giant’s growing capabilities has it feeling lucky too. Google wants to provide multiple subtopic options in order to better guess what the searcher wants to know and show you multiple aspects of a topic with a single search.

Google explains in an official announcement that, for instance, a query such as “quartz vs granite” in a quest to pick a kitchen countertop most often leads to an article that summarizes definitions of those materials. That’s why the latest feature will offer a Knowledge Panel with additional topics; for instance, cost, benefit, weight and durability, to narrow down the search and provide what Google thinks are the most common, useful aspects of the topic, making comparisons easier.

The second example the search engine provides in its announcement is the query “emergency fund” which will lead you to a quick view of information on the recommended size, purpose and importance of an emergency fund.

The added subtopics, automatically generated based on Google’s “understanding of these topics from content on the web,” will be rolling out in the next few days. JB

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