Google just announced a small but interesting update to its Knowledge Graph panels. Instead of just showing you a list of related items that other people also searched for, hovering over these icons now shows you how they are related to your search query.
Currently, Google says, this works for actors, movies and TV shows, as well as “family connections amongst famous people in the Knowledge Graph.” In Google’s example – a search for Gone With The Wind – the explanations in the “People also search for” section highlights the fact that the movie’s director also directed some of the other movies others searched for. Google notes that it won’t show this information for every search, but only ” when there is an interesting explanation available, you can now see it at a glance just by mousing over or clicking.”
This is obviously just a minor update, but it does highlight the kind of information Google can zero in on thanks to its Knowledge Graph project. This project, which brings a wealth of semantic knowledge to Google Search, will likely touch the majority of Google’s search products over time.
Just recently, for example, Google used this information to power its Bacon Number calculator and started highlighting the Knowledge Graph boxes even more prominently by moving the results to the top of the screen for some searches.