Over the past two years, we've seen a steady and substantial increase in Featured Snippets on Google SERPs. In our 10,000-keyword daily tracking set, Featured Snippets have gone from about 5.5% of queries in November 2015 to a recent high of just over 16% (roughly tripling). Other data sets, with longer tail searches, have shown even higher prevalence.
Near the end of October (far-right of the graph), we saw our first significant dip (spotted by Brian Patterson and Chris Long on SEL). This dip occurred over about a 4-day period, and represents roughly a 10% drop in searches with Featured Snippets. Here's an enhanced, 2-week view (note: Y-axis is expanded to show the day-over-day changes more clearly):
Given the up-and-to-the-right history of Featured Snippets and the investments people have been making optimizing for these results, a 10% drop is worthy of our attention.
What happened, exactly?
To be honest, when we investigate changes like this, the best we can usually do is produce a list of keywords that lost Featured Snippets. Usually, we focus on high-volume keywords, which tend to be more interesting. Here's a list of keywords that lost Featured Snippets during that time period:
- CRM
- ERP
- MBA
- buddhism
- web design
- anger management
- hosting
- DSL
- ActiveX
- ovulation
From an explanatory standpoint, this list isn't usually very helpful – what exactly do "web design", "buddhism", and "ovulation" have in common (please, don't answer that)? In this case, though, there was a clear and interesting pattern. Almost all of the queries that lost Featured Snippets gained Knowledge Panels that look something like this one:
These new panels account for the vast majority of the lost Featured Snippets I've spot-checked, and all of them are general Knowledge Panels coming directly from Wikipedia. In some cases, Google is using a more generic Knowledge Graph entry. For example, "HDMI cables", which used to show a Featured Snippet (dominated by Amazon, last I checked), now shows no snippet and a generic panel for "HDMI":
In very rare cases, a SERP added the new Knowledge Panel but retained the Featured Snippet, such as the top of this search for "credit score":
These situations seemed to be the exceptions to the rule.
What about other SERPs?
The SERPs that lost Featured Snippets were only one part of this story. Over the same time period, we saw an explosion (about +30%) in Knowledge Panels:
This Y-axis has not been magnified – the jump in Knowledge Panels is clearly visible even at normal scale. Other tracking sites saw similar, dramatic increases, including this data from RankRanger. This jump appears to be a similar type of descriptive panel, ranging from commercial keywords, like "wedding dresses" and "Halloween costumes"...
...to brand keywords, like "Ray-Ban"...
Unlike definition boxes, many of these new panels appear on words and phrases that appear to be common knowledge and add little value. Here's a panel on "job search"...
I suspect that most people searching for "job search" or "job hunting" don't need it defined. Likewise, people searching for "travel" probably weren't confused about what travel actually is...
Thanks for clearing that up, Google. I've decided to spare you all and leave out a screenshot for "toilet" (go ahead and Google it). Almost all of these new panels appear to be driven by Wikipedia (or Wikidata), and most of them are single-paragraph definitions of terms.
Were there other changes?
During the exact same period, we also noticed a drop in SERPs with inline image results. Here's a graph of the same 2-week period reported for the other features:
This drop almost exactly mirrors the increase in Knowledge Panels. In cases where the new panels were added, those panels almost always contain a block of images at the top. This block seems to have replaced inline image results. It's interesting to note that, because image blocks in the left-hand column consume an organic position, this change freed up an organic spot on the first page of results for those terms.
Why did Google do this?
It's likely that Google is trying to standardize answers for common terms, and perhaps they were seeing quality or consistency issues in Featured Snippets. In some cases, like "HDMI cables", Featured Snippets were often coming from top e-commerce sites, which are trying to sell products. These aren't always a good fit for unbiased definitions. Its also likely that Google would like to beef up the Knowledge Graph and rely less, where possible, on outside sites for answers.
Unfortunately, this also means that the answers are coming from a much less diverse pool (and, from what we've seen, almost entirely from Wikipedia), and it reduces the organic opportunity for sites that were previously ranking for or trying to compete for Featured Snippets. In many cases, these new panels also seem to add very little. Someone searching for "ERP" might be helped by a brief definition, but someone searching for "travel" is unlikely looking to have it explained to them.
