Google’s iPhone app will now insert search links on webpages – here’s how it works

You stumble across a word, term, or phrase on a webpage and want to know more about it. But there’s no information describing it on the page itself. How do you learn more about the word?

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Seemingly new, at least to Google’s iPhone app, and also available in the Android version, is a feature that highlights specific words or phrases on a page, as spotted by Search Engine Roundtable. Clicking the highlighted words then provides details on the item.

Described on a Google support page, the feature (initially known as Page Annotation) pulls up interesting and relevant information from Google’s Knowledge Graph, which compiles factual data from public entities, website owners, and other sources. Clicking the item overlays the app tray on top of the current page, presenting you with a screen with different details.

“This new experience allows people to quickly get additional context about people, places, or things — without leaving the site they’re on,” Ashwarya of the Google Search Support Team said on the support page. “And when you’re done, you can easily swipe to close the app tray and you’re right back on the page where you started.”

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There are other ways to learn more about words or terms on a webpage when using the Google app. You can select a phrase and then tap the Search icon to run a web search on it. Google also offers a feature called ad intents, which places links and anchors into existing web pages related to the content. However, Page Annotation is a simpler and quicker method of learning more about a highlighted topic.

The feature should certainly appeal to most website users. But website owners? Maybe not as much. That’s because the option essentially moves visitors from the current site to a Google search page. From there, the visitor may not find their way back to the site again, opines Search Engine Roundtable. However, I think the Roundtable folks doth protest too much since closing the pop-up easily brings you back to the original page.

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Website owners and publishers who aren’t keen on the feature can opt out by filling out and submitting this form. After you send the opt-out form to Google, you may have to wait up to 30 days for the feature to be disabled on your site.