Google Knowledge Graph – Removing Ads For Greater Good?

November 13th, 2012 | Posted by Three Deep

If you search on Google for a famous person, you may see something that looks like this:

This box, located in the right hand corner of a search results page, is what Google calls a Knowledge Graph, and is an attempt to answer common questions without needing to leave the search results page.  In most cases, the Google Knowledge Graph trumps any ads from displaying on that page, making their search results a purely organic experience.

As a daily Google searcher, from almost its inception, I am so accustomed to seeing the old format that I am still surprised each time the Knowledge Graph pops up.  Even though it’s not a major change to the way search works, I’m left scratching my head pondering the question “is this bad, or just different?”

The design snob in me can appreciate the way that Google stays on brand with a consistently uniform results page across multiple platforms (mobile, desktop and tablet results are consistent across devices).

But aside from the aesthetics, what is really going on here? Why is there so much space left below the Knowledge Graph? As a digital marketer I’m wondering why Google is going about this going completely ad free for these results pages? Only time will tell.

While Google’s Knowledge Graph may not provide many answers for the time being, they are clearly making plenty of room for it in their design. They are also incorporating knowledge graph in an audible way on certain mobile device searches.

How will all of this affect Google’s main source of revenue (advertising)? Only time will tell, but I for one am looking forward to the day when Google creates a knowledge graph for me.

What have been your experiences with Knowledge graph? All positive or missing the mark? Let us know in the comments.