SEO News Roundup: Farewell to Google Instant Search

Tom Williams brings you the latest search engine optimisation news, including the departure of Google Instant after seven years, the new carousel format for Google’s Sitelinks interface and the newest Google mobile test.

Farewell To Google Instant: Attempt To Combat Mobile Screen Constraints

Seven years ago, Google launched its ‘Instant’ search tool to show results to users as they typed, in an effort to optimise user experiences by offering results as quickly as possible.

At the time, Google’s Marissa Mayer claimed it was a “fundamental shift in search”. Seven years later, Google has scrapped this tool due to the increase in mobile searches, which has resulted in screen size constraints and increased variations of input text.

According to Google, the change is an attempt to provide users with a more “fluid” search experience across multiple devices.

“See More Results” With Google’s Latest Mobile Test

A nod in the direction of infinite scroll design, Google’s newest mobile test gives users a “see more results” option at the bottom of their search results list.

In addition to this, Google has also dropped the number of page results on mobile from 10 to just 4, which the search engine giant hopes will encourage users to be more accurate and specific when typing in their queries.

The test is currently visible to a selected number of mobile users.

Hop Aboard The Sitelinks Carousel – Google’s Newest Format Switch-Up

According to Barry Schwartz, Google has been testing a new carousel format for sitelinks over the past year.

Now, the format change has gone live and users can easily swipe left to right and vice versa, choosing between different links from their original search topic.

This switch-up will make mobile searches more fluid for users, allowing them to scroll between stories and get the best out of their Google experience.

Removal of AMP Content From Google Search - Explained

Webmasters and publishers can now safely remove their AMP content from appearing in Google search results.

Google doesn’t want to discourage the serving up of AMP content, but for users hoping to make the removal they can now access a new help document in Google’s developer section.

Barry Schwartz writes:

Google links to the support documents for popular content management system providers including WordPress, Drupal and Squarespace. For other platforms or custom build solutions, Google has provided three methods to removing AMP content from search.

More SEO News and Advice

Read last week’s SEO News Roundup: New Look Unveiled For Google Search Console

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