Google SERP Features: Result Types in the Search Results

Organic Results

Organic results are the standard case in Google search pages. They come from Google’s Web Index. To find them, Google web crawlers automatically search the public internet and add new content.

The results are made up of a URL (or URL components), the Title of a page and the so-called “Snippet“, which is a text preview with relevant extracts from the page content.

Considered an organic result: Yes.

Origin: Organic Web Index.

• Pre-Line – A row between the Title and the corresponding Snippet. Google uses the Pre-Line usually for scientific texts, books or similar topics, showing meta-data from the content.

• Rating – This Rich Snippet shows user ratings directly in the SERPs thanks to the use of structured data in the website source code. The so-called “Self serving” ratings – unnatural ratings created by the website owner themselves – don’t appear.

• Image – The image near the Snippet can be generated from structured data (for recipes and events, for example), if those allow this characteristic. Alternatively, if the search intent of a keyword indicates that an image can be helpful for the users, Google itself can search for the right image-file for the page.

• Video – If a video embedded on a web page is marked as VideoObject, Google will display a preview of it in the SERPs as a Rich Result. The majority of these results can be found on YouTube, but the integration works also with other video-platforms and local video-players.

• Carousel/ Cards – Several results of the same content-type are often displayed by Google in a so-called carousel. The results have to contain the right structured data in their source code in order to be placed here.

• FAQ – The FAQ-extension (questions and answers) enriches organic results with questions answered inside the webpage. These pages have to have the right structured data in their source code. This SERP Feature takes a lot of space – especially on Smartphone – and therefore easily attracts the attention.

• List – If the page contains the right structured data, Google will show the result as a list. This SERP Feature is used especially for forums and events.

• Key/Values – The data which can be represented with the relationship Key > Value (in a Knowledge Graph) are displayed in this format as Rich Results.

• Mini-Sitelinks – In order to directly refer to specific parts of a website, HTML anchors set in the source code of the page are highlighted as Rich Results. If the users click on one link they’ll immediately land on that specific section of the website.

• Merged SERP – In some cases Google merges two successive results from the same website in one single result card.

• Individual Favicon – If the website logo is set correctly and can be recognised from the Google Crawler, it will be shown in the result pages.

• Extended Snippet – If we recognise more elements in a result – besides URL, Title and Snippet- we will marked it as Extended Snippet. This covers most of the Rich Snippets listed above, but there are also other result extensions that have not yet been classified.

Featured Snippets are organic results which are specially highlighted. They usually answer the search intent of the user, as their Snippet is more extensive and optically bigger (as text, picture, table or list) than normal results.

Considered an organic result: Yes.

Origin: Organic Web Index and structured data on the website.

Sitelinks

Sitelinks are organic results which have been extended by further navigation options within the website. Google shows them when it recognises a Website search intent – when a user is looking for a specific website. This usually happens with brands and proper names that have a personal webpage.

Considered an organic result: Yes. In addition to that, two Sitelink-URLs replace an organic result.

Origin: Organic Web Index.

Google Ads

Ad results (Google Ads) are paid rankings above or below the organic results. The advertisers pay for the Ads with a bidding process. Besides the basic version of Google Ads, there are various expansions which allow the Ads to be even more visible and clickable.

Considered an organic result: No.

Origin: Paid Google Ads.

Google Shopping

Ads from Google Shopping are shown if Google recognises a clear shopping intent for the search result and if there are enough offers from online dealers.

Considered an organic result: No.

Origin: Google Shopping Ads.

Apps

The paid variant to the links in the App Stores which is located above the organic results.

Considered an organic result: No
Example keywords: airbnb, bloom and wild, parship, solitaire free

Tickets & Guided Tours

The paid variant to the “Top sights in” above the organic results.

Considered an organic result: No

Local Search Results

Google shows local search results if the query has a local search intent. Google uses both external ‘yellow pages’ and data from Google My Business to identify possible results, which are clearly shown in a Google Map.

Considered an organic result: No.

Origin: Local search result, Google My Business.

Images

Google Images is the vertical image search feature of Google. Since 2001 Google crawls pictures and general image data, and shows the feature for relevant search queries. This integration can be seen frequently and is very eye-catching.

Examples of keywords: picture frame, London, lottery numbers, police, wedding, garden forniture.

Considered an organic result: Yes.

Origin: Google Images.

