Google now adds the option for users to rate movies and TV shows on search results page

Eagle-eyed users of Google’s ever versatile search engine may have noticed a new option when looking up information about movies or television shows – the ability to rate them.

Google has confirmed with Search Engine Land that it is actively testing a feature that allows users who search for movies or TV shows to give the accompanying result a quick thumbs up or thumbs down rating. There’s also a new “Google users” percentage next to the usual IMDB and Rotten Tomatoes ratings.

The publication first spotted the addition a few weeks back but Google only recently commented on the matter.

The option appears to be limited to desktop users as of writing; a query I ran on my mobile device didn’t surface the feature. Google declined to provide any additional information outside of confirming the experiment so it’s hard to say how widespread the test is.

While not hugely newsworthy on its own, the feature does serve as yet another example of how Google is further asserting itself. Adding quick-hit data like this to its search results page is no doubt convenient for users but it’s also quite controversial as it’s essentially robbing traffic from sites dedicated to providing similar information.

Other examples of this that immediately come to mind include weather information, song lyrics and ticket purchasing options, just to name a few.