Google Recently Added New Knowledge Panel Insights to Google Image Results for Added Context
After recently adding fact-check labels to Google Image search results, Google is now adding another informational tool into its image display, with new Knowledge Panel listings on selected images, helping to provide more context about the content, including related queries, location information, and other insights.
As explained by Google:
“When you search for an image on mobile in the U.S., you might see information from the Knowledge Graph related to the result. That information would include people, places, or things related to the image from the Knowledge Graph’s database of billions of facts, helping you explore the topic more.”
As you can see in the example above, the new listings are similar to regular Google search entries, helping to give users more context as to what the image is. Google says that the added information will help people better ascertain whether the image is relevant to their query, while also providing more understanding as to what the content actually represents.
That, in itself, could also work as a fact-checking process. Google added fact-check notifications to image searches last month in order to help users avoid falling for viral image misinformation.
With deep fakes set to become a bigger vehicle for reinforcing false narratives, Google is seeking to provide more contexts on visuals, in addition to written content, to help users understand what they’re actually seeing.
Adding Knowledge Panel listings will provide even more context, which could keep people better educated as to what they’re looking at, and what’s being shared online.
And more information can only be a good thing. The new listings won’t appear on all images, and will only appear on searches conducted in the US for now. But it’s another way to give users more contexts about their queries.
