Google had a slew of Google Search related announcements at the Google Search On 2021 event. The announcements ranged from improvements and more uses for MUM, to the about this result expanding, to Shoppable search experiences, in-store inventory, Google Lens updates and a bunch of features and redesigns to the Google Search experience.
It seems like Google expanding the use of MUM from just figuring out COVID vaccine names to many more applications since MUM launched last May was the big news.
Here is a summary, the day after, of what was announced at the event, as promised.
Google said it has redesigned Google Search and introduced new features that enable natural, more intuitive ways to search through the use of “advanced AI systems like MUM.” These include additions like things to know, new search refinements, visually browsable result pages and more – many of which we covered as tests in our Google user interface section.
New for About This Result: Google is adding more details to the About This Result feature. Specifically there will be more information about the source, searches will be able to read what a site says about itself in its own words, when that information is available. Searchers can see what others have said, what others on the web have written about a site — news, reviews, and other helpful background context — can help you better evaluate sources. Finally, more about the topic will show you information such as top news coverage or results about the same topic from other sources.
Google told me there is no way for a site owner to say that this information is not accurate or should be removed. Google said it aims to provide a broader view of information, it knows it won’t be perfect but it has a quality bar the sites need to meet to show in this about this result.
Also, Google said this feature has been used about 400 million times, which is obviously a small percentage of searches overall. So some publishers might be upset by some of the information shown at time, but keep in mind, I doubt it will be seen by a large percentage of your users.
This also is launching in the coming weeks for English search results.