Politics is serious business and for those interested in politics, right now the U.S. political scene is at fever pitch. In a couple of days time, the last of the republican debates will take place. So for those interested, it will be essential viewing. Not to mention, it is likely to also be essential Googling time too. Google has already repeatedly noted that they see massive spikes in politics-based searches during debates like the upcoming one and this is likely to be one of the reasons as to why Google announced that they were partnering up with Fox News to cover the debates. However, that is only half of what Google can do when it comes to keeping the public informed and Google has today announced that it plans to bring a far more interactive approach to the upcoming debate.
In the latest announcement from Google, the Search giant notes that one of the issues with such debates is that it does not provide all the information the public needs to be informed on a decision for the topics at hand. Hence, why they see such spikes in relative searching after and during the debate. To combat this, one of the new features will be active when someone searches for news on the debate, during the debate. When searching for “Fox News debate”, the search results will immediately highlight the candidates and also their particular stances and visions of certain topics. The idea being, if some candidates are not able to fully disclose their position during the live debate, the information will be readily available via Google Search. The information will also be evolving as the debate goes on. As a result, candidates will be able to publish “long-form text, photos and videos throughout the debate” and even respond to questions or elaborate their answers and responses to questions posed during the debate.
Adding to this, Google will also be making available “spotlight key insights” which look to highlight what people are searching for during the debate. Whether this is the topics being discussed, particular candidates or just how they are ranking. If it is trending, Google will make sure that the public become aware that the terms are trending to begin with. While this is an experimental feature and one which is initially designed to be used for the next debate, it is likely that this does represent an area of development Google are interested in working towards on a more wider scale and the latest debate will be an ideal platform to test out a more interactive approach to Search. Either way though, if you would like to see how you can better interact with this week’s debate by using Search, head through the source link below to read the full blog post.