In its continued effort to custom tailor search results and suggest that what you’re searching for might actually be something else, Google has brought its similar page results onto the front page of your search results.
You’ve likely seen the feature we’re talking about before, but never clicked on it and now you won’t have to, as it will be included directly at the bottom of your first search results page.
The feature follows along the lines of many other improvements the search engine has made recently, such as localizing its search suggestions list, adding search suggestions to Google Maps and even suggesting a suicide hotline number for select search phrases. While we’ve certainly taken some issue with Google’s personalization of search results, there are obvious benefits to the user experience as a whole. The difference here is that Google is not, it would seem, making these suggestions as a result of studying your surfing history and personal habits, but instead by analyzing linking structures.
Google offers an example of how this new feature could prove to be handy to its users:
For example, with the recent earthquakes around the world, many of us have been looking for international relief organizations. We knew that Direct Relief International has been actively involved in Haiti, so we started off by searching for [direct relief international]. The first result on the page linked us to the Direct Relief website, where we found many ways to help in Haiti. But what if one wants to support several organizations? If you click the “Similar” link that’s on the same line as the “www.directrelief.org/” URL, you’ll find other nonprofits that are also involved in relief efforts.
The feature seems to be rolling out in waves, so don’t worry if you don’t see it yet, it will be there soon.
