Don’t you sometimes wish Google would understand exactly what you meant when you typed a search query? Well Google does too. So it’s rolling out more well-rounded and comprehensive answers to search queries, with ‘multifaceted featured snippets’.
The snippets will make it possible for Google search results to show multiple pieces of information for more ‘nuanced’ queries. The company is starting off with what it calls ‘multi-intent’ queries, but will expand the scope of the feature in the future. Google says this should make search results more intuitive, and help improve ‘Featured Snippets‘, which was rolled out last December.
“There are several types of nuanced queries where showing more comprehensive results could be helpful. We’re starting first with ‘multi-intent’ queries, which are queries that have several potential intentions or purposes associated. The query ‘tooth pain after a filling,’ for example, could be interpreted as ‘why does my tooth still hurt after a filling?’ or ‘how long should a tooth hurt after a filling?'”
With this feature, Google is likely to highlight pages and sites that offer detailed info for the the most-likely deeper questions arising from your search.
Towards the end of last year, Google introduced Featured Snippets to its search results. The new feature brings “algorithmically generated highlights” that try and provide answers to search queries by gathering information from leading websites and databases.
Even though Google is the undisputed king of search engines with a market share of almost 90 percent, the company doesn’t take its dominance for granted, rolling out new and innovative features for users on a fairly regular basis, including the recent ‘Symptom Search‘ algorithm for Indian residents.
Ether way, Google’s recent efforts to add contextual responses to search queries has churned out some dramatically incorrect responses, so the company will be hoping that this new feature performs somewhat better.
