Google brings an experimental ‘Notes’ feature that will allow you to annotate Search results

A new experimental opt-in Google feature is available in the US and India called Notes through which users will be able to annotate Google Search results with personal experiences.

The Notes feature will allow users to both add notes as well as read others' annotations to make a better judgment about the topic as well as the web page. (Unsplash)

A common problem many people encounter, especially if they use the internet for research and developing a deeper understanding of a subject matter, is that search engines are not really good at it. Due to the existence of SEO (search engine optimization), the top results are often those that abuse the system the most and not the ones that put a high focus on providing valuable information. This has led to people preferring other sources such as Reddit as a more authentic place for research, especially where people's opinions are concerned. But Google has just launched an experimental feature called Notes in the US and India yesterday, November 15, which aims to solve this problem through a really old trick — annotation.

According to a report by Tech Crunch, this feature allows you to go to any Google Search page and check notes that are added by other users with their personal experiences and insights. You can also add notes with your own opinion of the topic and the content provided by the website to create a ‘sort-of' review system, but with more depth and ease of usage and readability.

Google brings annotation feature for web pages

The annotation system will, in due course of time, separate good websites from bad, and will enrich the good websites with even more information that will be helpful for users visiting the web pages. Further, they will also help users pick helpful websites from the unhelpful ones, as there is likely to be a higher number of notes for the websites that give better information.

Right now, the feature is in the experimental stage, so you will have to opt in to get the feature on your smartphones. To do that, all you have to do is go to Search Labs and manually activate it. Shortly after, you can see Notes appear underneath the search results.

The notes icon opens a window where users can type text, add images and stickers, and change the background design to personalize the annotation. At the bottom of the note, the link to the article is shown. Google VP Cathy Edwards told The Verge that the notes should get uploaded within a couple of minutes unless it is flagged for human review.