Google is changing. Not just strategic, not just algorithmic, but also in the way they present their search results. The changes in the SERPs started small but the last months they became increasingly radical. The way users can/should use the SERPs are subject to a level of change we haven’t seen in a long time. Somehow Google is trying to change the function of the SERPs. A short analysis of the recent changes. (more…)
Google is constantly on the move. We could fill our blog entirely with Google news and changes if we wanted. Small ones, big ones, useless ones and important changes. Google itself this week decided to tell us about then changes they made to their algorithms.
The common denominator in most of the changes is meta information and especially snippets. Google seems to be pushing meta information like snippets in their algorithm to be better able to differentiate the different results. (more…)
Another Google Test has been spotted. The preview-section which Google uses on the right hand site of results in the SERPS, is in this test used for a different kind of information: sources.
Meanwhile Google also consists on pushing their own products, especially Google+ and YouTube. There is some nice integration of Plus and Google being rolled out. (more…)
Update: Google’s Matt Cutts has confirmed that Google is indexing the comments (see below).
Google seems to be indexing Facebook comments which are used on blogs. The Facebook Comments are setup using Javascript and iFrames which usually should prevent it from being indexed. The website Labnol.org however found some comments on TechCrunch which are indeed being indexed.
Some tests show however that not every comment is being indexed. So far we can see that the profiles that are indexed at least have to be open to the public and permit subscriptions. But even then not every comment is indexed. (more…)
One of the most successful posts on State of Search ever is this one. It is a post I actually wrote on the plane, on my iPad, because I was so annoyed with a new feature which Google launched: the blue arrows.
Apparently many agree with me (and some disagree) that they are annoying for those using the arrows to scroll. Now when I’ve finally gotten used to them and a different way of scrolling (still not using the arrows though) Google decides enough is enough: they are gone.
Together with that change Google also added Instant Previews to the sitelinks. Now your sitelinks can be previewed. It also seems like Google has added some extra rich content to the previews. (more…)
We know Google has been testing infinite scrolling for a while, and we expect Google to come out with some sort of infinite scrolling functionality soon. But the Americans in this case have been beaten by the Russians.
Yandex just announced that they are rolling out infinite scrolling on their search result pages. If you click on the “10 more results” button (either in Russian or the English version) you will get 10 more results below the ten you just saw, keeping the first ten in place and the search box on top. (more…)
I have had several people asking about a new way of snippets they were seeing in Google result pages. Some thought this was some sort of testing by Google. It is not, it is a new feature which was rolled out last week: snippets for list pages.
When pages consists mostly out of lists Google has found a way to show (part) of these lists in the snippet. This means that if you have a list on your page, that list might just be part of the snippets. Opportunity knocking! (more…)
Google is constantly looking for ways to improve their UI. In the past year the chances to the Google result pages (SERPS) have been immense. And it looks like we can be expecting some new changes soon. Again new tests have been found. This time its an ‘icon-less’ test.
In the test Google has gotten rid off all the icons on the result pages. Icons in the left sidebar and the +1 icon, the cached page link and the preview icon are all gone. That makes for a ‘cleaner’ result page. What is interesting is that you might be able to ‘opt-in’ on this test. (more…)
Every day a lot of people spot different experiments within Google. Google after is always trying to improve user experience. For his website Websonic.nl Michiel Wester collected some examples of the latest experiences spotted in the wild. He was kind enough to also share them with us here. (more…)
Original title: Is Google Partnering up with Amazon? Tests Suggest they are
Update: it seems as if a Chrome Plugin, “awesomescreenshot” might be the cause of these results showing up with certain people. This is not yet confirmed but could explain things. Google has not confirmed or denied anything was going on.
“Do no Evil” was a motto which was created a while ago. Everything which Google did had to be tested to that motto. Was it potentially evil? Don’t do it. Many believe that the motto is no longer in use and hasn’t been in use for a while. We’ll probably won’t know until another Googler or another Stephen Levy-type of journalist will report on it from inside Google walls. But if the tests some are seeing at the moment are true than another major group of Google-dislikers will probably arise.
Several people have mentioned on Twitter and in a blogpost that they are seeing “Amazon Results For…” on some of their queries. These results are placed on top of the regular search results, pushing down not only the regular results but also other shopping results. So far it is unclear whether this is a test, something Google is really doing or if it is a deal with Amazon or not. (more…)
We already noticed in July that there were Google Plus posts (public ones) showing up in the SERPS. Now Google has made it official: the latest update to Google Social Search are Public Google+ Posts. Google announced this on their blog.
You can now see results being accompanied by “NAME shared this on Google+”. So this is not direct content from Google+, but shared links through Google+. (more…)
I’ve said this from the beginning: Google Plus needs the connection with search to succeed. And Bill Slawski already said it: posts and comments will start appearing in the Google Result Pages (SERPS). And they are.
Some posts are now showing up in the SERPS. They are not ‘ranking like crazy’ yet and they are far from perfect and it is not every post, but they are there. Should we start optimizing? (more…)
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