Google
Google introduced a new feature this afternoon that makes it easier for people to find relevant, in-depth articles about broad topics.
Jake Hubert, product manager, said Google research shows that about 10 percent of Google searches are for broad topics such as happiness, love and stem-cell research.
“We’re trying to find the best in-depth content,” Hubert said by phone. “A lot of it will be from well-known publications, but sometimes the best answer is from someone’s blog or a local paper.”
Here’s how it works: When you search for a broad topic in Google and scroll down the list of results, you’ll see an “in-depth articles” header toward the bottom of the page. Under that header, you’ll see links to long-form stories about that particular topic.
- An example of what it would look like.
“We’re going to be experimenting with different ranking algorithms,” Hubert said, but for now, “it’s on the lower part of the page.”
The new feature is aimed at people who aren’t just looking for news stories, but want to find stories they can “kick back and read on a Saturday afternoon and spend 15 or 20 minutes on,” Hubert said.
“These are really hard searches to type on Google today,” he said. “If you want to read a bunch of thoughtful articles about population growth, how would you type that into the search box? We know our users are interested in this content, and we see them trying to find it in our research, so we wanted to make it easier.”
Related: Facebook details ‘Story Bumping’ and other News Feed algorithms to help users discover new content (The Next Web)
