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Google: Webpages with Featured Snippets Won’t Appear Twice on Page 1

Published

5 years ago

on

google webpages with featured snippets wont appear twice on page 1 via mattgsouthern

Google’s Danny Sullivan has confirmed that webpages in a featured snippet position will no longer be repeated in regular Page 1 organic listings.

This is a brand new change rolling out as of today.

The change will affect 100% of all search listings worldwide.

Previously, it was not uncommon to see to see webpages in a featured snippet position appear twice on Page 1 of search results.

Going forward, that will no longer be the case.

Now, a webpage only gets one opportunity to appear on Page 1.

As Sullivan states, featured snippets count as one of the 10 webpage listings shown on the first page of search results.

This tweet from Shelly Fagin pretty much sums it up:

Let’s look at an example.

This Search Engine Journal post, Top 8 Skills Every Great SEO Professional Needs to Succeed, used to have a feature snippet and rank in Position 1.

Now the SERP (search engine results page) looks like this:

Webpage with Featured Snippet no longer appears in Page 1 organic listings

The organic listing for that Search Engine Journal post now appears at the top of Page 2 (or, position 11).

Featured Snippet Webpage Now Appears in Position 11 on Page 2 of Google

According to Pete Meyers of Moz, webpages in a featured snippet position have had their regular organic results pushed back to the top of Page 2. Although Danny Sullivan later tweeted that appearing at the top of, or even on Page 2, is not guaranteed.

Given that this update just rolled out today, it’s unclear how tools such as Search Console will handle the change.

Google’s John Mueller may provide further details tomorrow (January 23).

What If You Lose Your Featured Snippet?

In the past, if you lost a featured snippet, you’d still be on Page 1.

But now what will happen if you lose a featured snippet?

Do you return to Page 1 automatically, as an organic result beneath the new featured snippet?

Sullivan tweeted the following when asked about this scenario:

While Sullivan’s statement doesn’t seem 100 percent definitive, that would make sense – so hopefully that’s what Google will be doing. But that’s one you should definitely watch out for.

What About SERPs with 2 Featured Snippets?

What will happen in cases where a SERP returns two featured snippets for a query?

Search Engine Journal’s Executive Editor Danny Goodwin asked Sullivan just that on Twitter. Here’s what Sullivan said:

What’s important to note here is that just because you get a featured snippet, you won’t necessarily appear at the top of Page 2. As Sullivan noted: “It’s not always guaranteed the URL will somehow come back up on the second page.”

Sullivan also added that deduplication can happen beyond Page 2:

Early Reaction from the SEO Community

We asked Search Engine Journal contributors for their opinion, here are some of the responses so far:

Alan Bleiweiss, Alan Bleiweiss Consulting

Consensus for some of us is we need to test and evaluate deep data because serious loss of organic traffic on key phrases could require blocking the Featured Snippet from Google use at the code level. There are so many scenarios, possibilities, ramifications that it’s way too early to make any rash decisions. Yet ignoring this is a very serious risk at this point.

Data. I need data. Across different industries, different intent types, different phrase types (short vs long tail). Organic drop small, not at all, or big? Impact on traffic? Impact on CONVERTING traffic? What happens with short-term data vs. long term trend reality?

Brodie Clark, Brodie Clark Consulting:

Initial reaction is definitely frustration. Especially for those clients where you’ve spent countless hours trying to get the Featured Snippet. But I totally get why the change has been made. There’s always a silver lining to these things though.

I wrote a case study (published next week on Moz) about a site that gets 1m+ organic visits p/mo but doesn’t rank for any Featured Snippets. Result was that they’ve been filtered out algorithmically. This change means that they are only going upward, which is great for them.

Looking forward to digging into this more.

Dave Davies, Beanstalk Internet Marketing

My initial thought is: featured snippets are now for informational queries and branding but may need to be pulled back on for terms that may have conversion possibilities.

As Alan Bleiweiss accurately asserts though … need data.

There’s also that part where I’d likely rather be position 0 than organic 7, so I suspect it will heavily depend on what Page 1 position was/is held outside it.

Roger Montti, Owner of MartiniBuster.com & SEJ News Writer

This is unknown territory. So the best thing to do is monitor traffic to specific pages that rank for Featured Snippet and see how that performs.

Adding a nosnippets meta tag might backfire because position one in organic isn’t guaranteed.

So my advice to clients is: don’t jump before looking first.

More Resources

Searchenginejournal

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GOOGLE

Google Warns About Misuse of Its Indexing API

Published

5 days ago

on

September 12, 2024

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Google Warns About Misuse of Its Indexing API

Google has updated its Indexing API documentation with a clear warning about spam detection and the possible consequences of misuse.

Warning Against API Misuse The new message in the guide says:

“All submissions through the Indexing API are checked for spam. Any misuse, like using multiple accounts or going over the usage limits, could lead to access being taken away.”

This warning is aimed at people trying to abuse the system by exceeding the API’s limits or breaking Google’s rules.

What Is the Indexing API? The Indexing API allows websites to tell Google when job posting or livestream video pages are added or removed. It helps websites with fast-changing content get their pages crawled and indexed quickly.

But it seems some users have been trying to abuse this by using multiple accounts to get more access.

Impact of the Update Google is now closely watching how people use the Indexing API. If someone breaks the rules, they might lose access to the tool, which could make it harder for them to keep their search results updated for time-sensitive content.

