Google mobile app is injecting search links into third-party websites

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WTF?! Google has rolled out a new “feature” on its iPhone app that essentially injects its own links to websites. They are calling this “page annotations” which detects notable names, places, and things mentioned on a webpage (likely good targets for search queries with good ad performance), highlights them, and turns them into links that load up more info from Google when tapped.

The idea, Google notes in its Web Search Forums, is to let users “quickly get additional context about people, places or things – without leaving the site they’re on.”

When you tap one of the annotated terms, it opens an overlay window on top of the website showing a Google knowledge panel with more details pulled from the search engine’s database. On the surface, it sounds like a handy way to get quick context while browsing. But there are those concerned about Google injecting its own links and content over the top of their websites.

It’s not quite as egregious as some of the other anti-competitive practices Google has been accused of, but it’s another example of the search giant’s dominance over the web.

To be fair (but not really), Google is allowing website owners to ” opt out ” of the feature by filling out a form, though it notes that opt-outs can take up to 30 days to go into effect.

Just Spotted! Googles New Fake Links On Websites That Take You To A New Google Search!

JUST Saw This On A Search Engine Roundtable Article. It Highlights The Text And Then A New SERP Pops Up Inside The Page.

This Along With Other Moves Keeps Making Me Think That They Are Doing… pic.twitter.com/x9n6N57Pwn

– Anthony Higman (@AnthonyHigman) November 27, 2024

The move comes at a sensitive time for Google, which is facing intensifying antitrust scrutiny and calls to have its search monopoly reined in. Just recently, the US Department of Justice suggested forcing it to sell off Chrome as a potential remedy for its allegedly anti-competitive behavior.

It’s worth mentioning that in its initial description of this Google app feature, they vaguely state that clicking the … Read More