While using Google is possibly the best way to access answers to quick questions, some search results will leave you looking for more information.
Google have responded to this by implementing a new search result feature: in-depth articles.
Google research suggests that 10 per cent of all search queries are related to in-depth information, hence their decision to include an in-depth section found in the middle of the search results page.These results will be ranked algorithmically, displaying extended, informative and authoritative content.
In-depth content won’t be featured for all search results, how this works is yet unknown. It does raise the question how Google will display content around sensitive content such as abortion or conflicts. Will they be displaying extended articles for or against? Or a combination of both?
Google staff member Pandu Nayak wrote in a blog post that the in-depth results will hopefully encourage people to invest in creating useful content that will remain useful to users for years to come. How Google decides on what should be deemed credible, informative and useful is yet to be known, but we can assume the majority of the results will be from national newspapers and reputable information sources. It has however, been said that lesser-known blogs will be included within these results.
If publishers want to have their articles included in the in-depth section of the search results, Google have created a webmaster guidelines page with information on how to best optimise your content.