As always, there's not much we can do but monitor the situation and adapt. Featured Snippets are still at historically high levels and represent a legitimate organic opportunity. There's also win-win, since efforts invested in winning Featured Snippets tend to improve organic ranking and, done right, can produce a better user experience for both search and website visitors.
I've been seeing this in some searches I did and I do not like it. Like you mentioned, there is no value in adding some little explanation for searches like "travel" "job"...
It seems that Google wants people even to not click in a result. Just enter Google, search, and read a litte bit of information from Wikipedia and that's it. That's great for searches where the user just want to know what the word means, but not good at all for others.
Hope it changes.
I suspect it's a problem of ambiguity -- and Google has struggled with it for a while. If you type "travel", what are you looking for exactly? Granted, you probably didn't need travel defined, but when Google was trying to match a Featured Snippet to that search based on content that matched the word "travel", that was also probably a lousy experience. They've tried a lot of things, including In-depth Articles, and my suspicion is that nothing works as well as they'd like. They just don't know what people who type in these broad queries want, and so they throw everything at them to see what sticks. It's not a great solution, but I'm not entirely sure there is a great solution.
Thanks for your answer! Yes, I think you are right about it. It seems that there is no great solution at this moment, and maybe there wont be for a while either...
Just a thought - with the recent change to how google is displaying results for queries based on searcher location, and not tld, could there be an increase in people searching for 'simple' terms and actually wanting the definition as English is not first language?
It's certainly possible. This trend was captured almost entirely on English queries and Google.com/US SERPs, though, so it's hard to tell. The timeline doesn't quite line up with what we know about the ccTLD changes (which we've been tracking pretty closely, for product reasons).
Personally I think quick answers are rubbish, webmasters have learnt to manipulate them and there are far too many answers taken from sources which shouldn't be considered an authority
Hi Dr. Pete,
Reading this while thinking of many of the questions we in marketing get regarding Featured Snippets makes me think folks aren't, as my mom would say, "Putting two and two together."
Nothing we do in marketing exists in a vacuum.
So, as we've seen Google make mobile-friendliness, speed, trusted website and quality content priorities in recent years, it should occur to us that these layers will be applied broadly.
Even (or especially) with regard to Featured Snippets.
RS
Yeah, I fear that people will look at this and say "Ok, let's stop doing Featured Snippets!", missing that those snippets are just part of a broader organic ecosystem. If you don't bother to understand Google's intent and why they're making these changes, you'll just keep rushing toward the shiny new thing and capturing fickle, short-term gains.
Hi Dr Peter! Nice post.
In some KWs I follow, there have been several cases of featerd snippet + knowledge panel.
Also, I noticed that some SERPs are showing huge meta-descriptions, with more than 45 words and 290 characters. (img here)
And for some reason, some featured snippets are getting "nonsense" because Google is putting the h (x) of the site inside the snippet.
Another case that had never happened to me was a fatured list snippet completely created by Google (which does not make any sense to the user) (img here)
Have you noticed or analyzed anything like this?
The long meta descriptions seem connected to the same engine that produces Featured Snippets, but the pattern isn't exactly clear. We often see long meta descriptions on queries that also generate Featured Snippets, even for the result that isn't in the snippet. They both seem related to Google's ability to process on-page text and feed it into the general knowledge funnel (for lack of a better term).
I've definitely seen list snippets created from things like header tags or even bolded paragraph headers. Google does not need an HTML list (<ul>, <ol>) structure. They're parsing that content from many different kinds of "plain" HTML. They can't rely on webmasters to provide a specific kind of structured data or markup, IMO, or they'd cut out too much potential content.
Buen post Dr. Peter!
AMP + outstanding fragments can be the key to success for many businesses or market niches today. So let's seize the moment and gain a small advantage to our competitors that can make the difference. What do you think about it, Dr. Peter?
Wonder if knowledge graph presence alters the importance of user behavior as a ranking factor.
