Move over Basic Search Results, Google Rich Snippets are here

For years search engine search results were limited to 3 basic pieces of information: a title, a summary and a URL. Attentive observers of Google search engine results may have noticed the appearance of additional information, what Google calls rich snippets, in certain results over the past few months. Some results contain review ratings, such as in this case where an iPod received 5 stars from 81 reviewers:

Figure 1: Apple iPod Review

This search for U2 concert information provides event details for tour dates:

Figure 2: U2 Concert Rich Snippet Example 1

Figure 3: U2 Concert Rich Snippet Example 2

Note how the first result provides better detail on where the event is taking place. In both cases the event name is repeated for each date – that may or may not make sense. SEO practitioners have a lot of latitude in crafting these search results.

Reputation and vanity search results, performed by 69% of US internet users, may show additional information, in gray, about a person:

Figure 4: LinkedIn Profile Rich Snippet

Figure 5: Viadeo Profile Rich Snippet

Figure 6: Xing Profile Rich Snippet

Microformat Markup Magic enables the Semantic Web

The additional data Google displays is coming from special markup which is inserted in a page’s HTML code. The markup, called a microformat, was original developed in 2004 by Tantek Çelik at blog search engine Technorati. Microformat markup allows Google and other automated programs to identify and make use of structured data present in a web page. Google currently supports reviews, events, businesses and organizations, people profiles, products, videos and recipes, each based on one of the many microformats such as hReview, hCard, hProduct, hCalendar and hRecipe. Be aware that Google’s English language documentation may be more up to date then those in other languages. Google’s Italian language help file doesn’t list recipes, although the recipe page has been translated. Former Google competitor Yahoo deserves credit for first using microformats to enhance their search results back in August 2008. Microsoft’s Bing is not currently using structured data, at least I cannot find any mention of microformats in their help files nor blog posts. Update: Bing has since documented microformat use, most likely in June 2011.

Why it matters: Click-through Rates, my Boy, Click-through Rates

Search engine optimization (SEO ) activities focus not just on insuring a web page shows up for targeted keywords, but also in crafting a search result which convinces a user to click on that particular result. Users typically scan results quickly before deciding which result to click on. Yahoo has said that their own rich snippets have resulted in up to 15% more clicks on enhanced results, a phenomena confirmed by Google as well.

Microformats Timeline

• 2004 · Technorati introduces hCard microformat
• June 21, 2006 · Yahoo supports microformats for local listings
• August 1, 2008 · Yahoo shows enhanced snippets for Yelp & LinkedIn
• May 12, 2009 · Google announces support for reviews & people, available in custom search / site search as well
• September 14, 2009 · Google adds support for videos using Yahoo!’s SearchMonkey RDFa specification
• January 22, 2010 · Google extends microformat support to event information
• April 13, 2010 · Google includes recipes
• April 26, 2010 · Google’s rich snippets go international
• June 2, 2011 · Google, Bing & Yahoo! announce launch of joint semantic markup support, schema.org. This is their second significant collaboration, after sitemaps.org
• November 4, 2011 · Russian search engine Yandex joins schema.org

Figure 7: Microformat Timeline

Ranking Implications

Google says the microformat data isn’t used for ranking purposes, but certainly click-through rates and page quality will be improved – both useful in improving conversion rates. Google will of course see the exposed data, so there are automatically ranking implications if additional data is embedded in web pages. It certainly doesn’t take much imagination to think that Google will eventually use the rich microformat semantic structure in their over 200 ranking factors.

Semantic Markup Format Wars – Microformats, Microdata and RDFa

Google is actually supporting three structured data markup languages: microformats, the W3C’s RDFa and the HTML 5 microdata standard. Despite the W3C endorsement, RDFa is a bit more complex to master than microformats, potentially hindering its widespread use. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t investigate it, there are potential advantages such as less markup code, resulting in smaller page sizes which should then load quicker. HTML 5′s microdata standard also looks promising, but it is still a work in progress.

Rich Snippets Simulator Testing Tool

Web site developers can test their microformat markup using Google’s microformat validator. The tool also simulates the visual display of the resulting rich snippet. An alternative validator is available from the Microformats site.

Not yet available for all sites and submit a site is back!

One small detail not so readily clear from Google’s various announcements on rich snippets is that for now Google only shows rich snippets for selected sites, mostly well known “authority sites”, those that already receive lots of traffic.

Google is taking a slow approach to rolling out rich snippet support due to a concern that some nefarious sites may choose to markup “inappropriate” data or otherwise spam and scam search engine results.

As a result, Google has turned the clock way back to the 1990s when search engines encouraged site owners to submit their site to said search engine. Google is asking site owners to let Google know that a site has been marked up with microformats. Presumably Google is manually turning on rich snippet display on a site by site basis after a manual review. Notifying Google of microformat use most likely helps expedite a site’s manual review for enhanced result inclusion.

Scrapers

The one dark side of marking up data for the semantic web is that nefarious scrapers (those who troll the web looking for email address to spam and / or content to steal and republish) will have a much easier job of it. Avoid putting email addresses directly in semantic web or html markup. You might try obfuscating email addresses using JavaScript to add components of the address together – but if you have a highly visible website, scrapers will use JavaScript enabled robots to harvest the email addresses.

Are Microformats Worth implementing for Google Rich Snippets?

Back in 2006 a .net Magazine article featured Microformats, inspiring me to add hCard markup to the Antezeta contact page. A technorati program can read this data, allowing users to save the semantic web data as a vCard for subsequent import into contact managers such as Thunderbird and Outlook.

Despite being very familiar with microformats, it is only now that Google is supporting rich snippets outside the US that I am saying to some of my clients that they may achieve a positive ROI now or in the near future by implementing microformats for Google.

I’m currently working with a large University here in Italy and they are an ideal candidate for microformat use. They have lots of data which lends itself to rich snippets and they indisputably have what Google would recognize as an authority site.

Small sites currently have a very low chance of having their microformat markup appear in search results (feel free to leave search query keywords in the comments if you’ve come across good examples) – but spam comments will be deleted.

If a company is relaunching their current site or an entirely new site and the company has lots of rich data to expose with microformats, then my recommendation is unequivocal: implement microformats as part of the process to future-proof your site.

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