What to know

  • Google now adds automatic search links to webpages in its iOS app.
  • The links appear on words, topics, products, places, and celebrity names.
  • Website owners must wait 30 days after requesting to stop this feature.

Google's iOS app now turns regular text into clickable links as you browse websites. This new tool, Page Annotations, works inside the app's browser.

When you read articles in the Google App, you'll see words and phrases turn into links automatically. These might be names, places, products, or any topic Google thinks you'd want to know more about.

Tapping these new links opens a small window with Google Search results about that specific term. You can keep reading your article while checking these extra details.

Google didn't ask website owners before adding these links to their pages. While site owners can ask Google to remove these automatic links, they'll need to wait a month before changes take effect.

This update comes after Google's similar move with AdSense, where they added clickable links that show search results with ads. The timing stands out as Google deals with legal challenges about its power in online advertising and web browsing.

iPhone users might recognize this feature since iOS lets you look up any text you highlight. For now, these automatic links only show up when you use Google's iOS app browser, not in other browsers like Chrome or Safari.

Source: Google, SERoundTable, 9to5Google | Via: TheVerge