SEARCHENGINES
More “Google Explore” Testing As The Dynamic SERP Feature Now Covers Topics, People, and Even Companies

In June of 2022, Mordy Oberstein first spotted a new SERP feature being tested called Google Explore. That’s where a feed of content shows up after a user scrolls through several pages in the mobile SERPs. It has a special treatment in the SERPs and looks like the combination of Search and Discover. As of now, Explore contains a lot of article content and videos. Since it does resemble Discover, I’ve been joking that a Web Stories and Short Videos carousel could end up there (and maybe it will!)
After Mordy spotted Explore, I was able to trigger it a number of times and covered it in my post about the latest experiments and SERP features I was seeing. It’s a wild feature and I’ve been in the test many times since then.
I’m seeing Google Explore more and more recently…
Well, over the past few weeks I have seen Explore more and more in the mobile SERPs. I’m not sure if it has officially rolled out, or if this is just more testing, but it’s worth noting. And I’m seeing Explore trigger for a range of queries, including people and companies now. Melissa Fach pinged me on Twitter about Explore triggering for various companies she was searching for and I was able to replicate that yesterday.
For example, you can see Explore showing up for various types of queries in the tweets below:
Here is Explore showing up for Aaron Rodgers:
More Google Explore activity. I’m now seeing Explore trigger for people, as well as topics. I love how the first category in Explore for Aaron Rodgers is about him playing the guitar. 🙂 That said, there are many subtopics showing for Aaron… pic.twitter.com/dSlLlKQ9XE
— Glenn Gabe (@glenngabe) November 14, 2022
Here is Explore showing up for Tom Cruise (via Khushal Bherwani):
Yes, 🧵 pic.twitter.com/XPrld9UNSG
— Khushal Bherwani (@b4k_khushal) November 14, 2022
And here is Explore showing up for Wix (via Mordy Oberstein):
Yeah def see them for companies but often not as prolific pic.twitter.com/2mWBeyCnVL
— Mordy Oberstein 🇺🇦 (@MordyOberstein) November 14, 2022
Tracking Google Explore in GSC: Good luck.
I’ve said several times on Twitter after triggering Explore, good luck trying to track the feature in GSC!
And believe me, I have tried tracking it… Well, after triggering Explore many times in the SERPs, I ended up tracking an article showing up in Explore from one of my clients. It showed up in GSC in the Performance reporting under Web Search and ranked #32 in the SERPs…
Let’s face it, there’s no way I would be able to tie that to Explore unless I knew it was showing up there. So, you could very well have Explore data in GSC right now, but there’s no way to surface it specifically as Explore. That’s why a filter in GSC for “Explore” would be amazing.
I checked for GSC when a client was ranking there, it’s like normal Web Search (so you won’t know it’s from Explore). If this ever rolls out, they should add a filter for Explore (but I’m not sure that would happen). 🙂
— Glenn Gabe (@glenngabe) September 10, 2022
Google (Sort Of) Officially Announces Explore At Search On 2022:
During the Search On 2022 live stream, Google did mention that Explore was rolling out, but it seemed focused on travel-related queries. They didn’t cover Explore heavily but did mention it (see the video clip below). And Barry was one of the few people to actually document what he called “Scroll to Explore” in his blog post recapping Search On 2022.
Here is the segment from Search On 2022 where Google explains you’ll be able to “scroll and then branch out and get inspired by related topics…”
Be on the lookout for Explore:
So, if you publish a lot of article content, videos, etc., then be on the lookout for Google Explore in the mobile SERPs. You can trigger it by scrolling several pages on mobile. Sometimes it triggers after just one or two scrolls, but other times it requires four to five scrolls. Again, it’s a fascinating SERP feature that is flying under the radar right now. So scroll away and see what you find.
Forum discussion at Twitter.
Source: www.seroundtable.com
SEARCHENGINES
Google Hanukkah Decorations Are Live For 2023

Hanukkah (aka Chanukah) starts this coming Thursday night, December 7th. Google has added its Hanukkah decorations to the Google Search results interface to celebrate. Google does this every year and I expect to see the same rollout in the coming weeks for Christmas and Kawanzaa but for now, since Chanukah is in the coming days, we have the Hanukkah decorations live at Google Search.
Here is a screenshot of the Chanukah decorations as they look like on the mobile search results.
You can see it yourself by searching on Google for [chanukah], [hanukkah], but not yet [חֲנוּכָּה] or other spelling variations yet but it should soon. It looks better on mobile than it does on desktop results.
To see the past, the 2023 decorations, 2021 decorations, 2020 Chanukah decorations, 2019 Google holiday decorations, the 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010 and so on.
Happy Chanukah, everyone!
Forum discussion at X.
SEARCHENGINES
Google Pay Accepted Icons In Google Search Results

Google seems to be testing a Google Pay Accepted label or icon in the Google search results. This label has the super G logo followed by the words “Pay accepted” words next to search result snippets that support Google Pay and notate such in their structured data.
This was first spotted by Khushal Bherwani who shared some screenshots of this on X – here is one:
Here are some more screenshots:
Here is test and without test window for same query. pic.twitter.com/n9cYWBOsro
— Khushal Bherwani (@b4k_khushal) October 20, 2023
Brodie Clark also posted some screenshots after on X:
In continuation from the test from October, Google is now testing out a new Google Pay label associated with organic results. Last month, Google was testing Pay Accepted text, with this month changing it to Pay encrypted checkout. More details: https://t.co/MvFNoPmMDR pic.twitter.com/WDVVc4RbTO
— SERPs Up 🌊 (@SERPalerts) November 30, 2023
I tried to replicate this but I came up short.
This is not the first time Google had similar icons like this in its search results.
Forum discussion at X.
SEARCHENGINES
Google Discover Showing Older Content Since Follow Feature Arrived

Typically, Google Discover shows content that is less than a day old, but it can show content that is weeks, months, or even years old. However, typically, Google will show more recent content in the Discover feed. Well, that may have changed with the new Google follow feature.
Glenn Gabe, who is a very active Google Discover user, noticed that since the Follow feature rolled out, he has been seeing content that is weeks and months old way more often than before the follow feature rolled out. Glenn wrote on X that “this could also be playing a role. i.e. Google isn’t providing as much recent content, but instead, focusing on providing targeted content based on the topics you are following.”
It makes sense that if you follow a specific topic and if Google Discover only shows the most authoritative types of content, it might be hard for Google to find new content on that topic. So it does make sense that Google may show older content more often for that specific topic you follow.
Here are screenshots Glenn shared:
Have you noticed this in your Discover feed?
Forum discussion at X.
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