On Wednesday, Google announced an expanded Knowledge Graph functionality that will offer users more visual content on SERPs. The feature places a series of images linking to related searches above the usual web results and other Knowledge Graph content.
Last month, Brafton detailed a report from the Google Operating Systems blog, a site unaffiliated with the company, that spotted a test of the tool on a Google SERP. The final product that Google unveiled on Wednesday looks, more or less, identical to the test. While marketers may be pleased that more related results are shown through Carousel, the major benefit may lie in the placement of these topics.
When Knowledge Graph first rolled out, related topics were included on the right sidebar of the page, below the Knowledge Graph entry. Moving them to the top of the page allows a greater selection of similar topics for users because there is more room to display related content.
Placing links to content for related searches in the top third of the page could create a cluttered results page when juxtaposed with another new feature announced by Google on Wednesday that would likely occupy the same space on the SERP. Brafton reported that Gmail users will be able to see email results related to their search on SERPs if they choose to activate the feature. Currently, the first 1 million users who sign up will test the trial, and it’s unclear if it will ever become a standard feature for Google and what the SEO implications could be. However, it will be interesting to see how Google balances the additional content should each become a permanent part of SERPs.
