One of Google’s strengths is that the company is always adapting its products to fit the changing needs of consumers and business owners. However, with Google’s sheer number of products and services, along with all the changes Google is constantly making, it’s hard for people to stay up-to-date with the latest Google news. Here are three Google news tidbits from the past week that you may have missed.
New Guidelines for Quality Raters
To combat some of the negative issues surrounding search engine and internet content, Google has its search results routinely checked by human quality raters. These ratings don’t affect the ranking of individual websites, but feedback from raters can affect how Google’s rules and policies are implemented.
In the latest update, Google has given raters more specific guidelines on handling pages that aren’t in English, but are mixed into English search results. There are also improved guidelines for how to handle conspiracy theory content, content that may be considered sexualized or pronographic, as well as how to rate the ads. To see a breakdown of all the changes, check out this comparison from SEM Post.
Saved Searches
Sometimes, one view isn’t enough. Consumers often want to remember specific pages or information they found online while searching. Besides traditional bookmarks, Google is rolling out a new method to keep track of your favorite content. To make it easier to come back to an old search result, Google has added a new “save” feature, which can be access under a new menu on the left side of the Google home page on a mobile device.
This isn’t the first time Google has created a similar tool, but the company feels this one is different and will provide additional value to consumers.
“We’ve created a new tool so you can collect and keep track of things that interest you more easily. When you see the bookmark icon appear, you’ll have the ability to save images, itineraries, and places you visit in Google Search on the mobile web. To access your inventory, just tap ‘Saved’ in the navigation drawer on any mobile search results page,” a Google spokesperson told Search Engine Land.
Google Image Search Badges for Certain Images
When you search for something on Google images, the results come from a wide array of places and that can affect the type of content the users sees during a search. To make it easier for people to sort through the hundreds of photos at a glance, Google is adding badges for certain image types.
In the announcement for the new feature, Google said, “These badges will help you uncover images where next steps or more in-depth information is available — everything from bags to buy, to recipes to try.”
For example, an image search on Google may give you a screenshot from a video on YouTube or one image of several from a page with a recipe. Badges will make it clear what kind of content the image is a part of without having to click through to the page. The badges currently available include recipes, videos, products, and animated images (GIFs).
Getting this badges will require some markup changes to a website, but it may be worth it for the edge it may give an image when people are searching.
For more news about updates to Google read this article on a changes to Google’s mobile and desktop search.