URL Only Serp listing, but the page is indexed

Historically URL only didn't show in Serps for keywords

[bumpski]

This has happened for several months now. Pages that go into the URL only state ("partially indexed"), but the pages will still show up for keywords in the context of the page or in the title. Historically, with Google, if a page was "URL only" it would not rank for keywords in its content or title.

Certainly in this particular case the page ranked number 1 for the keywords when normally indexed (Showing a Title and Description) and the page is still number 1 for the keywords now, except it is URL only, (showing just the URL and a link to the page, no Title or Description). This does make a big difference in click through rate.

I've seen several pages on various sites doing this. For me, to date, the pages typically do reenter the "fully indexed" state and retain their rank, sometimes after also disappearing completely for a few days (not indexed, not supplemental).

It's possible it's related to how Front Page 2000, which I use, handles publishing pages by actually assembling them on the server so they can "change" even though the author has not changed the actual content, but perhaps only some navigation information, etc.

Just wondering if anyone has specifically noticed what appears to be a newer Google indexing characteristic.