Google announced a few new features to the existing Google Search at I/O, in addition to the new Google Search Generative Experience. These new features include perspectives, about this image and AI-generated image labels.
Perspectives
Google added a new perspectives filter that lets searchers filter their search results to show results from videos, blogs and forums. These results aim to show people a more “lived experience” to their search queries, Liz Reid, VP of Search at Google, told Search Engine Land.
Searchers want to see answers from people who are sharing their own personal perspectives and these answers are provided in a user interface that is more friendly and consumable to the younger searcher.
What perspectives looks like. Here is a screenshot of perspectives in action:
When you tap on the perspectives filter, you will see more long and short-form videos, images, and written posts that people have shared on discussion boards, Q&A sites, and social media platforms, Google explained.
Google will also display more details about the creators of this content, such as their name, profile photo, or information about the popularity of their content.
We saw Google testing perspectives early on, but those two examples are different from what we covered here. I spotted this test last week. Google said this is rolling out in the “coming weeks.”
About this image
Just like Google has About this result for normal text-based search results, Google is launching “About this image.” The about this image will show you when the image and similar images were first indexed by Google, where the image may have appeared first and where else you can see the image, such as on news, social or other sites.
This is launching in U.S. English search results.
What About this image looks like. Here’s a screenshot of this feature in action:
AI-generated image labels
Google is also releasing new markup for site owners to label their images as AI-generated.
This will be a new meta data label, and will have to be added manually by site owners and publishers. In image search results, Google will show whether an image was AI generated.
Google is not labeling images as being AI-generated algorithmically, as Google is “not there yet” to detect if an image was generated by a machine versus a human. So Google is trusting image creators to use this meta data label.
Also, this markup will only work for images, not for AI-generated text.
What it looks like. Here’s a screenshot of what this looks like for an image created by Midjourney. It says “Image self-labeled as AI generated.”
Technicals. Google told us that the markup for the AI-generated self-label will be based upon technical standards from IPTC. It will be similar to how Google Images already shows certain information based on image metadata.
Why we care
These new user interface changes may impact your site’s traffic and visibility. So keep an eye out to see if your site shows up for some or all of these results or not.
More coverage. For more on what Google announced today at I/O on Search, see our companion shorter stories:
- How to sign up for the new Google Search Generative Experience
- Ads on the new Google Search Generative Experience
- New Google perspectives, about this image and AI generated image labels
