For about a year now, we have seen Google testing letting searchers ask questions directly in the search results. But we had no idea what was going on exactly - that is until now. Google posted on the Google India blog about Google Question Hub, a tool that enables creators to create richer content by leveraging unanswered questions.

Google said it collects unanswered user questions using a variety of different methods. These unanswered user questions are straight from users, so you may occasionally see misspellings or questions in which the user’s intent is unclear. Google said it will continue to explore other ways to find and surface the best unanswered questions from users so Google can then share them with creators.

Here is a screen shot from May of last year:

Here is a more recent screen shot:

Google wrote "After several months of testing with journalists and bloggers, we are launching a beta version today so we can continue to grow the product in collaboration with a broader group of publishers. Question Hub is now available in India, Indonesia, and Nigeria, in English, Hindi and Bahasa Indonesia, and we plan to introduce it in other countries and languages in the future."

This works within Google Search Console for this beta period. Google said "To access Question Hub, publishers need to link their account to verified properties in Search Console. For publishers without a Search Console account, other options are available. Once they’ve created an account, they can explore topics relevant to their work by either searching for keywords or browsing categories (e.g. Beauty & Fitness). Once a topic is added, they can view unanswered questions asked by real people."

Here is a screen shot:

You can sign up over here and learn more about this program over here.

A bit more from Glenn Gabe:

A content gap analysis tool from Google: "We provide those questions to publishers, so they can use these insights to create richer, better content for their audience. This benefits the publishers who can identify content gaps online, & everyone searching for content on the web." https://t.co/7bRG9uXDja — Glenn Gabe (@glenngabe) August 8, 2019

Again, this is not available in the US.

Forum discussion at Twitter.