For a while now, Google has been on a mission to transform search from “strings to things.” That mission is one of the reasons for the Hummingbird update, as well as the rise of RankBrain.
In order to get this feat off the ground, Google needed to create connections between their data using “real world context.” This resulted in what we now know as “The Knowledge Graph.”
Google’s goal is to create a “massive graph of real-world things and their connections, to bring more meaningful results.” Users, when searching for information, aren’t constrained by 10 blue links, but rather, they are given relevant content that adds to the content of the user’s search.