Google is ending an experiment that let you annotate search results

Google is ending a months-old experiment that let people attach colorful notes to search results, the company confirmed to 9to5Google.

Google announced the Notes experiment for Search Labs in November. If you had opted in to Notes, you could see and add annotations featuring text and images to links in search results in the Google app. (They were kind of a Google-y take on X’s Community Notes.) But given Tuesday’s announcement, it seems the test wasn’t popular enough to warrant a wider release.

“Search Labs is our testbed for bold experimentation and as we’ve shared, not all experiments will launch broadly,” a Google spokesperson told 9to5Google. “We’ve seen in our research that people want to hear from others like them and Notes was an exploration of how to help people share their knowledge right on Search. We’re excited to continue testing new ways to connect people to authentic, relatable voices and look forward to bringing some of our learnings from Notes into future product experiences.”

Google didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment from The Verge. The “Notes on Search” section in Search Labs currently says “ends soon”; at one point, the end date was May 2024.