News

Google News is the news search engine feature of Google. Since 2002 Google automatically aggregates all the most important news sources. In this integration Google shows relevant news results for the respective search term in the SERPs.

Considered an organic result: Yes.

Origin: Local search results, Google My Business.

Videos

Google’s video search scans the internet to find embedded videos. A large part of the index of this vertical search engine consists of YouTube videos.

Considered an organic result: Yes.

Origin: Google Videos.

Flights

This is the integration of Google Flights, Google’s search engine for flights. It started thanks to the acquisition of the data service provider ITA in 2011. As you can see from the “Ads” label at the top right corner of the box, results have to pay to rank in this meta-search.

Examples of keywords: cheap flights, flight ticket, flights to thailand, ryanair.

Considered an organic result: No.

Origin: Google Flights, on the basis of ITA-data.

Hotels

Google’s meta-search for hotels, is where users can compare and book hotels. In combination with Google Maps, hotels and room prices can be compared directly in the SERPs. Participants have to pay for the listing, so the results are Ads (although it’s not clearly displayed).

Examples of keywords: hotel, hotels new york, mallorca hotel.

Considered an organic result: No.

Origin: Google Hotels.

Holiday Packages

Holiday packages – a hotel/flight combination for a package tour – is a part of Google Travel. Google offers a meta search engine for package tours and compares different providers in terms of availability and price.

Considered an organic result: No

Origin: Google Travel

Jobs

Google for Jobs is Google’s vertical job search. In this search, Google indexes other job portals as well as job offers on all websites marked with special HTML markup. The admission is currently free of charge. Google for Jobs in UK was a strong Visibility-Index-leader directly from the start.

Examples of keywords: jobs, job london, job bosch, secretary job offer.

Considered an organic result: Yes.

Origin: Google for Jobs.

Events

Google has recently started to show an overview of all events found for some relevant search queries in a separated box. Inside the box you can find organic results which use structured data to show their events to Google.

Examples of keywords: today in berlin, cinema dublin, concert tickets, london party.

Considered an organic result: Yes.

Origin: Organic results with structured data for events.

Recipes

The recipe-integration in Google search results is based on recipes which Google finds on those websites using structured data for their content. At the moment an official Google recipe-search doesn’t exist and there are only SERP integrations around this topic.

Considered an organic result: Yes.

Origin: Organic results with structured data for recipes.

Podcasts

Based on the Google Podcasts service, Google displays relevant podcasts for the corresponding search query. This integration is still relatively new and rare to find at present. Also, Google doesn’t really browse the content of the podcasts, it only reads their meta-data (like the Title).

Examples of keywords: nytimes, bbc podcasts, the documentary podcast.

Considered an organic result: No.

Origin: Google Podcasts.

Google Scholar

Google Scholar is a vertical search engine for academic documents. According to their own statement, with almost 400 millions documents Google Scholar is the biggest academic search engine at this time. It indexes documents freely available on the web, as well as content from commercial providers.

Considered an organic result: No.

Origin: Google Scholar.

Additional vertical sources

In the European Union Google shows many different vertical search engines in addition to the alternative sources already available. These elements have been partly forced by the EU Competition Commission, while some of them were added voluntary. We called these integrations “Additional vertical sources” inside the Toolbox and we measure them in addition to the actual vertical search engines.

Knowledge Panel Container

The Knowledge Panel Container can contain different information that may be based on structured data from various sources in the web. It brings together different Knowledge Panels.

Considered an organic result: No

Results About (Knowledge Panel)

This integration is a part of the Knowledge Panel. Here you’ll often find entities from the Google Knowledge Graph which have a correlation with the user’s search.

Reviews

Google reviews are public posts from Google users, and are displayed in the Google search as well as on Google Maps, among other places.

Origin: written by Google users
Example keywords: Disneyworld

Streaming

Links to streaming platforms that offer content matching the search.

Example keywords: black sabbath, taylor swift, u2

Infobox with Image Story

A Knowledge Panel that shows changing images of places in the mobile version.

Example keywords: jesus in rio, romania dracula, tsingy

COVID-19

The additional result indicating travel restrictions related to COVID-19 which is usually displayed for travel destinations or routes.

Example keywords: chinese villa, condor lanzarote, hotel bogota

Related Searches

At the bottom of most Google search result pages, just before the navigation to the next page, Google suggests more similar search queries inside the box “Related searches”. By clicking on one of the results, the user can directly reach the corresponding page. The ‘Bres’ feature, which appears as a separate feature in our data, is related to the Related Searches element.

