Have you noticed that your Google search looks a bit different lately, specifically the right side of the page? That\u2019s because on May 16, 2012 Google introduced, “Knowledge Graph.”<\/p>\n
It’s a new technology that Google is using to provide facts about your search (including people, places, and things) along with the general topic. Basically, when you search a topic, say “Chicago,” you not only get the general search, but also an entire “graph” with information about the city, points of interest, a map, AND separate information about the musical and the band.<\/p>\n
Google says it has compiled over 3.5 billion facts, which include information about and relationships between 500 million objects. The Knowledge Graph then picks out the facts for each object that are most sought in relation to that object.<\/p>\n
“The Knowledge Graph enables you to search for things, people or places that Google knows about-landmarks, celebrities, cities, sports teams, buildings, geographical features, movies, celestial objects, works of art and more-and instantly get information that’s relevant to your query,” the Google team says.<\/p>\n
Google uses information from users and previous searches, and then links the relationships between them. They understand the differences between nouns with the same name and can narrow your search to the one you mean. For example, if you’re searching “Chicago”, it is the name of a city but it’s also a musical so it shows the city information as well as results for the musical. Once it gets a handle on the fact that there are multiple searches, the technology will summarize key points about that particular thing. Finally, after you find what you\u2019re looking for, the Knowledge Graph will help you broaden your search to newer and more discoveries.<\/p>\n