Google to soon highlight govt announcements in Search results

Besides the ‘special announcements’ websites can also use the tool to provide other information such as event cancelling or changes to business hours.

Besides the ‘special announcements’ websites can also use the tool to provide other information such as event cancelling or changes to business hours. (REUTERS)

With billions logging in to Google everyday searching about Covid-19 pandemic, the tech firm has made several changes in the past to its service so they get all the information quickly and easily. It is now making another change on its website that will put more information made by governments, right on top of the search. The company will now directly highlight the important announcements made by governments and health agencies.

"At first, we're using this information to highlight announcements in Google Search from health and government agency sites, to cover important updates like school closures or stay-at-home directives," states Google. "We are actively developing this feature, and we hope to expand it to include more sites. While we might not immediately show announcements from other types of sites, seeing the markup will help us better understand how to expand this feature."

Besides the 'special announcements' websites can also use the tool to provide other information such as event cancelling or changes to business hours.

For now, the highlights tools will be primarily used for Covid-19 related news. "A COVID-19 announcement rich result can contain a short summary that can be expanded to view more. Please note that the format may change over time, and you may not see results in Google Search right away," adds the firm.

Although there is nothing confirmed, we may also see this being implemented in Indian health ministry websites and other government websites to show slightly more information in the search result. The company has explained how developers can add it to their websites.

That said, Google has started allowing some coronavirus-related advertisements to show on its platform. The aim is to bring more relevant information to the public.