Many of us can relate to the frustration of opening a food blogger’s recipe only to have to scroll through a long-winded introduction before finding the actual ingredients and method. Google is testing a new feature called Quick View that aims to eliminate this unnecessary step, even though it is a result of the company’s own policies. This Quick View button appears on select recipe thumbnails in search results, allowing users to view the complete recipe without leaving the results page. While Google has partnered with a limited number of creators to test this feature, they have not revealed many details about the scope of the testing. The catch-22 here is that Google’s algorithms, which prioritize longer posts, have incentivized food bloggers to include excessive content before getting to the recipe. Despite being just a trial, this new recipe feature is part of Google’s broader strategy to keep users on its own platforms. AI-generated overviews in search results are another example of how Google is changing the rules of engagement for web content.
