Featured snippets gets an update from Google

Google has come out with an update to the algorithm that governs how featured snippets (rank 0 SERP placement) are displayed. The update is designed to make each snippet more useful to users by understanding and checking for which information needs to be refreshed.

Featured snippets gets an update from Google

Google described the kind of search queries that would requires fresh content updated frequently:

  1. Info that needs to be updated regularly
  2. Info that changes with the passage of time
  3. Current and ongoing events

The ultimate goal of all of this is to remove redundant featured snippets and ensure all of them only contain current information that’s actually useful to users. In their blog post, Google said that the update “improves our systems’ understanding of what information remains useful over time and what becomes out-of-date more quickly”.

Basically, Google has said that its algorithm has been improved so that it can determine what content is likely to be evergreen and what is likely to age fast.

Google also took the time to debunk the common SEO myth that their algorithm secretly prefers to reward fresh content that’s been uploaded recently. In their statement, Google explained that if there’s no utility to replacing an old featured snippet, it won’t do it.