Google wants to make it easier for people to buy concert tickets for their favorite bands, announcing in a developer blog post that it plans on doing so with a new feature in its search engine.
The update will allow users to buy tickets right from the results page, which will present an "expanded answer card" whenever they search for specific venues or artists, according to The Telegraph. The card will provide users with a list of upcoming events and links to Ticketmaster, AXS, Ticketfly and other popular sites the organizer suggests for getting tickets.
The move gives users a chance to buy tickets to live events quickly without having to go through the main websites first, as they will be taken directly to the ticketing site to make their purchases.
Bands and event organizers will also benefit from the new feature, as they will be able to mark up certain information like gig dates and locations on their websites so Google can find and recognize it quickly, Digital Trends reported. Fans will also be able to look at this information, which will come with a link to authorized ticketing sites.
Google said in the post that the new feature can also be useful for stand-up comedians, who can release information about upcoming gigs in a much easier way.
The update is Google's most recent move aimed at keeping users on its results page to deliver more advertisement revenue. The company previously did so by providing answers to questions, viewing times for movies, and showing Wikipedia snippets and other bits of information in its search results, The Telegraph reported.
While Google already lets musicians add upcoming events, the new ticketing link serves as a huge improvement to the results page, as it apparently work on both desktop and mobile devices, Digital Trends reported.
Google's search page already provides a great deal of information about musicians, such as images, bio details and links to digital music sites and online profiles, so the update should only help the company step up its game against competitors like Yahoo and Bing.
