A month ago we saw Google test a new search filter for "Forums." This would filter the search results just to show results from forums, like Reddit, Quora and maybe some of the forums I cover here. Well, now Google has officially made the switch where Forums replaced Perspectives in the search bar filters (it may still be rolling out).
Here is what it looks like:
Here is what it looked like last week:
Google sent me this news Friday, which I covered earlier at Search Engine Land. Google told me it was just more intuitive for searchers to understand what "forums" means over what "perspectives" means.
Google told me, We’ll be evolving the “Perspectives” filter to “Forums”, which we have found is most intuitive for users and a type of content that people are frequently seeking out in this space. People can use this filter to hone in on results from hundreds of forums from across the web.
But perspectives is not going away fully, Google will still show them in the search results, just not as a search filter. Google said, "Other types of content like short videos and UGC, which was previously included in “Perspectives”, will continue to be accessible for relevant queries as carousels, clusters and traditional web page listings on the search results page."
Google launched the Perspectives filter back in June of last year. The first time we saw Google testing the perspectives search filter was in early May. But in late March, Google launched a news perspectives feature that is different from this search filter. We also saw Google showing featured snippets perspectives early on, but Google launched them without the name perspectives.
This perspectives search filter, Google said, will give you long and short-form videos, images and written posts that people have shared on discussion boards, Q&A sites and social media platforms. Google will also show more details about the creators of this content, such as their name, profile photo, or information about the popularity of their content.
Here is some reaction to this change:
Makes sense. I'm sure few people understood what "Perspectives" meant. So Google's testing yielded much more engagement with "Forums" as the filter. And not all perspectives features are changing to "Forums". You can read Barry's post for more information. https://t.co/pS6Fn7qhYl
— Glenn Gabe (@glenngabe) March 15, 2024
That’s weird? Perspectives was originally used to show more than just forums. It had social posts, blogs etc. as well.
— Lily Ray 😏 (@lilyraynyc) March 15, 2024
Maybe, just maybe, this means Reddit, Quora etc. will be shifted over to the Forums tab??? A girl can dream 😅 https://t.co/2FCC7W43G5
Interesting! I liked Perspectives. Glad it'll still be in-SERP. Recently saw a test for "What people are saying," similar to a '22 forums feature: https://t.co/qsZISFYoHZ
— Ethan Lazuk 🪬 (@EthanLazuk) March 15, 2024
Noticed some correlation of Perspectives carousels w/ followed topics via Discover: https://t.co/PrwpH55GiH. https://t.co/gzvErSDZXG
That gives it more clarity, assuming it will only show forums and the likes of Reddit.
— AlexHarford-TechSEO (@AlexHarfordSEO) March 15, 2024
I am not sure why the robots are missing arms above, AI is funny that way.
Forum discussion at X.
Update: This went live on March 19th:
It's live - Forums replaced Perspectives in the Google search bar tools - original story at https://t.co/swU8L16IS4 pic.twitter.com/mo1FVNs37r
— Barry Schwartz (@rustybrick) March 19, 2024
