Google is again testing out the blue highlight (instead of bolding) for normal listings. This test last appeared in November of last year, featuring a lighter blue highlight at the time. It is again only appearing on mobile devices.
In extension of the blue highlight test from September for standard organic listings, Google is now testing out a new lighter variation on mobile. Here’s what this same query looks like with the blue variation.
Google’s blue highlight for featured snippets has now expanded to People Also Ask results. We saw blue highlights for PAA results as a test last month, with the highlight now showing for all users by default.
Google is now testing showing blue highlights alongside bolding within People Also Ask results. We saw Google rollout blue highlighting within featured snippets earlier in the month, with the next logical step for expansion being within PAA. As a note, while the blue highlight can appear alongside featured snippets, it can also appear separately for queries. As a hint to when the test appears, the PAA question font will show differently.
Google has now rolled out blue highlighting of content and larger font within paragraph featured snippets. This test dates back to September of 2022, where the highlight would should in both yellow and blue. On mobile, featured snippets still appear as bold (the previous approach) alongside the blue highlight. This launch looks to apply in most cases of full-width paragraph featured snippets, but the previous approach does appear in some instances too, when appearing within knowledge panels. Also spotted by Krinal Mehta.
The rollout of blue highlighting of content in featured snippets ended up being the story of the month. While Google doesn’t show the highlight in all instances, it is the primary method that Google is now using. Another test I noticed later on in the month was related to this update, with the highlight starting to be shown for PAA results.