Google has implemented a feature in Google Web Search and Google News that displays author information in search results to help users discover great content. When you search, you may see the name of a page’s author next to your results. This helps you quickly find the work of your favorite authors.

Google is piloting the display of author information in search results to help users discover great content. This feature is being rolled out gradually and will be implemented algorithmically, so author information will not always display in search results. Please view this Picasa album to see some of our pilot authors.

To identify the author of a blog or article, Google checks for a connection between the content page (such as an article), an author page, and a Google Profile. Authorship markup uses the rel attribute (part of the open HTML5 standard) in links to indicate the relationship between a content page and an author page.

While Google+ hasn't enjoyed the wide adoption seen by platforms like Facebook and Twitter, the addition of Authorship provides an incentive of web publishers to create and use a Google+ profile to boost item visibility in Google search results. 

If you want your authorship information to appear in search results for the content you create, you'll need a Google+ Profile with a good, recognizable headshot as your profile photo. Then, verify authorship of your content by associating it with your profile.