SEO

Google Answers if Meta Description Matters for Rankings

Published

2 years ago

May 7, 2022

Google’s John Mueller answered the question about whether a meta description can be used to influence the search rankings.

It’s a good question because Google advises to use unique meta descriptions on web pages. So there is some kind of influence but is that influence related to rankings? John Mueller answers that question.

Meta Element

The meta tag is formally known as a meta element. The meta element is used to describe (represent) document-level information about a web page.

In order to describe different properties of the web page the meta element (like all HTML elements) has attributes which kind of extends the meta element so that it can provide a specific kind of information to a web browser or to a web crawler (like Googlebot).

For example:

A meta robots tag communicates to crawlers.
A meta refresh tag communicates to a browser.

There are many other meta tags that communicate directly to search engines and browsers:

meta name=”viewport”
meta http-equiv=”refresh”
meta name=”google-site-verification”
meta name=”googlebot” content=”notranslate”

Meta element data is information that is not meant for site visitors to directly see (although it can be seen indirectly via the search results).

Meta Description

The W3C is the standards-making body responsible for defining HTML (among other things)

The official W3C specification for the meta description tag says that the meta description is designed for use by search engines.

“The value must be a free-form string that describes the page. The value must be appropriate for use in a directory of pages, e.g. in a search engine.
There must not be more than one meta element with its name attribute set to the value description per document.”

Google’s Use of Meta Descriptions

Google’s documentation of snippets notes that meta descriptions are used for generating search results snippets.

If a meta description is properly used then the meta description displayed in the search results will communicate to the potential website visitor what the page is about and give them an idea of what to expect if they click the link and visit the website.

There is no limit on how long a meta description can be.

However there is a limit on how much of the meta description that search engines will choose to show. The limit is defined by how much can be shown on the user’s browser device.

Does Google Use Meta Description for Ranking?

The person asking the question was specifically asking about adding location name information to the meta description and if it would help rankings.

Google’s John Mueller answered with a broader scope than just adding the location name, his answer was about whether anything in the meta description affected rankings.

This is the question asked:

“Does adding the location name in the meta description matter to Google in terms of ranking if the content quality is maintained?”

John Mueller answered:

“So the meta description is primarily used as a snippet in the search results page.
And that’s not something that we would use for ranking.
But obviously, having a good snippet on a search results page, that can make it more interesting for people to actually visit your page when they see your page ranking in the search results.”
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Meta Description and SEO

There’s a lot to know about HTML meta elements and this question is a good example of the value of understanding HTML and how they are used by browsers and search engines.

Understanding the background information about meta elements and the meta description tag in particular helps build a better understanding of how all the pieces fit together for SEO.

Citation

Does Meta Description Matter for Rankings?

Watch John Mueller answer the question at the 26:47 mark in the video:

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SEO

Google Declares It The “Gemini Era” As Revenue Grows 15%

Published

1 hour ago

April 26, 2024

Max

Alphabet Inc., Google’s parent company, announced its first quarter 2024 financial results today.

While Google reported double-digit growth in key revenue areas, the focus was on its AI developments, dubbed the “Gemini era” by CEO Sundar Pichai.

The Numbers: 15% Revenue Growth, Operating Margins Expand

Alphabet reported Q1 revenues of $80.5 billion, a 15% increase year-over-year, exceeding Wall Street’s projections.

Net income was $23.7 billion, with diluted earnings per share of $1.89. Operating margins expanded to 32%, up from 25% in the prior year.

Ruth Porat, Alphabet’s President and CFO, stated:

“Our strong financial results reflect revenue strength across the company and ongoing efforts to durably reengineer our cost base.”

Google’s core advertising units, such as Search and YouTube, drove growth. Google advertising revenues hit $61.7 billion for the quarter.

The Cloud division also maintained momentum, with revenues of $9.6 billion, up 28% year-over-year.

Pichai highlighted that YouTube and Cloud are expected to exit 2024 at a combined $100 billion annual revenue run rate.

Generative AI Integration in Search

Google experimented with AI-powered features in Search Labs before recently introducing AI overviews into the main search results page.

Regarding the gradual rollout, Pichai states:

“We are being measured in how we do this, focusing on areas where gen AI can improve the Search experience, while also prioritizing traffic to websites and merchants.”

Pichai reports that Google’s generative AI features have answered over a billion queries already:

“We’ve already served billions of queries with our generative AI features. It’s enabling people to access new information, to ask questions in new ways, and to ask more complex questions.”

Google reports increased Search usage and user satisfaction among those interacting with the new AI overview results.

The company also highlighted its “Circle to Search” feature on Android, which allows users to circle objects on their screen or in videos to get instant AI-powered answers via Google Lens.

