Google has confirmed today that it would be officially downgrading how users see two main types of results that are commonly seen on search engines.
The tech giant revealed today how it would limit visibility for both HowTo and FAQs.
Moreover, the Android maker even delineated further how it would be phasing out FAQs for most of the web pages while it hopes to completely get rid of HowTo from searches conducted through mobile devices.
As per a recently published announcement by the tech giant, Google says it wants to limit such search results to a massive extent on desktop devices as well. And it’s a change that it hopes to finish in terms of a global rollout by next week which is so soon.
This was the official statement by the company which says they limited the FAQs massively in Aprile of this year through search consoles.
For those who might not be aware of the term Rich Results on Google, it’s designated for those related to webpage material and listings that are designed to put out more traffic.
Rich results are restricted to carousels and feature bigger pictures like recipe cards and they’re listed in sidebars with big stars.
Most of the rich results rely on a few things that would assist in triggering them. This includes structured data that need extra work on the publishers’ part to turn into content that’s more eligible for viewing.
HowTo are results that displays images and the necessary steps needed to complete a certain chore or task. On the other hand, FAQs are more specific and need publishers to curate queries and replies to content that’s specific to FAQs, not to mention structured data linked to it.
Now the sudden reason as to why the tech giant is downgrading both of these results on its search is simple. It wishes to give users a much more clear-cut, clean, and concise means of conducting a search online.
The tech giant says it would only showcase this for higher authorities that rule the health space and dominate websites owned by the government.
In the future, FAQ-rich results would only be visible for well-known web pages including those linked to the government or those having to do with health web pages.
On all other pages, such results wouldn’t be up for grabs and it would no longer get shown on a routine basis.
Any website could be considered for treatment of this kind, provided it fulfills the eligibility criteria list, it confirmed. And as you can imagine, the news would be seen as a huge blow and a major setback for a lot of people that took the necessary time to include FAQs and structured content.
On most occasions, the Android maker prefers to not pay heed to structured data, when it comes down to rich results. But it’s quite possible that several other rivals in the search engine industry could find it useful and hence utilize it.
Therefore, it’s not quintessential to get rid of structured data, if that’s deemed to be a huge hassle.
The company says that getting rid of it is simpler for anyone with a plugin that would scale the app and get rid of the data. And in case it can’t be deleted, no worries. Google says this kind of data that is not getting any use would not affect the search results and would remain stagnant.
But you need to remember that it’s going to be beneficial to keep HowTo data as it’s not getting away as a whole. We’re only seeing Google get rid of from smartphones but on desktop, you’ll still be able to find it with ease.
Read next: Google Shares New Cellular Security Enhancements For Android 14 To Ensure Better Protection
The tech giant revealed today how it would limit visibility for both HowTo and FAQs.
Moreover, the Android maker even delineated further how it would be phasing out FAQs for most of the web pages while it hopes to completely get rid of HowTo from searches conducted through mobile devices.
As per a recently published announcement by the tech giant, Google says it wants to limit such search results to a massive extent on desktop devices as well. And it’s a change that it hopes to finish in terms of a global rollout by next week which is so soon.
This was the official statement by the company which says they limited the FAQs massively in Aprile of this year through search consoles.
For those who might not be aware of the term Rich Results on Google, it’s designated for those related to webpage material and listings that are designed to put out more traffic.
Rich results are restricted to carousels and feature bigger pictures like recipe cards and they’re listed in sidebars with big stars.
Most of the rich results rely on a few things that would assist in triggering them. This includes structured data that need extra work on the publishers’ part to turn into content that’s more eligible for viewing.
HowTo are results that displays images and the necessary steps needed to complete a certain chore or task. On the other hand, FAQs are more specific and need publishers to curate queries and replies to content that’s specific to FAQs, not to mention structured data linked to it.
Now the sudden reason as to why the tech giant is downgrading both of these results on its search is simple. It wishes to give users a much more clear-cut, clean, and concise means of conducting a search online.
The tech giant says it would only showcase this for higher authorities that rule the health space and dominate websites owned by the government.
In the future, FAQ-rich results would only be visible for well-known web pages including those linked to the government or those having to do with health web pages.
On all other pages, such results wouldn’t be up for grabs and it would no longer get shown on a routine basis.
Any website could be considered for treatment of this kind, provided it fulfills the eligibility criteria list, it confirmed. And as you can imagine, the news would be seen as a huge blow and a major setback for a lot of people that took the necessary time to include FAQs and structured content.
On most occasions, the Android maker prefers to not pay heed to structured data, when it comes down to rich results. But it’s quite possible that several other rivals in the search engine industry could find it useful and hence utilize it.
Therefore, it’s not quintessential to get rid of structured data, if that’s deemed to be a huge hassle.
The company says that getting rid of it is simpler for anyone with a plugin that would scale the app and get rid of the data. And in case it can’t be deleted, no worries. Google says this kind of data that is not getting any use would not affect the search results and would remain stagnant.
But you need to remember that it’s going to be beneficial to keep HowTo data as it’s not getting away as a whole. We’re only seeing Google get rid of from smartphones but on desktop, you’ll still be able to find it with ease.
Read next: Google Shares New Cellular Security Enhancements For Android 14 To Ensure Better Protection