People Also Ask

With the integration “People Also Ask” (often called the PAA box) Google tries to answer some typical questions inside the search result pages. A click on one of the suggested questions opens an organic result containing the answer, in the SERP. The answer to the question is usually already displayed in the Snippet shown, without having to open the search result. This integration replaces a conventional organic result from the first page, so we consider it an organic result.

Refine Search

To narrow down generic product searches (“laptop”, “shoes”) and therefore offer better search results, Google shows an integration called “Refine search” for those keywords. There it suggests some search refinements, which can be selected with a click.

Search by Photos

To narrow down the search, sometimes Google suggests photos. The user can reach the result by clicking on the corresponding picture.

Direct Answer

If Google can answer the user’s question directly in the search pages, it will show a direct answer integration. The answers are usually objectively verifiable information, like the time in another time-zone, the date of birth of popular people or the altitude of mountains.

Google Application

Google offers a lot of compact, interactive applications directly in the search result pages. Besides the calculator, you can find translation tools or dictionaries, for example. These interactions usually allow the users to fulfil their search intent directly in the search result pages, without clicking any other result.

Movies

If you search for a movie or a video which can be watched on a streaming platform, Google will show the integration “Available on”.

Twitter

When displaying Twitter results, in many cases Google expands the organic result and shows the account’s latest tweets in a “Card” design. These cards usually take more place than classic organic results and can also show an image. For other social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram or TikTok there is no specific integration that we know of.

Route Planner

When Google understands that a user is looking for a route description, it will show a Google Maps integration with the corresponding directions. The navigation can be started directly in the SERPs.

Sport Results

Sport results for popular and frequently searched sports are prominently and colourfully highlighted on top of the page. Thanks to the cooperation with data-partners, Google can often update the results almost live.

Location

If Google recognises that the purpose of a search intent is to visit a specific company or address, it will show a location-integration inside a Knowledge Panel.

Discover More Places

When searching for generic business categories, Google suggests other, more obvious categories to discover similar places. The data for this integration come from Google Maps. It is usually shown for keywords with a local search intent.

Map

Searches which suggest that the user wants a geographical classification are answered with a Google Maps integration. The searched location is usually highlighted. You usually find this integration when looking for postcodes or district names. This integration shouldn’t be confused with Google’s local search – this is only about the map, not the shops or places inside of it.

Stocks & Exchange Rates

If Google assumes that the query concerns a specific share or exchange rate, a corresponding integration will be shown directly in the SERPs. Besides searches like “Company-name stocks”, you’ll also find it for shares trading codes or (virtual) currency prices. The data-source is indicated at the bottom of the integration.

Flight Information

For queries which concern specific flights (combination of airline code and flight number) Google shows extended information about departure and arrival times, and airport gates. This integration shouldn’t be confused with Google’s flight search.

Activities & Travel Guide

Search queries which indicate that the user is looking for travel information about a city are rewarded with the corresponding integration. Here Google visually summarises the most popular places within the city, its places of interest or activities. The integration is based on data from Google Maps.

Popular Destinations

For keywords which concern a broad destination, Google tries to refine the search with an overview of the most popular cities.

Knowledge Graph Game

The Google Word Coach is a vocabulary learning game. You can find it in the Knowledge Panel, both on desktop and mobile SERPs. Thanks to multiple-choice questions you can gain points and improve your vocabulary skills.

Questions and Answers

This integration is shown in the Knowledge Panel and usually concerns specific places from Google Maps. Users can ask questions, which can be answered by the “Community” – so everyone.

Appstore (Download)

Queries which suggest that the user is looking for a specific Smartphone App get a Google and Apple App-Stores integration for the searched App.

Appstore (Category)

If Google understands that the user is not interested in a specific App, but wants an overview of different Apps (example “App To-Do List”), it’ll show it in the SERPs.

Considered an organic result: No.

Origin: Appstores (Google Play Store, Apple Itunes – depending on the device in use).

Widget

Widget is a collection of interactive games and applications. Besides games like solitaire or a Fidget Spinner simulator, the Google Assistant can also be found here.

Examples of keywords: solitaire, pac man, fidget spinner.

Considered an organic result: No.

Results for Variants

Alternative searches for the same term with a different meaning. The suggestions are located above the first result in the mobile search. In the desktop search, they are located to the right of the results.

Example keywords: earth, mouse, dish