Google Search is one of the most complex and sophisticated piece of software on the web and mobile.
This is because at any given time, it needs to work tirelessly to scout for links and scan for contents. It then needs to understand the context of the contents, and rank them accordingly. Google Search then personalizes its search results, depending on the query, the person who uses the query, location, history, and so forth.
This tedious job repeats, over and over again, as Google tries to index the entire World Wide Web.
For all this time, Google Search uses algorithms, but how it surfaces results are quite muddy.
But with the 'About this result' panel, Google becomes more transparent.
With the panel, Google can list several of the factors or reasons why it ranked a specific search result in its search results listings, the company announced in a blog post.
Read: How Google Search Works, And How It Can Show You The Things You Want
For example, the factors can include:
- Matching keywords: A simple, but important, factor Google uses to determine if information is relevant is when a webpage contains the same keywords as users' search.
- Related terms: Google also looks for terms that its systems determined are related to the words in users' query. If users' search “how to cook fish in the oven,” Google will also look for pages that have related terms like “bake” and “recipe.”
- Looking at links: When other pages link to a page using similar words as users' query, that page might be relevant to their search. It can also be a helpful indicator of whether online content creators tend to regard the page as useful for that topic.
- Local relevance: Google's systems also look at factors like the language users are using to search as well as their country and location, to deliver content relevant for their area. For example, if users search "what day is trash pickup?,” it’s helpful to get results that are applicable to their city or state.
Google can also show terms that indirectly affected its search results, including matches that are not visible content, and can be words in HTML, the title tag or other meta data.
Through the panel, Google also lists search tips to help users refine their query, if for any reason they don't find the search results beneficial.
Google lists its reasonings though bullet points.
"Now, there’s a quick and easy way to see useful context about how Google returned results for your query, and to find helpful tips to get more out of Google Search."
The feature is first launched to English-speaking users in the U.S., in the form of a small button that looks like three horizontal dots on the right-hand side of almost all search results.
When interacted with, the button will pop-up additional information.
This feature is an expansion to the about this result box that was launched in February 2021.
This addition should be a welcome move, considering that SEOs and marketers always wanted to know why Google ranked a specific site for a given query, and not others.
With this feature, Google is becoming more transparent in what it does.