Google has become quite different from what it was like in its early days. Founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin were famous for stating that they want users to spend as little time on Google as possible, instead using it as a means of finding other websites. This changed quite dramatically over the years, with Google’s recent modus operandi becoming more focused on keeping users on its own pages as much as possible.
The addition of cards to its SERP has been a mainstay of these efforts, and back in March Google began experimenting with a brand new type of card called “Things to Know”. This was yet another way for Google to offer related search queries so that users don’t have to go off platform by clicking on other sites, and with all of that having been said and now out of the way it is important to note that much of this data is harvested from other sites without their permission which allows Google to profit without giving content creators their fair share.
This feature is still in the testing phase, but in spite of the fact that this is the case it is appearing in about 1% of search results. That is an enormous percentage for a feature that Google is ostensibly only working on, and it is more indicative of a beta test in preparation for a wider rollout with all things having been considered and taken into account.
This new feature will likely impact SEO even further, with website owners and content creators scrambling to get their content listed on the card. However, this feature might not see the light of day given that it is only one of Google’s many similar experiments that are in the same vein. It will be interesting to see if this becomes a more essential feature on Google or if it will just turn into another experiment that never went anywhere. Either way, it indicates Google’s desire to keep users on platform instead of sending them to other sites as was the initial goal.
H/T: RankRanger
Read next: Google’s Scrollable Panel Test Just Got Expanded to Include Knowledge Boxes and Snippets
The addition of cards to its SERP has been a mainstay of these efforts, and back in March Google began experimenting with a brand new type of card called “Things to Know”. This was yet another way for Google to offer related search queries so that users don’t have to go off platform by clicking on other sites, and with all of that having been said and now out of the way it is important to note that much of this data is harvested from other sites without their permission which allows Google to profit without giving content creators their fair share.
This feature is still in the testing phase, but in spite of the fact that this is the case it is appearing in about 1% of search results. That is an enormous percentage for a feature that Google is ostensibly only working on, and it is more indicative of a beta test in preparation for a wider rollout with all things having been considered and taken into account.
What we are seeing is...
— Shay Harel (@RangerShay) June 13, 2022
Literally from the day we began tracking it on June 1st, it's been showing up on nearly 1% of SERP results.
For a Google test, that’s significant.
What’s more… pic.twitter.com/KTShL3paHR
This new feature will likely impact SEO even further, with website owners and content creators scrambling to get their content listed on the card. However, this feature might not see the light of day given that it is only one of Google’s many similar experiments that are in the same vein. It will be interesting to see if this becomes a more essential feature on Google or if it will just turn into another experiment that never went anywhere. Either way, it indicates Google’s desire to keep users on platform instead of sending them to other sites as was the initial goal.
H/T: RankRanger
Read next: Google’s Scrollable Panel Test Just Got Expanded to Include Knowledge Boxes and Snippets