How To Stay Compliant To use the Indexing API properly, follow these rules:

  • Don’t go over the usage limits, and if you need more, ask Google instead of using multiple accounts.
  • Use the API only for job postings or livestream videos, and make sure your data is correct.
  • Follow all of Google’s API guidelines and spam policies.
  • Use sitemaps along with the API, not as a replacement.

Remember, the Indexing API isn’t a shortcut to faster indexing. Follow the rules to keep your access.

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GOOGLE

This Week in Search News: Simple and Easy-to-Read Update

Published

3 months ago

on

June 30, 2024

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This Week in Search News: Simple and Easy-to-Read Update

Here’s what happened in the world of Google and search engines this week:

1. Google’s June 2024 Spam Update

Google finished rolling out its June 2024 spam update over a period of seven days. This update aims to reduce spammy content in search results.

2. Changes to Google Search Interface

Google has removed the continuous scroll feature for search results. Instead, it’s back to the old system of pages.

3. New Features and Tests

  • Link Cards: Google is testing link cards at the top of AI-generated overviews.
  • Health Overviews: There are more AI-generated health overviews showing up in search results.
  • Local Panels: Google is testing AI overviews in local information panels.

4. Search Rankings and Quality

  • Improving Rankings: Google said it can improve its search ranking system but will only do so on a large scale.
  • Measuring Quality: Google’s Elizabeth Tucker shared how they measure search quality.

5. Advice for Content Creators

  • Brand Names in Reviews: Google advises not to avoid mentioning brand names in review content.
  • Fixing 404 Pages: Google explained when it’s important to fix 404 error pages.

6. New Search Features in Google Chrome

Google Chrome for mobile devices has added several new search features to enhance user experience.

7. New Tests and Features in Google Search

  • Credit Card Widget: Google is testing a new widget for credit card information in search results.
  • Sliding Search Results: When making a new search query, the results might slide to the right.

8. Bing’s New Feature

Bing is now using AI to write “People Also Ask” questions in search results.

9. Local Search Ranking Factors

Menu items and popular times might be factors that influence local search rankings on Google.

10. Google Ads Updates

  • Query Matching and Brand Controls: Google Ads updated its query matching and brand controls, and advertisers are happy with these changes.
  • Lead Credits: Google will automate lead credits for Local Service Ads. Google says this is a good change, but some advertisers are worried.
  • tROAS Insights Box: Google Ads is testing a new insights box for tROAS (Target Return on Ad Spend) in Performance Max and Standard Shopping campaigns.
  • WordPress Tag Code: There is a new conversion code for Google Ads on WordPress sites.

These updates highlight how Google and other search engines are continuously evolving to improve user experience and provide better advertising tools.

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AI

Exploring the Evolution of Language Translation: A Comparative Analysis of AI Chatbots and Google Translate

Published

7 months ago

on

February 26, 2024

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A Comparative Analysis of AI Chatbots and Google Translate

According to an article on PCMag, while Google Translate makes translating sentences into over 100 languages easy, regular users acknowledge that there’s still room for improvement.

In theory, large language models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT are expected to bring about a new era in language translation. These models consume vast amounts of text-based training data and real-time feedback from users worldwide, enabling them to quickly learn to generate coherent, human-like sentences in a wide range of languages.

However, despite the anticipation that ChatGPT would revolutionize translation, previous experiences have shown that such expectations are often inaccurate, posing challenges for translation accuracy. To put these claims to the test, PCMag conducted a blind test, asking fluent speakers of eight non-English languages to evaluate the translation results from various AI services.

The test compared ChatGPT (both the free and paid versions) to Google Translate, as well as to other competing chatbots such as Microsoft Copilot and Google Gemini. The evaluation involved comparing the translation quality for two test paragraphs across different languages, including Polish, French, Korean, Spanish, Arabic, Tagalog, and Amharic.

In the first test conducted in June 2023, participants consistently favored AI chatbots over Google Translate. ChatGPT, Google Bard (now Gemini), and Microsoft Bing outperformed Google Translate, with ChatGPT receiving the highest praise. ChatGPT demonstrated superior performance in converting colloquialisms, while Google Translate often provided literal translations that lacked cultural nuance.

For instance, ChatGPT accurately translated colloquial expressions like “blow off steam,” whereas Google Translate produced more literal translations that failed to resonate across cultures. Participants appreciated ChatGPT’s ability to maintain consistent levels of formality and its consideration of gender options in translations.

The success of AI chatbots like ChatGPT can be attributed to reinforcement learning with human feedback (RLHF), which allows these models to learn from human preferences and produce culturally appropriate translations, particularly for non-native speakers. However, it’s essential to note that while AI chatbots outperformed Google Translate, they still had limitations and occasional inaccuracies.

In a subsequent test, PCMag evaluated different versions of ChatGPT, including the free and paid versions, as well as language-specific AI agents from OpenAI’s GPTStore. The paid version of ChatGPT, known as ChatGPT Plus, consistently delivered the best translations across various languages. However, Google Translate also showed improvement, performing surprisingly well compared to previous tests.

Overall, while ChatGPT Plus emerged as the preferred choice for translation, Google Translate demonstrated notable improvement, challenging the notion that AI chatbots are always superior to traditional translation tools.

Source: https://www.pcmag.com/articles/google-translate-vs-chatgpt-which-is-the-best-language-translator

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