Google is now testing out a new format for non-branded desktop sitelinks, featuring bubbles surrounding the links themselves with a blue background on hover. This is a similar format to the mobile test from June.
Google is testing out new variations for standard sitelinks on mobile for web pages. Instead of the normal light grey rectangles with blue text, Google is testing variations with rounded edges, with black text, a variation featuring arrows, along with one with a grey background.
June of 2024 had a strong focus around testing for web page snippets, featuring tests related to various sitelink formats, favicon displays, site names and URL formatting.
After a string of mobile branded sitelink tests in April, Google is now doing similar on desktop. Featuring tests with black sitelinks, with arrows, along with arrows with circles around them.
Google is now testing out various new forum-related extensions exclusively for Reddit. Instead of the standard sitelink treatment, Google is testing out 3 different variations with stacked greyed out answers, greyed out beside each other, and without the background. Also appearing as a normal search result.
Google is currently doing various bits of testing related to the site name and URL for pages on mobile. When comparing to the current layout, I’m seeing changes to the size of the site name text, bolding of the entire URL, along with brand name bolding in the URL.
The clear trend for April was focused around testing for how snippets for websites appear on Google. There were tests focused around the favicon/site name/URL on mobile, the date snippet on desktop, along with sitelinks on mobile. This trend could point to upcoming changes to how Google’s search results look.
Google is now testing out a new mobile format for branded sitelinks. Instead of the standard sitelink with light lines, there is currently an active test with darker lines that shows alongside other features and also in blue to match the title. Here’s what the test looks like on desktop.
Google is testing a new string of branded sitelink variants on mobile, on the back of the desktop branded sitelink tests from November last year. When comparing against the standard format, there are 4 variations: grey arrows, grey arrows within a grey circle, black text, and black text with blue arrows. The last time Google completed branded sitelink tests on mobile was in July of 2023, with a variant using bolding for the text and a grey blocked background.
Google is now testing out a new format for branded sitelinks on desktop. The test involves three separate variations featuring upward facing arrows in blue and grey, along with a more familiar variation that features dividers between each internally linked page. This was first discovered by Scott Shorter who messaged me on LinkedIn.
Google looks to now be testing a product search function for branded queries in the US. I feel like I’ve seen this in the past but haven’t documented it yet, with this finding being sent to me by Liam Challoner. This test also coincides with the ‘latest from’ carousel from last month.
Google is now testing a new mobile format for branded sitelinks. Instead of the branded sitelinks with large text, Google is testing a smaller format with blue in bold with a grey background.
Google is running several mobile sitelink tests focused around both branded and non-branded sitelinks for organic listings and ads. The test variations that I’m seeing are either coloured variations with sitelinks in a bubble (white, grey and blue) along with a stacked variation with lines between each item.
Google has now launched scroll-to-text sitelinks on desktop in the US for organic listings. This was originally a test from Nov 2021 which I wrote about in detail, and again appeared in Mar 2022 with a stacked treatment (a different variation to launch).
The launch of scroll-to-text sitelinks in the US was the biggest launch for April, which was a quiet month for Google tests overall. This is a launch that has gone under the radar for most, with there not being a noticeable uplift in sitelinks appearing on desktop. Instead, the method of extraction has just been altered slightly.
Google’s scroll-to sitelinks test has now returned on desktop, with a new stacked treatment that looks to be more fine-tuned. This test first appeared on Nov 11th and I wrote about in more detail on my blog shortly after.
A desktop test where scroll-to-text parameters are added to sitelinks for standard web search listings. This treatment has been increasingly used on features outside of for just Featured Snippets in recent years. Learn more about this test.
The ‘Scroll-to Sitelinks’ test was the most significant out of all tests throughout the month of November 2021. During this same month, Google has also started to bring back the ‘also covered on this page’ scroll-to-text links on Featured Snippets. This goes to show that Google is continuing their focus on scroll-to-text usage in their search results.
Wikipedia sitelink test where in instances that they rank for a query, they are receiving the full sitelink treatment. This treatment is normally reserved branded searches when ranking in the top position.