Have you noticed a little change in the search results lately?
Google stopped showing the intended results. It’s worth knowing why this happened and what it means for you.
So, what’s the deal with indented results?
Before, Google would indent additional results under the main results when you performed a search on the same site.
It was Google’s way of showing you more content from the same source organized.
However, Google decided to change things up.
Danny Sullivan, the Google Search Liaison, confirmed that Google stopped indenting search results “a few weeks ago.”
But why the change? Well, according to Sullivan, the old indented format wasn’t as helpful as it used to be, especially with the continuous scroll feature.
Essentially, Google felt that indented results were not providing the user experience they were aiming for.
However, it’s important to note that Google’s “diversity system” is still active. This system works to ensure that the top search results generally show only two results from the same site.
So, even though the indented format is gone, Google hasn’t changed how often it shows results from the same domain for a single query.
Now, you might be wondering how this change affects you. The good news is that it shouldn’t impact how often your content appears in Google Search results. It affects how that second (and subsequent) listing from the same website is presented. In other words, it changes how users see multiple results from one source.
As for your click-through rate, whether this change will have a positive or negative impact is still up in the air. It depends on various factors, including user behaviour and the nature of the content you provide.
In conclusion, Google has bid farewell to indented search results, favouring a new, more streamlined format. This change is intended to improve the overall user experience and how search results are presented.
So, next time you run a Google search, don’t be surprised if you see results from the same website listed neatly.
Whatever this change may be, Google continues to evolve to serve its users better.
Happy Searching!