It's obvious that CTR will drop, did you notice if keywords with knowledge graphs (or featured snippets for that matter) have above average SERP fluctuations?
It's tough to tease apart, because many of the terms that picked up these Knowledge Panels tend to be broad, "head" terms, which naturally have different characteristics. Google has struggled with these more ambiguous terms (in terms of intent) for a long time. If someone searches for "laptop", what's their intent? Are they researching? Buying? Do they know what a laptop is? It's a tough nut to crack, and I think our obsession with these terms as SEOs, just because they're often high-volume, is often counter-productive.
I never expect that when I will search for "toilet" then it will show me a Bollywood movie "Toilet: Ek Prem Katha".
I don't understand, what is wrong with Google, I mean if you want to see something then it will show you something other.
Also if you will search for "Newton" (The scientist) then it will show you a Bollywood movie named as "Newton".
We see that with movies/music in the US, too. If there's a YouTube video for a popular phrase, even a product name, it may pull up a music video. Case in point: Rihanna's "California King Bed". Saw today that a search on "vacation" returns a Knowledge Panel and (at the bottom) related movies to National Lampoon's "Vacation".
I guess... it's also taking into account the searcher user behavior as well. Perhaps that search result is being re-iterated with inputs from AI. What do you think?
Heheh --- i also wondering why you would search for 'toilet' :P
Dr. Pete, Great Article. Have you looked at this thru a commercial lens? It seems like the words you tracked, while being head terms, could be the start of a purchase funnel and comparison driven. If this is true, Ads are probably a better result, and more beneficial to Google. It would be interesting to see if these come back after the holidays. :)
Well, I'm not surprised this happened. The snippets were getting all kinds of bad press. Just last week I heard a radio news show going on about how "inaccurate" the snippets can be. Just do a search on "google snippets inaccurate" to see what I'm talking about. So the real question is who was behind this big smear campaign?
From an explanatory standpoint, this list isn't usually very helpful – what exactly do "web design", "buddhism", and "ovulation" have in common (please, don't answer that)? No profound SEO comment -- you just made me laugh today!
Displaying the info as a knowledge graph can serve more relevant information to more users than a featured snippet - in the right circumstances. Consider also, that a featured snippet is one source only, and may not reflect 100% of what the searcher was looking for. Change always ruffles feathers.
Hi Dr Peter, thanks for another great article.
One thing that interested me was from a device point of view desktop vs mobile screen sizes, is Google trying to shape the “above the fold” aspect of SERP’s.
On a desktop the Knowledge panel is display off to the right as you show in the “Credit score” image above, allowing more space in the list area for either more ten blue links, paid adverts or new features Google may be making space for in the future.
On a mobile the Knowledge panel gets moved down the list area to nearer the bottom of the page, and therefore out of view.
So from the “At First Glance” point of view, the shrinking of the first page, above the fold, satisfy the “user’s intent” may be driving these changes.
Good point -- Knowledge Panels have deferred placement on both desktop and mobile, compared to Featured Snippets, and especially on mobile may be pushed to the bottom. It may be that Google just found the Featured Snippets weren't serving this use case of broad, ambiguous queries well. The Knowledge Panels aren't that much better, in many cases, but they're consistent and a bit less prominent.
Again, you chose an AWESOME subject to talk about today!
My comment is more for general discussion.
My feeling about this changes, though it doesn't explain why it happened so sudden, is that this kind of drop might be caused by rankbrain factors. It would be logic that, for generic results, CTR and Time On Site would improve if Google promotes independent sources like Wikipedia in Knowledge Graph instead of in Featured Snippets. It also seems like rank brain brings a lot more of single domain serp domination, like we can see with Pinterest or Shopify queries (it is an opinion, not a fact).
How we can adapt to rank brain is a whole other question though.
Changes that we see in a study like this one make it seem like creating "Good Original Content" for the end user is probably a better investment nowadays than trying to provide content that Google likes.
I end up with two questions pending after reading this article.
Should we really be worried about a study like this one?
