Google removing rich results from its search console (GSC)
25th May, 2021
Google says it is sunsetting the rich results feature from the Search Console.
Image source: Search Engine Journal
Google announced a major change in its Google Search Console on the 25th of this May. The generic rich results Search Appearance is a filter that grouped multiple rich result types into a single view. It was created as a necessity at that time because many rich result types didn’t have their own breakout reports.
Now the scenario has changed as Google has said that most of the supported rich results types have their own breakout row on Search Console like Event, FAQ, How To, and many more. It was also made clear that this removal from the GSCs’ performance report won’t affect traffic in any way nor will webmasters lose their data.
Google specified that retiring rich results does not mean that they won’t show any rich results in the Search Console, it’s just the specific filter they are removing.
Google added, “grouping data for rich results are not ideal, as each type may have a significantly different behavior”. Now the Google Search Console users will be able to see 19 search appearance types in the performance reports. It is a good chance to improve the GSC and help site owners get effective insights on their website performance in the search results.
If content appears in all 19 search appearance reports, it automatically belongs to the filter of multiple rich result types. This makes sense that grouping all of this data into a single metric is not an ideal solution in times where rich results already have granular reporting and their own breakout rows. It is simply not very useful for site owners.
Here’s a list of the 20 search appearance types in Google’s Search Console until now:
- AMP on image result
- AMP non-rich results
- AMP article
- Android App
- Event
- FAQ rich results
- How-to rich results
- Job details
- Job listing
- Practice Problems
- Product results
- Q&A rich results
- Recipe rich result
- Recipe Gallery
- Review snippet
- Special Announcement
- Videos
- Web Light results
- Web Story
- Rich Results
August 1st is the decided date for finally retiring rich results search appearances from Google Search Console beyond which it will not be available in the Search Console or the API. In place of rich results, site owners will only be able to see specific rich result types that their websites are eligible for in the search appearance filter.
Google informed, “we’ll keep investing in adding richer result types to Search Console, and hope the reports will continue being a source of insights for you.” Google will keep on making changes and they will always be reported prior to making any actions to brace yourself beforehand. For now you don’t need to worry because removing rich results ain’t gonna affect your ranking on the SERP or any SEO strategy that you are probably following.
Didn’t know what rich results are? Watch this video by google,
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