Google has made a subtle change to how certain content is surfaced in search engine results pages. Featured snippets now allow users to jump right into an article at a specific point.
Google is regularly updating the UI and UX for search engine results pages and the latest promises to make it easier for users to get more relevant content from queries while giving publishers a potential boost in traffic and other key metrics.
News website Search Engine Land reported the change earlier this week. It claims that the new form of featured snippets only works for some searches made on the platform using a smartphone or other mobile device. This is because AMP content is always used in the featured snippet block.
Webmasters can see whether their pages make use of the new format by navigating to Google mobile and completing a search for something that serves up both an AMP page and a featured snippet. When this snippet is clicked, the specific passage of content is anchored and highlighted.
While not a major change for the New Year, the update is interesting as it enables users to jump right into the middle of content rather than starting from the beginning of a blog or article. Webmasters should keep a close eye on metrics such as ad clicks to determine the impact of this change.
Some publishers may also be able to move around elements on AMP mobile pages to drive better conversion metrics. Google is sure to roll out many more changes to search in 2019 as it continues its aim to deliver better mobile experiences to users around the world.