It seems like trying to rank on generic terms was a waste time anyway. Frist, it is harder to rank on generic terms, and second, users with generic queries are a lot less likely to convert and provide very few information on their needs than those who search for specific long tail queries.
Anybody have seen studies on "knowledge Graph CTR" VS CTR of Featured snippets.?
I definitely don't think this is cause for panic or even cause to stop pursuing Featured Snippets. I suspect that, as you said, these very broad, ambiguous terms, tend to have limited opportunity. We look at volume alone for head terms and rush after them, but in so many cases user intent is unclear and the cost to compete is very high. I suspect Google found that Featured Snippets were a poor fit to these situations and, perhaps, that engagement was low. I would, however, be very wary connecting it to RankBrain, per se, because I think that's a specific component of the algorithm that is separate from the sub-algorithms that generate Featured Snippets.
That's a nice perspective. I would have thought that ranking algorithm would be more homogenous than this.
Thank you for the update.
I enjoyed the post because it gives good insight on what's changing behind the scenes. It makes me wonder if they're looking for a temporary replacement until they get better about the content of their featured snippets. As you mention, I'd also noticed some sub-par content getting picked up lately that doesn't seem to stick around.
I had a question about what it takes to get included in these knowledge panels. Should e-commerce sites use citations when providing general knowledge to appear more authoritative or to have a chance to appear on these panels? It seems strange to cite other sources when your company is very knowledgeable about your own products, but do you think it should be done to have a better chance at your content being included?
Dr. Pete, you have written yet another great article, thank you. I wonder if there is a connection between this and Google Home devices. Perhaps they are relying on Knowledge Graph more than Featured Snippets and this shift shows a push to support those devices answer more questions? Do you see a tie here?
Thank you for the post. To my view, getting a featured snippet for key pages on your site is a good thing. The business value depends on identifying common questions that a potential customer might ask related to your market space. After all, there is no point in getting a featured snippet that has no relevance to your business.
Then, the rest of it is honestly just good, user-centered page design. The concept of providing a simple, clear, direct answer is one that adds a lot of value to users in general. It just happens to be true that it makes Google’s job a lot easier, too.
I do still believe that targeted Featured Snippets have real organic search value, but I think picking and choosing phrases with strong intent is a good bet. Many of these broad, "head" phrases are ambiguous. How do you target content to someone who just types "travel" or "toilet"?
Let me know because I really don't have an answer!
Interesting study
It is true that Google will try to show a neutral piece of information instead of objective information about a product. And the truth is that I love that game ...
Thanks Peter, is always interesting to see how Google is moving, even if we can´t do anything about it.
Fantastic data here! Thanks for sharing.
It wouldn't surprise me to see no featured snippets at some point - while they do provide 'answers' for queries, the fact that many of the snippets have commerce affiliations (with no Google monetization) is what is likley bothering Google.
On the one hand we have Google, which shows more and more information in the serps, and on the other hand the omnipresent Wikipedia, which has taken over most of the featured snippets...
May God have mercy on our souls!
It does seem that Google wants people to NOT click into landing pages displayed on the SERPs, but rather just get their answer from the SERPs themselves. I speculate this an attempt to push people out of the research phase of the user's intent and into a conversion phase. This would mean that users that are still researching and just gathering info wont actually click through to a site and then bounce when they receive the information, which would impact CTRs, which as we all know impacts ranking. This is all an educated guess of course, but it seems that Google is 'saving' the domains from a click through that may be unnecessary.
If preventing a click is the case, it might make more sense to optimize content for conversion rather than for featured snippets or the knowledge graph. Does anyone else have thoughts on this?
In Romania (site.ro) we didn't have those featured snippets, rich answers, but we did get those knowledge graph from Wikipedia with the last update.
Thanks for the post. We will put it into practice on our page to see if it works correctly.
Thanks!
This research is really helpful for me, Currently i am implementing rich snippet for my eCommerce website, In Google console showing all featured snippets are indexed but in SERP not showing. I was really worried about this types of change but still believe in Google. Lets See What happen but now its time to Move SEO to Digital Marketing .