WAY TO BE A DICK. GOOGLE ADDS NUTRITIONAL INFO to over 1,000 search results.
Google, you big giant fuck. There is no way I need handy reminders of just how fat I am being, okay? If I’m searching “triple cheese burger”, you don’t need to calculate the caloric content of said flesh-beast. And don’t give me that noise about the results only coming up if I search “how many calories are in a triple cheese burger”, because my search is only perfunctory.
The Verge:
Google is incorporating nutrition data into search; beginning today, results will include “extensive” details on calories, carbohydrates, proteins, sugars, and other relevant food info. “Figuring out how to make smart choices about some of our favorite foods can often be a cumbersome and daunting process,” the company said. “So we’re hoping we can make those choices a little bit easier.” According to Google, data covering over 1,000 fruits, vegetables, meats and meals is included at launch. Those range between simple items — carrots, potatoes, corn — to full-on meals like “burritos and chow mein.”
Food-specific data will come up in natural language searches like, “how many calories are in popcorn?” and Google says the Knowledge Graph helps in making results you see more accurate. “For example, when you ask for ‘summer squash carbs’, we include ‘zucchini’ as a relevant food in the dropdown, because it is a type of summer squash.” At an event earlier today, the company said its been working towards this nutrition initiative for some time, describing it as an “incredibly hard” challenge. Accordingly, nutrition data is starting small: it launches today in English and will roll out for all US users within 10 days. Google has pledged to add more foods, expanded language support, and deeper overall functionality to its health-conscious push in the future.