What you should know
- Google Discover is testing a new feature that adds footers beneath specific articles, suggesting related search terms to help users explore more about topics of their interest.
- The footers, when clicked, trigger a Google Search for the specific phrase shown, providing access to additional articles and insights related to the topic.
- The feature was spotted by Android Police on a Pixel device, indicating that it is still in its early stages of rollout and may not be available to all users yet.
- This new feature is a continuation of Google’s attempts to make Discover more topic-oriented, as it previously featured “topic headers” in 2018 to help users explore related content.
Full Story
Google Discover is rolling out a cool new feature. It’s a personalized content feed that brings you relevant news, articles, and videos.
This new feature is all about making it easy for you to explore topics that catch your eye. It’s currently in beta testing and it’s pretty neat. It adds footers under specific articles with suggested related search terms.
Say you’re reading an article about a specific smartphone. The footer might nudge you to check out a similar phone or category. Maybe something like “flip phones 2023”. It’s a smooth way to broaden your knowledge without having to wade through a sea of search results.
When you tap on these footers, a Google Search is triggered. The search is for the specific phrase shown, which opens up a whole new world of additional articles and context about the topic. This is kinda like a previous Google experiment where they added a fake search bar above some articles.
This new feature was first spotted by the folks at Android Police. They were browsing the Discover feed on a Pixel device and noticed these handy related search terms footers on some articles.
This beta test is a bit of a throwback to earlier Google attempts to make Discover more topic-oriented. Back in 2018, Discover had “topic headers” that let users explore related content.
The rollout of these footers is still in the early stages. We don’t know if or when it’ll be available to more users. Google is still playing around with this feature, so you might not see it on every article.
But, if you do come across this feature on your Discover feed, and you love exploring new topics and finding hidden gems, you might want to give it a whirl. Who knows? It could become your new favorite way to learn and discover.
