Featured Result in SERPs?

[aristotle]

I just saw something new, for me at least. I had noticed that one of my sites has begun getting considerably more traffic from Google, apparently starting some time yesterday. So I checked the rankings for one of the main keywords, and my page appears to be a "featured result". There's one ad at the top, then my page with a box around it and a quote of the article's whole first paragraph immediately below the ad, then the main organic results begining with a wikipedia article. There is no Knowledge Graph on the right side, but my page's listing looks very similar to a Knowledge Graph box, except that it's on the left below the ad but above the organic results. Usually my page ranks in the 4th or 5th organic position for this search, but somehow today it's been chosen as a "featured result" and put at the top with a box around it.

I've just done some other searches, but didn't see this again.

Has anyone else seen this? I'm calling it a "featured result" for lack of a better description.

[breeks]

Could be testing out a new feature. Free for now, paid later.
Similar to "boost post" on Facebook maybe.

Ads $$$$

Feature post $$$$

Organic results

You never know with G :)

[aristotle]

Well it must have been a test, because the "featured result" box is gone for this search now, and the Knowledge Graph is back in its normal place. But my page has moved up to the number 3 position in the organic rankings, from its previous position at 4 or 5. The rankings for this site's other main keywords have also improved some, and the overall Google traffic is up about 25%. So as has been reported in other threads here, some kind of algorithmic update may have occurred

[brotherhood of LAN]

If you see it again, feel free to share a screenshot with us. The layout you describe sounds interesting, like they've placed a greater degree of confidence that it's a result the user wants to click on.

[aristotle]

I saved a screen shot earlier. But I don't want to reveal what this site is about, so I blotted out all of the text in the following image. It shows an ad, then the box with the "featured result", then the first two organic results.

[dl.dropboxusercontent.com...]

Well for some unknown reason I couldn't make the url into a clickable link for the post preview, so you'll have to copy and paste it.

[Bones]

I did notice this the other day too (google.com only). It was coming up for queries like "why is the sky blue" and "why is grass green" etc.

[aakk9999]

I think this is the same kind of box we discussed few months ago in this thread:

New look "Google Knowledge" replaces results with content
19th Dec 2013
http://www.webmasterworld.com/google/4632162.htm [webmasterworld.com]


<off topic>

Well for some unknown reason I couldn't make the url into a clickable link for the post preview, so you'll have to copy and paste it.

It is because the URL is https, they do not link nor auto link. Replacing https with http will make the URL clickable - providing the content can be accessed under http version OR there is a http --> https redirect implemented.

</off topic>

[aristotle]

Well my page is back at the top again inside a box, with everything exactly as I described before. I don't know when it returned to the top because it's been several days since I checked the results for this search.

But now my page is also in the #3 position in the organic results, so it appears in the results twice, at the top in a box, and also in the #3 organic ranking. But the descriptions are different. The box has the first paragrapgh of the article, but the organic listing has the meta-description.

So here is the order:

-- One ad
-- my page in a box (featured result)
-- a Wikipedia article
-- a Slate article
-- my page again
-- an American Thinker article
-- more organic results

These are articles about a certain historical mystery. They discuss the various pieces of evidence and the most prominent theories about what really happened.

As has been noted, this "featured result" is similar to a Knowledge Graph, but I see at least one difference: the link at the bottom of the box has anchor text showing the the full title of my article, and the full url is shown below that.