Last week we reported on a new user interface rollout by Google showing a top carousel filter to help you expand or diversify your search query.
Well, if you search for [top websites] in Google you get that carousel and it shows "popular websites." It is unclear if they are listed in a specific order but Gary Illyes from Google implied the list comes from alexa.com/topsites but the order there is different from what Google shows.
Here is Gary's response on Twitter to where the data source is for this:
@randfish my spidey senses tell me to shut the hell up, but... never mind i'll just put this screenshot RIGHT HERE @royhinkis @JohnMu pic.twitter.com/328J5MJ3EZ
— Gary Illyes ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ (@methode) February 8, 2017
When you click on any of those, it just changes the query to that brand name you clicked on.
I honestly do not like this search feature.
Forum discussion at Twitter.