Google is to add full song lyrics above search results, so long as the lyrics are recorded in the Google Play store.
By adding the word “lyrics” to the song name in the search bar, North American users will be shown a section of the lyrics, with a link to the full lyrics on the Google Play store page.
Google confirmed the new feature with the following statement: “There’s a feeling you get when you turn to a song and you know that the words have two meanings. Well it’s whispered that now if you go search the tune, maybe Google will lead you to reason. Ooh, it makes you wonder…”
Google Knowledge Graph
The new lyrics feature is part of Google’s Knowledge Graph, which is intended to let users see answers quickly without clicking on multiple search results. Microsoft’s Bing search engine added the feature earlier this year, and the growing trend could lead to the demise of lyrics sites which music fans used to have to use, despite their inaccurate results and ad-heavy pages.
At the minute the new feature is only available to those who use Google in U.S. English, and a test discovered that only one song out of the current iTunes’ top 10 singles has lyrics available. This could mean that the lyrics database is still limited, but it also confirms the fact that the search engine is not just using content from the top search results.
Eliminating SEO-driven sites
The SEO Roundtable blog was the first to notice the update, and Google has confirmed that it rolled out the feature for U.S. English users last week following a few months of beta-testing. If and when the feature is introduced for other groups of users it could well replace those lyrics sites which are “just SEO farms,” according to Darryl Ballantyne, CEO at LyricFind. However he predicts the continued existence of community sites such as SongMeanings and MetroLyrics.
Google has previously penalized lyrics site Rap Genius for using link schemes and other questionable practices in order to boost its visibility. This latest innovation will help to prevent other sites from doing the same.
