Google can now answer some of your questions without search results

Image: Geber86/Istock.com via AFP Relaxnews

If you’re Googling the time, a calculation, or a unit conversation, the website will now offer you a conclusive answer rather than a list of search results.

This past weekend, Google confirmed to Search Engine Land that some questions users ask the search engine will merit simply an answer unaccompanied by search results. The company summarized this feature in an email stating, “For queries where we have extremely high confidence that a user is seeking a calculation, unit conversion or local time, we will show a single result to improve load time on mobile.”

If you still have doubts about the answer, though, there is a button captioned, “Show all results” below which you can tap to view the typical span of search results. Either way, 5 + 5 = 10 no matter how many search results the site can offer you.

When the feature was tested back in March, it was pulled after a few days due to unhappy users. One complaint that Search Engine Land outlined was that when users searched “date in London,” they weren’t suggested with someone to spend a romantic evening with, but rather the present calendar date. Since the initial test, Google has hammered out a great deal of these issues before re-releasing the feature this week. JB

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