In May 2012 Google launched a new part of its search results pages called the ‘Knowledge Graph’. The new technology was originally launched to provide facts about people and places, alongside its traditional results. This concept shows Google is actually able to use a link graph to discover how people and objects are connected. This idea helped Google provide answers in the search results and not just links.
In December 2013 we started to see Google testing displaying advertising within the knowledge graph, this was in the form of advertising a local car dealership in the car knowledge graph (see image below)
Google play ads appearing in the knowledge graph
We are now also starting to see adds in the knowledge graph for movie streaming rentals and interestingly ‘Google Play’ is getting the main spotlight. The below screenshot details the ads that appear below for a search on ‘Megamind’. Here we can clearly see an Ad offering this video for $2.99 on Google Play.
Google’s only comment on the recent changes in the US is to say they are “constantly testing new ways for users to find useful, clearly labelled commercial information via Google Search”.
MEC opinion
The original concept of the knowledge graph was that it was more of an informational based service, rather than an advertising space. These new ads may prove useful for users, as if you are looking at information on cars or films, there is a good chance you would want to purchase the car or watch the film. It seems Google are trying to monetise this new area of the search results, as well as the traditional paid and map listings.
Although this is clearly marked as an advert, this possible change might reduce the trust in the knowledge graph as users may end up seeing erroneous information in there.
The main point is if Google make this part of the search results page effectively for sale, they may lose the trust of information presented to them. Advertisers that pay the most to be there may not be the best place for the user to go.