Google Clarifies Search Result Snippets Generated Primarily From Page Content

Google has made a number of updates to its how-to control your snippets in search results to clarify that the snippets are primarily generated using the page content. Google removed the section about rich results and structured data on that page.

Google explained, that they have clarified in those documents “that the primary source of the snippet is the page content itself.” Adding “The previous wording incorrectly implied that structured data and the meta description HTML element are the primary sources for snippets.”

Google changed the first paragraph to read:

Google primarily uses the content on the page to automatically determine the appropriate snippet. We may also use descriptive information in the meta description element when it describes the page better than other parts of the content.

Previously it read:

Google uses a number of different sources to automatically determine the appropriate snippet, including descriptive information in the meta description tag for each page. We may also use information found on the page, or create rich results based on markup and content on the page.

Google also wrote this on the revised page:

Snippets are primarily created from the page content itself. However, Google sometimes uses the meta description HTML element if it might give users a more accurate description of the page than content taken directly from the page.

Previously it said:

Site owners have two main ways to suggest content for the snippets that we create:

Rich results: Add structured data to your site to help Google understand the page: for example, a review, recipe, business, or event. Learn more about how rich results can improve your site’s listing in search results.

Meta description tags: Google sometimes uses tag content to generate snippets, if we think they give users a more accurate description than can be taken directly from the page content.

Those were the changes made to that document.

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