Google Adds Tips to Definition Boxes in Search Results

If you search for a word that is spelled similarly to another word that a searcher might confuse it for, Google is now giving searchers a heads up that they might be looking at the wrong word with a new “Tips” feature in the definition box.

Here is what it looks like:

For example, when you search for the definition of “affect”, underneath the definition, it includes a tip that says that people confuse affect with effect.  The alternative word choice is then clickable which takes the searcher to a definition of that word.

For some words, it will auto expand the full dictionary entry when you click the word in the section.

There are some which list more than just one other word that are often confused.  For example, here is the box for “there” which lists two other words as possibly confused with.

Google is displaying this for a wide variety of commonly confused words, such as there/their/they’re, isle/aisle, break/brake and many more.

This is a handy feature for those who are checking their spelling, especially when it might not be obvious there is an alternative word that they might mean that sounds the same.

It appears to be available only for English at this time, at least for the languages I checked.

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Jennifer Slegg

Founder & Editor at The SEM Post

Jennifer Slegg is a longtime speaker and expert in search engine marketing, working in the industry for almost 20 years. When she isn't sitting at her desk writing and working, she can be found grabbing a latte at her local Starbucks or planning her next trip to Disneyland. She regularly speaks at Pubcon, SMX, State of Search, Brighton SEO and more, and has been presenting at conferences for over a decade.

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