Google is ending a months-old experiment that let people attach colorful notes to search results, the company confirmed to 9to5Google.
Google is ending an experiment that let you annotate search results
The test didn’t even last a year.
The test didn’t even last a year.
Image: Google
is a senior reporter covering technology, gaming, and more. He joined The Verge in 2019 after nearly two years at Techmeme.
Google announced the Notes experiment for Search Labs in November. If you had opted in to Notes, you could see and add annotations featuring text and images to links in search results in the Google app. (They were kind of a Google-y take on X’s Community Notes.) But given Tuesday’s announcement, it seems the test wasn’t popular enough to warrant a wider release.
“Search Labs is our testbed for bold experimentation and as we’ve shared, not all experiments will launch broadly,” Google spokesperson Ashley Thompson said in a statement to The Verge. “We’ve seen in our research that people want to hear from others like them and Notes was an exploration of how to help people share their knowledge right on Search. We’re excited to continue testing new ways to connect people to authentic, relatable voices and look forward to bringing some of our learnings from Notes into future product experiences.” Google shared the same statement with 9to5Google.
The “Notes on Search” section in Search Labs currently says “ends soon”; at one point, the end date was May 2024.
Update, July 16th: Attributed statement to a specific Google spokesperson.
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