Google And Apple Are Working Together To Provide Special Info Boxes In Search

It seems that long-term rivals can work together, as is illustrated in the information partnership between Apple and Google. Users who are searching for more about Apple’s latest gadgets will now find special boxes where Google has hand-compiled relevant information.

Try searching for “iPhone 6” or “Apple Watch” on Google, and you’ll discover new information boxes about each product that Google has created with the help of Apple.

The following image shows the results of a search for iPhone 6:

And the following image shows the results of a search for the iPhone 6 Plus:

These boxes are commonly known as Knowledge Graph boxes, and they are typically generated automatically by information taken from a variety of sources, such as Wikipedia. For example, if you search for Matthew McConaughey in Google, you will see a Knowledge Graph box with Wikipedia cited as a source, and the information is largely drawn from a Wikipedia page about the actor.

Alternatively, in the case of the Apple product boxes, Apple is cited as a source. The boxes contain links leading to the company’s overview pages for the iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus and the Apple Watch. However, the information that is shown in these boxes, such as the descriptions and the product specs, isn’t actually on those pages. Instead, Google created these boxes manually and confirmed the information with Apple.

It’s fairly unprecedented for Google to manual compile and display information in this manner, and the company explained its reasons for doing so in this instance. “When people are searching very heavily for an entity like this, we do our best to provide useful information on it,” explained Google. “This info isn’t available in one place on a website before the official release, so Apple confirmed it with us directly. (In this case the [Apple] link [in the box] is not meant as an attribution; it’s just the place you can go to find out more. We’ll clarify that better in the UI going forward. Also note the UI will naturally change tonight when the iPhone 6 opens for pre-orders.)”

Considering the massive spike in searches for iPhone 6 and Apple Watch information, Google’s strategy makes sense. Google can be certain that it’s providing accurate information by using these custom boxes, and the company says that there is no payment from Apple involved in this initiative.