Google begins experimenting with featured snippets
in 2014, Google started answering complex questions at the top of its search results with detailed responses (or answers) taken from websites.
Does that sound like featured snippets? It should. Because it was.
We know from Google that featured snippets were introduced in January 2014. We don’t know the official date Google began testing it, but this was the day Search Engine Land first reported on the new search feature.
We didn’t yet know these answers were called “featured snippets,” but clearly that’s what we were seeing. All Google would say at the time was: “we’re always experimenting with different types of answers, but we don’t have more details to share at this point.”
Read our coverage of what was then an experimental feature: Google Search OneBox Answers Are Getting More Detailed
Also on this day
‘Untitled’ search results sending users to spam sites, Google ‘working on it’
2022: Google’s Danny Sullivan said it was “something our systems normally would typically catch, so we’re checking on it to improve.”
SEO community mourns Hamlet Batista, advocate for automation in SEO and beloved friend
2021: Those who knew him, admired him, learned from him and loved him, were left reeling from the loss.
Google Search Console launches new removals tool
2020: The tool temporarily blocked URLs from showing in Google and showed outdated content and content filtered by SafeSearch.
A visual history of Google ad labeling in search results
2020: A look back at how Google had treated ads in search results, from blue shading to the latest version of today.
Botify partnership with Microsoft brings real-time content indexing to Bing
2020: Immediate indexing and more control over content were the benefits for publishers and site owners.
DuckDuckGo has other ideas for Google’s EU search choice screen
2020: The changes included more search engine options and an introductory screen aimed at reducing bias.
Google AMP errors widely reported by webmasters and publishers
2019: This was a Google issue and would be resolved.
DuckDuckGo is growing fast but not enough to grab SEOs’ attention
2019: The search engine’s share was small but some of its metrics were better than Bing’s, according to a third-party analysis.
Google Updates The General Guidelines Section Of Their Webmaster Guidelines
2016: It expanded on examples about how to help Google find your webpages, how to give them better ideas on what those pages were about and how to make webpages that are good for visitors.
iPhone Users, The AdWords App For iOS Has Arrived
2016: You could check AdWords campaign performance, change bids and adjust budgets from your phone.
New US Presidential “Candidate Cards” Are A Disaster For Google’s Search Quality
2016: They added little value in return for Google giving up its valuable search results space.
Yahoo Redesigns Home Page & App To Deliver Consistent Experience With More Relevant News
2016: With its nearly infinite news stream, Yahoo users no longer needed to open news articles in multiple browser tabs.
Google Now Supports Crawling & Indexing Locale-Adaptive Web Pages
2015: Google added support for webpages that dynamically changed their content based on IP origin or language settings.
Bing Maps Shows Super Bowl Spirit With New Venue Map, Streetside & Hi-Res Venue Imagery
2015: The updates involved new satellite and ground-level imagery, and a detailed seat map of the stadium itself.
Google’s Matt Cutts Explains That Older Sites Won’t Always Keep Their Current Rankings
2014: Cutts answers the question, “How can an older site maintain its ranking over time?”
Google Issues Subtle Warning To Affiliates That Have “Thin-Content”
2014: The warning was mostly directed at affiliate sites in the “adult” industry.
Moz 2014 Industry Survey Results: Google Webmaster Tools Ranked Top SEO Tool
2014: 68.8% of participants planned to focus on conversion rates and performance metrics in response to Google’s elimination of keyword data.
Google Showing Date Selector In Knowledge Graph Carousel For Hotels
2014: You could click on the start and/or end date and a calendar pop up would show up to change your check in and check out dates.
The Search Agency: CPC Increases Across The Board, Weaker Bing Ads Spend In Q4 2013
2014: The report showed paid search spend rose 37.4% year-over-year.
DeepMind Buy Another Google “Moonshot” Of Sorts
2014: “It’s not hard to imagine that machine learning and AI would have broad application across Google, from search and mobile … to advertising, robots, autonomous cars, security and the connected home.”
5 Tactics Super Bowl Advertisers Are Using To Boost Their Paid Search Campaigns
2014: Five trends from the Super Bowl advertiser ads that ran on Google and the Yahoo Bing Network.
Google Details How It Responds To Government Requests For User & Search Data
2013: Governments routinely ask search engines like Google for access to user data for various reasons. Google said they take each request incredibly seriously.
Google Promoting AdWords Express In Google+ As Way “To Get More Followers”
2013: Google was apparently trying to cross-promote AdWords Express and Google+.
With $14 Million More Q&A Site ChaCha Soldiers On
2013: Over the previous 18 months, ChaCha had seen 2 billion questions and organized 129 million Q&A pairs.
Two Weeks In, Google Says “Search Plus Your World” Going Well, Critics Should Give It Time
2012: Amit Singhal told Search Engine Land: “… People are judging a product and an overall direction that we have in the first two weeks of a launch … We’re clearly not done. The product is not complete. It will improve.”
Study: Reviews & Images Drive Clicks In Mobile
2012: Images and reviews were very important in capturing users’ eye movements and clicks.
Google Logo For Largest Observed Snowflake
2012: It happened 125 years earlier, in Fort Keogh, Montana.
Google launches algorithm to fight low-quality scraper content
2011: The change to their algorithm was to prevent low quality scraper content in Google’s index. It impacted slightly over 2% of queries.
Microsoft Q2 Revs Almost $20 Billion, “Bing Division” Still Losing Money Despite Search Revenue Increase
2011: Online Services, which houses all Microsoft’s online operations including MSN and Bing, posted a $543 million loss. That was up from $463 million in 2010.
AdWords Homepage Gets More Modular, Customizable
2011: Google redesigned the homepage for its AdWords advertiser interface in an effort to bring more relevant, customized information up front for marketers.
