Google looks to be testing out the placement of the ‘things to know’ drop-downs on desktop. Instead of showing the drop-downs (that mimic the people also ask unit) in the right hand column, they are moving the unit to the main section of search results.
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 is now testing new headings for People Also Ask results on both mobile and desktop. Instead of showing the title “People also ask”, Google is testing 4 different titles: People are also asking, Related questions, Others want to know, and More to ask. Kenichi Suzuki shared the More to ask variation with me.
Google is now testing a new ‘trending’ label attached to some People Also Ask (PAA) results in Search. I’m able to see this new label associated with some PAA results for queries such as “new bing” and “google bard“. With each PAA result that has the ‘trending’ label attached, they appear to be showing for articles that were written within the past day or so.
February of 2022 was a quiet month overall for Google tests (likely because of the Bard announcement), with the ‘trending’ label being the biggest test that surfaced for PAA results. The test didn’t appear for most users but did create some buzz when it did.
Google is now completing testing of a new Featured Snippet type that has similarities to People Also Ask results. I’ve named this test a Featured PAA Snippet, with a deep-dive being conducted on my blog. The primary differences with this test are having Featured Snippets appearing lower than the top result, having a question included (similar to PAA), being directly above the PAA box, and more.
Google is now testing a new format and functionality for People Also Ask results on desktop. In the test, I’m seeing two columns for questions (rather than a single column), along with questions having a blue background once selected and a wider display. Google has experimented with various PAA displays in recent months, with the latest launch being around September 12th with the double up on interaction.
Google is currently doing a lot of testing focused around the People Also Ask box. Last week there was a significant drop in PAA boxes in search (desktop in particular), and now I’m seeing testing with either 5 questions or up to 6 questions. Normally, questions in the PAA box range from 2-4 visible questions.
Google now looks to have the capability to show up to 5 People Also Ask results within the autocomplete dropdown. Normally, Google will show the same amount of PAA in autocomplete that appears in search results (up to 4). This means Google can show an additional question in autocomplete compared to what appears in Search. Example queries showing 5 PAA results can found here and here.
The People Also Ask box is showing showing twice on Google in a new test. The second PAA box seems to be appearing at the bottom of search results in most instances, even below the final set of ads. It is worth noting that the second PAA box has different questions, pointing to the need to serve a different intent.
Google is testing a design overhaul for their desktop search bar, included in the test are some elements that I’ve seen in the past and others that are brand new. At the same time as this significant desktop search bar test, Google has actually rolled out a test that involved a specific design for People Also Ask duplication that appears in the drop-down.
A desktop test where Google’s autocomplete has People Also Ask results included in the drop-down that are a duplicate of the PAA results on the page. This test is quite similar to what I discovered during August, with the PAA addition being below the autocomplete suggestions (rather than beside).
Testing of the “hear this out loud” button in Featured Snippets and People Also Ask results now showing in the US. This was a test from May of 2021 that first appeared in India.
Autocomplete test where there is a duplication of the top 3 People Also Ask results appearing in the drop-down. I’ve documented several tests in the past that have been similar to this and focused around autocomplete inclusions.
Featured Snippet answer bolding starts showing for paragraph snippet text to make locating the answer quicker. This first started showing for list Featured Snippets in October of 2020, and now applies to paragraph Featured Snippets and People Also Ask paragraph snippets.