28 April 2010 | Author: J. Morton News Editor

Google rolls out new feature for similar pages search

Hoping to provide a "different perspective or approach" to web search queries, Google has recently rolled out a revamped way for web crawlers to view pages similar to what they were searching for.

In an Official Google Blog posting, software engineer Doantam Phan explained the lateral approach of the new feature, where users may find other web pages related to the subject of their searches.

Phan used the example of aiding humanitarian efforts, where many benefactors may have recently been searching for appropriate charities to donate to for relief initiatives in Haiti or Chile, amongst other places.

Searching for a specific charity - Direct Relief International as they used - would still bring up the specific URL for that organisation, but a more prominent 'similar to' would link to a listing of other relief organisations accepting donations.

"We've offered a 'Similar' feature on results for a while now as a way to discover new, useful sites, but it hasn't been too visible," Phan wrote in the blog entry dated 27 April. "Since we've been continuously improving this feature and we think it's really useful, we're now going to start showing these alternative sites more prominently."

"Starting this week, for queries where similar sites are likely to be helpful, we'll display a list of 'Pages similar' at the bottom of the results page," he said.








This appears to be similar to how 'related searches' are currently displayed on the Google results pages.

Phan said the move is all about helping people explore new areas of the internet.

"We hope this feature helps you discover many useful websites that you didn't know about before and get a better understanding of all the choices the web has to offer," he concluded.

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