Discover the Power of Annotating with Google’s New ‘Notes’ Feature!
Many individuals face a common issue when using the internet for research and gaining a deeper understanding of a subject matter. Search engines, unfortunately, do not excel in this area. This is primarily due to the prevalence of search engine optimization (SEO), which often prioritizes results that exploit the system rather than those that prioritize providing valuable information. As a result, people have started turning to alternative sources like Reddit for more authentic research, particularly when it comes to gathering opinions. However, Google has recently introduced an experimental feature called Notes in the United States and India on November 15. This feature aims to address the aforementioned problem using an age-old technique – annotation.
According to a report by Tech Crunch, this feature allows you to go to any Google search page and check the notes that other users have added about their personal experiences and insights. You can also add notes with your own opinion on the topic and the content provided by the website to create a “sort of” review system, but deeper and easier to use and read.
Google brings an annotation feature to websites
In time, the tagging system separates the good sites from the bad and enriches the good sites even more with information that is useful for users visiting the website. In addition, they help users choose useful websites from useless ones, since sites are likely to have more annotations that provide better information.
Currently, the feature is in trial phase, so you have to opt-in to get the feature on your smartphones. You just need to go to Search Labs and activate it manually. Soon after, you can see the notes below the search results.
The note icon opens a window where users can enter text, add images and stickers, and change the appearance of the background to customize the note. There is a link to the article at the bottom of the note. Cathy Edwards, Google’s senior vice president, told The Verge that notes should load within minutes, unless they’re marked for human review.
