Starting today, (in the US to begin with) Google is updating its search results with a feature called “About This Result” that will searchers pull up information from Wikipedia about a particular Site in the search results.
Google has said to see the new feature, just tap on the three-dot icon on the top right of the result’s card, which will pull up a short snippet on the article.
Next to most results on Google, searchers will begin to see a “menu” icon that you can tap to learn more about the result or feature & where the information is coming from. With this additional context, said Google, searchers can “make a more informed decision about the Sites you may want to visit & what results will be most useful for you.”
“We’ll begin rolling out this feature today in English in the US on desktop, mobile Web & the Google App on Android,” said Google on its official blog.
When available, searchers will see a description of the Website from Wikipedia, which provides free, reliable information about tens of millions of Sites on the Web. If a Site doesn’t have a Wikipedia description, Google will show users additional context that may be available, such as when Google first indexed the Site.
For the features Google provides to organize different types of information, like job listings or local business listings, users will see a description about how Google sources that information from Sites on the Web, or from businesses themselves, & present it in a helpful format.
