Google adds in-depth articles to search results

Google's research shows that not everyone is in a hurry for a single-word answer: a new in-depth article-finding feature will start appearing on Google.com for searches made in English in the coming days.

Google claims that 10 % of its daily search engine users are looking up complex subjects and therefore need suitably detailed information. To cater for their needs, a new feature is currently rolling out that will highlight links to in-depth stories on certain subjects, such as love, censorship, stem cell research and the concept of happiness. The results will appear in a block within the standard list of hits on search results pages.

The company hasn't specified exactly how it will identify a source as in-depth or from which sites information will be drawn other than that they will be drawn from a mix of well-known and not-so-well-known publishers and that the selection process is ultimately governed by an algorithm.

For the other 90 % of Google search users there is already a feature that provides a snapshot of information on certain subjects and personalities. For example, Google a famous person or city and, as well as a list of search results, a card will appear in the right-hand side of the screen giving an overview of that person, or point of interest, often complete with an image.