So square

Getting the information you’re looking from search engines is becoming increasingly complex, as the sheer mass of content keeps growing and growing. How can you be expected to trawl through all that information, and how do you know which to trust?

Google has answer to the dilemma of acquiring more structured search results is Google Squared, which displays results to users in a spreadsheet format, and rivals the new search provider, Wolfram Alpha.

In fact, while Wolfram’s databases currently store only 10 terabytes of information, a tiny fraction of what is on the Web, Google Squared searches the whole web.

How does it work?

Google Squared allows data to be displayed in a table format by searching large amounts of unstructured data to produce a simplistic structured display. It tries to find the relevant facts concerning your search and display them all on one table of columns and rows.

The columns and rows of information can be removed or added to until all the information you require is displayed. For example, if you search for ‘small dogs’ it will bring up name, image, description, weight, height and country of origin for a range of different breeds. But you could add a column for, say, colour, or a row for a different type of dog, like Beagle, and that will be added to the table.

Although in experimental stages, and often inaccurate, the aim of Google Squared is clear; to find an easy way for users to get precise information with a minimal amount of search.