It's Google's 20th anniversary, and to celebrate they have released a whole new array of search updates.
1. Activity Cards
If you've searched for and visited a page before, activity cards will remind you where you went. Perhaps you were trying to find the perfect place to have your dog groomed, but you can't remember where? This update will tell you exactly which path to take.
2. Collections
In a similar vein, Google's Collections are receiving an update. If you're not already aware of Collections, it is a tool that allows you to re-visit places you have been before, so you can easily get back. The update will offer suggestions and the ability to combine with the above Activity Cards.
3. Common Subtopics
Imagine you are searching for dog groomers again. Google now features commonly used subtopics for pages within popular websites, such as reviews, contact or services. It makes the process of getting exactly where you want more quickly and effectively, without website owners having to make any SEO changes.
4. Topic Layer
This new addition to Google's Knowledge Graph helps them deliver better matches to your search, based on current trends. It has been created by analysing all of the web content for a particular topic and picking out evergreen and continually useful content.
5. Artificial Intelligence
Of course, AI is involved in Google's latest updates. It will begin with automatically generated stories on specific subjects, with information pulled from its Knowledge Graph to create a topic overview. They'll begin with stories about famous people, but is aiming to venture into news content eventually.
6. Images
Google will now pay more attention to text content on the pages of image results now, applying a similar process as to its web search. The authority of a web page is now a more prominent source of ranking. It will also feature related images across the top bar for ease of use.
It appears that the current focus of Google is spending its time on saving ours. Google will be rolling out the new updates over the next few months, so keep your eyes peeled.
