As a reminder, Google announced a new feature called “hidden gems” or “perspectives” in May 2023. The update is currently being rolled out and aims to showcase more social media content, blog posts, and forums sharing personal experiences. 

Specifically, Google said in the announcement:

“We’re also improving how we rank results in Search overall, with a greater focus on content with unique expertise and experience.”

Brad Kellett, Senior Director of Google Search product and engineering, clarified that this update is not part of the helpful content update. Instead, it’s part of the Google core ranking system. 

The primary objective of this search ranking update is to provide users with more relevant and personalized content. 

When searching for new information, you may see a Perspective filter at the top of the search. 

“This will exclusively show long- and short-form videos, images, and written posts that people have shared on discussion boards, Q&A sites, and social media platforms,” Google says. “We’ll also show more details about the creators of this content, such as their name, profile photo or information about the popularity of their content.”

This update was initially suspected to go live a few months ago during the helpful content update, however, Danny Sullivan said, 

“This work is still continuing and is not part of this particular update. We’ll share more about our work in this area in the future.”

Barry Schwartz of Search Engine Land dug deeper into how Google knows if the person posting the content is really authentic. He says,

“Google didn’t want to give me any of its secret sauce but implied it is less about the person posting and more about what content that person posts.”

What does this mean for SEOs?

Yet another SERP feature means this could impact where your site shows up in rankings. SEOs should monitor the SERPs in the coming months to identify their placement. 

However, this can be another opportunity for your brand to appear in SERPs. 

Although social signals are not a ranking factor, becoming a thought leader on social media can impact search more than previously thought. However, you should observe how the new feature works before overhauling any part of your digital marketing. 

As with all updates, ensuring your content is authentic is prudent. If your content follows Google’s Search Quality Guidelines, any changes shouldn’t affect you too much.