Have you wondered, when typing a search on the Google Search engine, about the results that are returned? Who’s listings are paid advertising? Is it a safe site with secure connection? How long has the business been online or indexed by Google etc?
Wonder no more. Earlier this year (2021) Google started to provide this information, in Beta (as it state on the pop-out window when clicked) in a link that provides all this information about the site you are ‘about’ to visit. Simply click on the 3 little dots next to the website name/url and you are presented with a bunch of useful data. See screenshot below.
This is very useful information to you as you browse and Google plan to expand on the data presented to its users. Not only can it protect you from clicking on a link that’s a fake site, it can illustrate the kind of business behind it.
Looking at at us here at Online Design for example, you can see Google have known about us for over 10years (more like 20 in fact but the limit is 10) and considered a business of long standing above that, we have SSL (its a secure site) and a few bits of other useful information about us or our listing. It also states that our listing is SEARCH RESULT and NOT an paid Ad. We haven’t paid to be on that first page and so therefore, the results list in this case, is very relevant to the searcher for that phrase ‘website designers derby’.
It’s definitely worth clicking those 3 little dots next time you search on Google and BEFORE you click on the link to the website, just to get a little more information and insight into who’s behind the link. It may make a big different to your searches and ultimately, finding what your looking for instead of being taken adorn wrong path.
Give it try!