Google has launched a new feature for image search results that allows users to explore topics in greater detail and could potentially open another avenue to drive traffic to webpages.
On Thursday, Google said that search will soon show relevant information about images, such as facts, places or people that are related to it.
These facts will be surfaced quickly and are pulled from Google’s own Knowledge Graph, which is a knowledge base that aims to enhance the quality of the search engine’s results.
The Knowledge Graph is already present in SERPs in the form of an infobox.
Google said that the new update will improve the relevance of images and enable searchers to find out more about them.
One way that they will be able to explore is by actually clicking through the webpage where the image is hosted.
This could be beneficial for brands as it could lead to higher levels of traffic.
However, Google uses a variety of different sources to populate its Knowledge Graph, so it’s not quite as easy as, for example, adding meta descriptions to images.
Google noted: “Facts in the Knowledge Graph come from a variety of sources that compile factual information. In addition to public sources, we license data to provide information such as sports scores, stock prices, and weather forecasts.”
This means that site owners cannot directly control the info that is served up alongside images.
While that may be frustrating, the new info will make images more appealing and will increase the chances of more clicks to the web page where the image is featured.
Businesses can “claim” a knowledge graph for themselves, but the process isn’t particularly straightforward.
Google said that the new feature will be limited to mobile search in the US to begin with, but a wider rollout could follow.
