Google Ditches IMG Alt Text

Inevitable, but sad.

[ciml]

During January, the Fresh listings weren't matching words in alt text or showing them in snippets, unless they were in a link. Since the update, it seems to be the same for the main listings. Note: a page with "keyword" only in unlinked alt text may still match due to anchor text from incoming links.

IMG alt text has been used for stuffing hidden text for as long as I can remember. Still, it's a shame to loose this key element of allowing robot accessibility for image heavy pages, just as business and even government bodies are starting to take Web accessibility seriously.

With any luck, Google will find that it wasn't a major spam problem and set things back (as they did after ignoring guestbook links for a while this time last year).

[sparrow]

IMHO, it would be very difficult to write an algo to make all the considerations that would be needed to determine whether it is a good use of the tag or not.

I believe that these tags have been terribly abused and have for while now, lost there true meaning and intentions.

It's not the fact that I do not want these tags used, it's just that they are so terribly abused they shouldn't be used. (poet and don't know it, I'll keep my day job).

[jomaxx]

I stand corrected... I scanned ciml's post too quickly to see the "unless they were in a link" part. That does appear to be correct.

This won't affect my site much... It was all I could do to find a graphic that wasn't clickable except for spacers, where I don't ever use ALT text anyway (I'm pretty sure).

[Macguru]

Thanks a lot ciml! Another great contribution.

I wonder if alt text in link count as much as anchor text. Any idea?

[john316]

I also stand corrected, my apologies ciml. I was looking at alt text w/link.

Thank you!

[pageoneresults]

Hey ciml, good observation!

Let us not forget that there are other SE's besides Google who will continue to use the alt text in the algo. To what degree will probably diminish in time if it's not already to that point.

There are many different things you can do with image attributes. A little bit of research at the W3C will turn up some very interesting stuff.

Using the alt tag as it was intended is good design practice. Design first, SE's second. ;)

[Winooski]

Sorry to be dense: does this mean that if there's some unique text in a given image's ALT attribute (i.e., this text doesn't exist anywhere else on the page except for the ALT attribute), Google will index it only if the image is linked (i.e., within an <A> tag)?

[Etceteral]

I think you're all forgetting about the LONGDESC attribute. ALT is intended to be a short bit of text to display when a User-Agent can't display the image or object as intended. LONGDESC is supposed to be the address of a page with a longer description of the object.

If you're writing paragraphs, and you're not spamming, you should put the description on a separate page and link to it.

If you're writing paragraphs, and you *are* spamming, please stop.

[DrDoc]

What kind of "interesting stuff" are you talking about, pageoneresults?

[Slud]

Thanks for the tip ciml! It's refreshing to read a concrete verifiable detail such as this.

Anyone want to make a guess if Google will use text in either of the below:

<a href="#">index me!</a>

<a href="thispage-loopback.html">me too!</a>

[europeforvisitors]

I think it makes sense for Google to look at alt text when a page doesn't have any other text, but that's about it. If Google's crawler is supposed to "see" what readers see, then alt text is irrelevant for search purposes (since most readers don't see alt text for more than a fraction of a second, if that).

I try to keep my own alt text simple and descriptive ("Tower of London photo" or "Tower of London"), but sometimes I wonder if I should even go that far when my photos nearly always have captions. If I have a photo of the Tower of London with a caption that tells what it is, maybe the alt text should just read "photo."

[stevew]

From Macguru:
'I wonder if alt text in link count as much as anchor text. Any idea?'

I'm pretty sure the hierarchy is as follows :

1) Page title
1) Anchor text
2) Linked alt text (close behind)
3) Header tags
4) Bold body text
5) Normal body text
6) Title of link/image/etc tags (almost zippo)
6) Unlinked alt text (probably zippo)

PLUS - position in the document (not on the page), which isn't always consistent (some people say a header tag near the bottom has a benefit) - AND of course all those off-page factors.

I think it all makes sense - it makes me mad to see highly-ranked pages with spammy alt text - and IMHO the way to go will be with alt text that strikes a balance ...
eg
1) Navigation button : 'Link to widgets page' not 'widgets'
2) Logo : 'Widgets from Acme' not 'widget widgets wiggets'

When that will happen is anyone's guess, but good practice now will save a lot of work later on ...

What I'd like to know, is what weight the SE's put on content in <noscript> tags - that's a real spam haven, not far behind manipulated <div> tags.

[Good_Vibes]

What you are forgetting SteveW is the other 93 factors that Google considers.

[deft_spyder]

has anyone ever done the whole 99 though? :)

My question is, does google see an anchor link on the same page with the same reverance as a anchor link to another page?

as in does this:

<a href="#tivo">TiVo</a>
<a name="tivo"></a>

on one page play as well as this:

<a href="www.tivowebpage.com/page1.htm#tivo">TiVo</a>
<a name="tivo"></a>

which is linked on another page,
or is this even better?:

<a href="www.tivowebpage.com/page1.htm#tivo">TiVo</a>
<a name="tivo">tivo</a>

which has tivo appearing in the anchors text.

It raises a question to me about how the internal PR is distributed using this technique.

[ciml]

Winooski:
does this mean that if there's some unique text in a given image's ALT attribute (i.e., this text doesn't exist anywhere else on the page except for the ALT attribute), Google will index it only if the image is linked (i.e., within an <A> tag)?

Exactly.

Macguru:
> alt text in link count as much as anchor text

It looks like it's at least roughly the same, but the relative weightings are harder to analyse (not impossible, just harder).

stevew, some of our results are similar but some are quite different.

[Hollywood]

I have a client who works with me where the ALT text MUST BE descriptive and sensible in order for computer aids for disabled to be able to read a site.

Thus a handicapped person uses some web browser and can barely see but the ALT text is read out loud as he navigates the site.

If only image ALT's that have "links-to" such-and-such.html pages are used this would be quite bad for the handicapped... ad far as I know I do not think this would go over well with the Gov't bodies or institutions etc etc whatever or whoever they may be?

This is interesting but handicapped peoples should have a right to keep ALT text important to them.

I am sort of tired tonight so I think in their case (disabled) this would not affect them (disabled) as Google would not index this unique ALT text attribute in a way to work an algo for a search engine organization.

Jee this is hard to explain in typing... anyway if sites are not indexed by Google if they are just a non linkable image with this ALT text. I think this could be bad as the handicapped may end up loosing potential quality results from Google as this sort of text is important to them to navigate but as the algo will not include this then handicapped will have a worse time using the web as a whole?

Ok now slap me and tell me if that made ANY sense?

Gods speed!