Google is constantly striving to enhance the SERP experience, ensuring that users receive the most appropriate information in ways that engage them and help progress their search journey.

“Our goal is always to provide you with the most useful and relevant information. Any changes that we make to Search are aimed at improving the usefulness of the results you see.”

Google employs live traffic experiments to assess how real users interact with new features. They enable the feature for minimal users initially, typically 0.1%, which is why we often cannot immediately replicate the new features we share.

While many tests have been successful, some do not pass testing and are never fully rolled out, and others have been rolled out but faced backlash.

Featured snippets and zero-click searches

One notable feature that sparked controversy was the introduction of featured snippets. They aimed to provide users with quick answers directly on the SERP but were met with criticism for potentially reducing traffic to third-party websites. They create zero-click searches as users rarely click through to view the full content on the original site if their query is answered directly on the SERP.

Companies focused on their traffic from Google were understandably unhappy with this update. Tactics such as using lists with many items are now used to retain as much click-through potential as possible.

People also ask

Google introduced the People Also Ask (PAA) feature to offer users additional relevant questions related to their search queries. While this feature was designed to enhance user engagement, it received mixed reviews.

Some users appreciated the added information, while others found it intrusive, making the SERP feel cluttered. I think we’ve all wondered who exactly these “other people” are by the questions presented…

Perspectives

This SERP feature is a filter and a feature that integrates video, social media posts, news, Q&A, and forum discussions from select sources, creating a compilation of viewpoints on a given topic. Unlike standard SERPs, Perspectives have been acknowledged to factor in social signals, including video views, comments, and likes, adding a layer of authenticity to the results.

Perspectives incorporate real-time updates from social media, forum discussions, and news sources, making it an effective tool for staying informed about rapidly evolving topics.

This feature in itself was not particularly controversial, but it’s important as a dedicated section for UGC to be highlighted in search.

Notes

This leads us to the latest experimental feature we want to cover, Notes, which would let users respond to links in search results via text, images, and stickers. This feature is expected to roll out on Android and iOS devices.

While the Perspectives feature gives an area that focuses on UGC, this feature will bring the comments of, say, a Reddit thread, into the SERP itself. Your post will show your profile picture and name but no other details about you, and it will not be available on some types of content, for example, medical information.

There are some concerns about the public being given access to make comments relatively anonymously on a platform with such a huge and varied audience, so let’s all keep our fingers crossed that Google has developed a very sophisticated system to regulate what is posted and who will see those comments and photos.

The important takeaway is that Google has made significant changes that meet user needs on SERP. As Google continues to evolve, we will likely see more and more elements of third-party sites being integrated into the SERP itself, increasing zero-click searches over time. We will need to keep evolving the strategy to ensure every opportunity to meet business goals is maximized as the SERP landscape changes. Download the complete This Year in SEO 2023 report.