Reorganizing For The “Gemini Era”

As part of the AI roadmap, Alphabet is consolidating all teams building AI models under the Google DeepMind umbrella.

Pichai revealed that, through hardware and software improvements, the company has reduced machine costs associated with its generative AI search results by 80% over the past year.

He states:

“Our data centers are some of the most high-performing, secure, reliable and efficient in the world. We’ve developed new AI models and algorithms that are more than one hundred times more efficient than they were 18 months ago.

How Will Google Make Money With AI?

Alphabet sees opportunities to monetize AI through its advertising products, Cloud offerings, and subscription services.

Google is integrating Gemini into ad products like Performance Max. The company’s Cloud division is bringing “the best of Google AI” to enterprise customers worldwide.

Google One, the company’s subscription service, surpassed 100 million paid subscribers in Q1 and introduced a new premium plan featuring advanced generative AI capabilities powered by Gemini models.

Future Outlook

Pichai outlined six key advantages positioning Alphabet to lead the “next wave of AI innovation”:

Research leadership in AI breakthroughs like the multimodal Gemini model
Robust AI infrastructure and custom TPU chips
Integrating generative AI into Search to enhance the user experience
A global product footprint reaching billions
Streamlined teams and improved execution velocity
Multiple revenue streams to monetize AI through advertising and cloud

With upcoming events like Google I/O and Google Marketing Live, the company is expected to share further updates on its AI initiatives and product roadmap.

Featured Image: Sergei Elagin/Shutterstock

SEO

brightonSEO Live Blog

Published

18 hours ago

April 25, 2024

Entireweb News Bot

Hello everyone. It’s April again, so I’m back in Brighton for another two days of ~~sun~~, sea, and SEO!

Being the introvert I am, my idea of fun isn’t hanging around our booth all day explaining we’ve run out of t-shirts (seriously, you need to be fast if you want swag!). So I decided to do something useful and live-blog the event instead.

Follow below for talk takeaways and (very) mildly humorous commentary.

SEO

Google Further Postpones Third-Party Cookie Deprecation In Chrome

Published

21 hours ago

April 25, 2024

Max

Close-up of a document with a grid and a red stamp that reads "delayed" over the word "status" due to Chrome's deprecation of third-party cookies.

Google has again delayed its plan to phase out third-party cookies in the Chrome web browser. The latest postponement comes after ongoing challenges in reconciling feedback from industry stakeholders and regulators.

The announcement was made in Google and the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) joint quarterly report on the Privacy Sandbox initiative, scheduled for release on April 26.

Chrome’s Third-Party Cookie Phaseout Pushed To 2025

Google states it “will not complete third-party cookie deprecation during the second half of Q4” this year as planned.

Instead, the tech giant aims to begin deprecating third-party cookies in Chrome “starting early next year,” assuming an agreement can be reached with the CMA and the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).

The statement reads:

“We recognize that there are ongoing challenges related to reconciling divergent feedback from the industry, regulators and developers, and will continue to engage closely with the entire ecosystem. It’s also critical that the CMA has sufficient time to review all evidence, including results from industry tests, which the CMA has asked market participants to provide by the end of June.”

Continued Engagement With Regulators

Google reiterated its commitment to “engaging closely with the CMA and ICO” throughout the process and hopes to conclude discussions this year.

This marks the third delay to Google’s plan to deprecate third-party cookies, initially aiming for a Q3 2023 phaseout before pushing it back to late 2024.

The postponements reflect the challenges in transitioning away from cross-site user tracking while balancing privacy and advertiser interests.

Transition Period & Impact

In January, Chrome began restricting third-party cookie access for 1% of users globally. This percentage was expected to gradually increase until 100% of users were covered by Q3 2024.

However, the latest delay gives websites and services more time to migrate away from third-party cookie dependencies through Google’s limited “deprecation trials” program.

The trials offer temporary cookie access extensions until December 27, 2024, for non-advertising use cases that can demonstrate direct user impact and functional breakage.

While easing the transition, the trials have strict eligibility rules. Advertising-related services are ineligible, and origins matching known ad-related domains are rejected.

Google states the program aims to address functional issues rather than relieve general data collection inconveniences.

Publisher & Advertiser Implications

The repeated delays highlight the potential disruption for digital publishers and advertisers relying on third-party cookie tracking.

Industry groups have raised concerns that restricting cross-site tracking could push websites toward more opaque privacy-invasive practices.

However, privacy advocates view the phaseout as crucial in preventing covert user profiling across the web.

With the latest postponement, all parties have more time to prepare for the eventual loss of third-party cookies and adopt Google’s proposed Privacy Sandbox APIs as replacements.

Featured Image: Novikov Aleksey/Shutterstock