Mobile Icons in Google Smartphone Results
Noticed this last night while trying to discover how the new NBC TV show Revolution attempted to explain the blackout:
[revolution tv show] with a smartphone icon in the URL field of the first listing. Searched from a Galaxy Nexus running Jelly Bean, Sunday August 5, 2012.
Has anyone else seen this? I’m not seeing any talk in the SEO blogs about it, and unfortunately I’m unable to recreate this morning, so it’s probably a test that Google is doing for smartphone results.
Could be a big improvement for usability of the mobile SERPs, as it indicates when a listing redirects you to mobile content. This is similar to Old Possum/Skip Redirect update Google announced in December, but instead of showing mobile URLs they show a smartphone icon– in a way that’s similar to what they have historically shown in feature phone results. If this becomes a permanent addition to the smartphone SERPs, it could give webmasters more incentive to mobilize their content, as searchers might click through more often to content they know is going to be usable for their device.
Please let me know in the comments if you’ve seen this in your own search results and for which queries.
Update: A Google rep confirmed that this is an experiment, saying “We’re experimenting with ways to optimize the mobile search experience, including helping users identify smartphone-optimized sites.” They declined to offer more details.
[…] to subscribe to the RSS feed for updates on this topic.I mentioned at the beginning of August that Google was testing mobile icons in smartphone search results. It appears now as though the test was successful and they’ve rolled it out to more users, as […]
Yes I;ve seen it and was wondering how it got there. I have a responsive site and it doesn’t display the icon on SERPS. Other responsive sites do. If you have any tip regarding this please comment.
Thanks
Has anyone seen any icons in mobile results in recent months? I’ve seen none.
[…] the first time Google makes updates reflecting the growing importance of mobile search. In 2012, a smartphone icon began appearing next to some mobile-friendly sites in Google's search results, with the company confirming they […]
[…] August of 2012, smartphone icons were spotted in some Google mobile search results. A Google spokesperson confirmed that they were in fact, […]