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Google “about this result” goes online in the USA (Image: Google)

Google added a new “About This Result” feature that lets searchers get more information about a search result before they click on it. This means that the search engine will automatically display information from a brand’s Wikipedia list in the search results to help searchers.

When a consumer searches for information on Google, they often come across well-known results, such as: B. on major retailer websites, national news sites, and more. But there is also a ton of great information and services available from websites that you may not have come across before. And while you can always use Google to do additional research on these websites, Google believes that better display of more information can help searchers find a wider variety of results.

Google says on its blog, “If it’s a website you’ve never heard of before, extra information can give you context or reassurance, especially when you’re looking for important information like health or financial information.”

From now on in the US, users will see a menu icon next to most of the results on Google, which they can tap to learn more about the result or the function and origin of the information. With that added context, they can make a more informed decision about which websites they might want to visit and which results will be most useful.

The new feature, expected in the UK later this year, could be a boon for retailers and brands as it helps them be selected if they have the right information. This could also increase the variety of offers shoppers see when searching online.

However, it could also affect traffic, as Marcus Pentzek, Chief SEO Consultant at Searchmetrics, explains: “With this change, Google is trying to improve confidence in search results, especially on important YMYL (Your-Money-Or-Your-Life ) such as when searchers make online purchases or seek information on health or financial products and services. One effect, however, will be that some brands will see less traffic from these types of search queries as searchers use the additional information that Google provides to more selectively decide which results to click on. For some smaller or newer brands that don’t have a Wikipedia page yet or that Google knows less about, the fallout may be greater. ”

This change is based on the fact that Google is trying to train its search algorithms to figure out which websites are (ultimately) best able to meet search intent for certain important topics like health and finance – and which websites people don’t trust.

Pentzek warns, “As a result of collecting this information and training its algorithms, I suspect that Google may be preparing another major update to try to improve search results based on information about the websites that users are viewing Do not click after viewing additional information about this result. “

He sums it up: “For brands likely to be affected, an important action apparently is to make sure they have an accurate and updated Wikipedia entry linked to their website. You should ensure that your digital marketing teams create an even better and more believable title and description in the underlying HTML of their pages related to YMYL topics to grab the attention of searchers as this information is often in Excerpts are shown on Google search results pages – well-designed and believable snippets could make searchers less skeptical. “