Summary
- Google is experimenting with adding comments to search results and articles through its Notes feature.
- The addition of comments could help validate information but also pose risks like harassment.
- Users creating notes may have the ability to disable comments, offering some control over the potential risks.
In today’s AI-driven tech world, people looking for answers to simple questions have several smart assistants to choose from. However, AI has also cemented the importance of authentic human-validated information in every realm, be it dispelling misinformation on X (formerly Twitter) with community notes, or just hopping on the relevant sub-reddit for helpful responses. Now, it appears Google has a similar idea to add a comments section for Notes in Search results.
Google wants you to improve its lackluster Search results by leaving Notes
The experimental feature could be just what Search needed
If you haven’t caught wind of the Notes feature or seen it in action on your Discover feed, Google introduced it as a way for users to add helpful supplemental information about individual Search results and articles. The feature offered access to a full suite of creative tools, and is still undergoing testing as an experimental Google Search Labs feature in the US and India. Writing for Android Authority, app researcher and tipster AssembleDebug shared that Google is also working on support for comments under individual notes.
Every change has its pros and cons
In principle, this peer review system for notes could work like the Helpful button under Community Notes on X, enforcing some form of moderation on info under search results and Discover articles — a concern we highlighted at the outset when Notes were announced. Comments would allow people with access to the experiment to corroborate existing notes with additional information or refute claims backed by suitable evidence.
Unfortunately, like comments sections on any other social platform, this addition comes with a host of potential issues such as brigading, misinformation, targeted harassment, etc. Such dangers make a simple upvote/downvote system seem like a better (but less informative) alternative.
The app researcher notes that Google has thought of these risks because people creating new notes for Search results would have the option to disable comments from other users. The option should be tucked away neatly under Note settings in the three-dot overflow menu on the note-creation UI. For now, people testing Notes don’t have access to comments, but that could change soon.
