Over the course of this year, Google has been updating its Search results quite substantially. For instance, back in September we saw Google introduce its ‘Structured Snippets‘ which presented additional information to certain search terms when displayed. Not to mention, in October, when we got to see the first sneak peak of Search with Material Design, we also saw how Google are rearranging and presented more detailed information on places, people and celebrities. Well, it seems today another new addition to the more detailed Google has been noted.
It seems one of the next informative features to be added to Search is song lyrics. Now when you search for a song and lyrics together (for instance “beautiful lyrics”) Google immediately presents the lyrics as the first result in search (like in the image above). No further clicking necessary. What is even more interesting, is that at the bottom of the lyric listing, there is now a link to the Play Store. Once clicked, the link brings you to another page with the lyrics again listed (like in the image below) and an option to buy (or play if you are an All Access customer). It is not quite clear at the moment, how many song lyrics are available at present and it seems to be a bit hit or miss when testing. That said, there are a number already up and running and it is presumed this will increase in due time. It is also not quite clear as to when this service actually began. Google have not officially announced it and the first real observation (that we know of) seems to be on a Google+ post (source link below) on December 19th.
Although, this might be of benefit to the end-user (less clicks needed), it does raise a concern for all those lyric based websites currently in service. If Google does continue to publish lyrics in full and prioritising them in the Search results then it is doubtful how many of the websites who offer this as a service, will be able to continue to function. What do you think? Is this Google flexing another one of its muscles that will have a knock-on effect for websites who have a similar service? Or is this just another way Google are managing to offer a more streamlined approach to unite users with the data they are looking for, in a minimal number of clicks? Let us know where you stand
