Google rewriting titles in SERPs

[pavlovapete]

I am obviously out of date - but I can't see much about this when I search.

Written in 2005:
Google changing Title in SERPs for certain keyword phrases [webmasterworld.com]

I've just read about it and seen it in action for the name of a particular person. Apparently the title is coming from DMOZ.

I find this a bit remarkable.

What are the factors that:
- qualify a search term to get a rewrite
- determine what replacement title is inserted?

Thanks

[tedster]

Yes, for several years now Google has been taking the title from DMOZ (also called ODP, or the Open directory Project). They do it when the algo analyzes the existing page title and determines that it's not good for the query term that generated that SERP. Webmasters can instruct Google not to do this with a NOODP meta tag [webmasterworld.com].

There are other changes to the title that have been creeping into the SERP recently as well. In a recent Google Forums Thread [google.com], JohnMu from Google mentioned some other times when Google will rewrite the page title:

There are certain situations where we'd replace a title in search results (as is happening here), for example if we find that the same title is used on a number of pages or if the title is otherwise not that good (eg "Home")

I've seen examples where a page's existing title was "enhanced" by the addition of other keywords taken from the page itself.

[pavlovapete]

Thanks tedster.

Am I right in assuming it is not that widespread as far as we know?

And that it can't be influenced the same way, for example, sitelinks can be influenced?

I find it interesting that Google "assists" some sites to get traffic over and above the regular SERPs.

Cheers

[Robert Charlton]

I find it interesting that Google "assists" some sites to get traffic over and above the regular SERPs.

No more so, I'd say, than "assisting" a site by returning a snippet that more closely matches the query if the meta description is a bad match.

Changing the title or description for the snippet doesn't change a page's ranking. It generally (but not always) does improve the user experience on Google.

[pavlovapete]

Very good Robert Charlton. Point taken on board.

But...

Ignoring meta desc & using words from the page
does not equal
Ignoring title and using words from where (DMOZ, the site in question, Google suggest database?)

If the title was constructed from words from the page then maybe they are similar processes.

Changing the title or description for the snippet doesn't change a page's ranking.

Yes but it may change the traffic (which I guess is synonymous with user-experience) - that is why I called it "assist"

In the end though does this make a big difference to traffic for some sites?

[Robert Charlton]

Ignoring meta desc & using words from the page
does not equal
Ignoring title and using words from where (DMOZ, the site in question, Google suggest database?)

If the title was constructed from words from the page then maybe they are similar processes.

They are similar processes, and I believe the snippets team handles both.

After ODP, I forget what Google's pecking order for titles is/was, and it may vary depending on the situation and the evolution of the team's thinking.

I've seen Google pull Sitelink text from a destination page title when the link was graphic and there was no satisfactory alt tag, so it might not be a stretch to think they'd reverse this process in the case of a missing title and use prominent anchor text pointing to the page... if the anchor text matched the query.