Bing Travel Now Offers Destination Comparison Tool
2011: Bing’s destination pages let searchers compare several destinations at once in a side-by-side layout.
Google’s Legal Woes Not Impacting Brand: Survey
2011: Did scandals or an antitrust investigation make people less trusting of Google or tarnish its brand? Not at all.
Google, Connecticut-led Coalition Agree To Negotiate WiFi Data Collection Issues
2011: Google and the Connecticut-led coalition of 40 US states would begin negotiations aimed at settling issues related to Google’s collection of personal data over unsecured WiFi networks.
Google Event on Feb. 2 To Showcase Honeycomb, Tablets
2011: Demos of several tablets were expected
Search In Pics: Google Mannequins, Google Voice Signs & Freezing Yahoo
2011: The latest images showing what people eat at the search engine companies, how they play, who they meet, where they speak, what toys they have, and more.
Google Maps’ Search Suggestions Get Personal
2010: Google tarted personalizing search suggestions that appeared on Google Maps.
Survey: Only 42% Of Americans Have Googled Themselves
2010: That was slightly higher than the 36% of UK consumers who had done so, but far less than in Germany (59%) and France (56%).
Google Updates Google Book Search After Apple iPad Launch
2010: Less than 24 hours after Apple announced the Apple iPad, Google announced improvements to the Google Books home page.
Google Formally Introduces “Clickable Phone Numbers” In Mobile Search Ads
2010: It was a call for the price of a click on mobile handsets.
Bing Debuts In-Depth Stock Pages
2010: Bing’s “Stocks and Funds page” offered in-depth information for users following or doing research related to stocks and finances.
Ballmer Blogs His Thoughts On Google, China
2010: “We have done business in China for more than 20 years and we intend to stay engaged, which means our business must respect the laws of China.”
Click Fraud Rate Hits Highest Level Yet
2009: Click Forensics estimated the overall average click fraud rate for Q4 2008 at 17.1%, the highest level since they began tracking it in 2006.
Yahoo Tries To Justify Automatic Account Optimization
2009: The purpose: to help small- and mid-sized advertisers suffering from “performance issues.”
Pew: Young Or Old, Search Cuts Across Age Categories
2009: Search was almost equally used by all groups across the board.
New “Addressless” Search Feature On Google Maps
2008: Users could get directions or locations of businesses without inputting a destination address.
Google Experimental Search Adds Info View & Map View
2008: Google added map view and a new info view that allows you to show different results on the page.
Google A “Mystery Buyer” In Colorado?
2008: “It’s like dealing with the CIA.”
Today Is “Data Privacy Day;” Bush Admin Launches Internet Monitoring Initiative
2008: Google added a new video to its existing series of privacy videos, plus it developed a privacy booklet (PDF) to educate consumers and parents about online data privacy.
New UK-Based Real Estate Search Engine DotHomes Launches In US
2008: DotHomes sought to become “the Google of property search” and was crawling for listings.
Google Lego Logo: Google Offers Lego 50th Birthday Wishes
2008: The Google logo was made up of legos.
YouTube to Begin Revenue Sharing for Video Providers
2007: This would give original video creators the ability to earn revenue each time their videos were watched on YouTube.
Past contributions from Search Engine Land’s Subject Matter Experts (SMEs)
These columns are a snapshot in time and have not been updated since publishing, unless noted. Opinions expressed in these articles are those of the author and not necessarily Search Engine Land.
2022: Messy SEO Part 6: Pillar pages and topic clusters by Corey Patterson
2019: Amazon advertising attribution: Here’s how it works by Trevor George
2019: Learn how to build an online to offline attribution model for local businesses by Brian Smith
2019: Google My Business messaging via SMS to end, but where is the alternative? by Joy Hawkins
2016: 7 Traits That Will Make You A Great SEO by Will Scott
2016: When You Rank High Organically But Not Locally (Case Study) by Joy Hawkins
2016: PPC Geo-Bidding, Simplified by Andrew Goodman
2015: 7 Essential Quality Metrics For Evaluating Publishers For Guest Blogging by Jayson DeMers
2015: 3 Steps To Optimizing Local Paid Search by Benjamin Vigneron
2015: Quality Content Factors: A List That’s Actually Helpful by Nate Dame
2014: Secure Search & SEO Methodology: Key Strategies & Enablers by Jim Yu
2014: How To Analyze A Link: Link Building Basics by Jon Ball
2013: How Google’s Lack Of (Re-)Consideration For Local Businesses Makes Life & Listings Difficult by Chris Silver Smith
2013: Why Enterprises Cannot Ignore Deep Link Building by Eric Enge
2013: Comparing Mobile Blog Designs: What Works Best? by Sherwood Stranieri
2011: Interview With TAT’s Hampus Jakobsson On Digital Natives & Digital Immigrants by Gord Hotchkiss
2011: Applying Customer Life time Value To Paid Search by Siddharth Shah
2010: A Paid Search Glossary by Josh Dreller
2010: 7 Do’s & Don’ts For Working With A Technical SEO During A Redesign by Jill Whalen
2010: 8 Opportunities To Optimize Content Beyond Local Listings by David Mihm
2010: Google May Be Crawling AJAX Now – How To Best Take Advantage Of It by Vanessa Fox
2009: Change (& In-House SEO) by Andrea Harris
2009: Your 2009 Marketing Budget: Why It’s Worth Revisiting by Andrew Wheeler
2009: Content: The Once, Current & Future King Of Big Site SEO by Jonathan Ashton
2008: Why Local Businesses Should Be Like The Jerk by Chris Linnett
2008: Spying On Your Paid Search Competitors by Mona Elesseily
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