Google extends multifaceted featured snippets to more nuanced queries

[engine]

As Google pushes more towards answering, especially with voice and speakers, it's trying to predict a users search. It's extending the multifaceted featured snippets to much more nuanced queries.

In the example below with the query “garden needs full sun?” we’re able to recognize that it could be interpreted as “what garden plants need full sun?” or “what counts as full sun?” and offer featured snippets for both.

We’re starting first with “multi-intent” queries, which are queries that have several potential intentions or purposes associated. The query “tooth pain after a filling,” for example, could be interpreted as “why does my tooth still hurt after a filling?” or “how long should a tooth hurt after a filling?”

[blog.google...]

[System]

Two messages were cut out and moved by robert_charlton to ongoing discussion of whether featured snippets are scraped content.

Google answers the question
https://www.webmasterworld.com/google/4868732.htm [webmasterworld.com]

[edited by: Robert_Charlton at 9:45 am (utc) on Mar 6, 2018]

[Robert Charlton]

Mod's / personal note...

This topic, of featured snippets (aka "answer cards") and the increasing refinements that Google will add to them, is not going to go away. IMO, it's clearly where Google is headed for many mobile queries, and Google's algorithmic treatment of them is how Google increasingly is going to treat queries and serps, particularly on mobile, as time goes on.

This forum, though, hasn't yet managed to have a discussion about the algorithmic aspects of these snippets... about how webmasters here might actually make good use of the new serp display... because the noise and complaints about the snippets, and that ensuing debate, has overwhelmed any other discussion.

I'm going to consider the scraper debate off topic to this thread. Members here may continue to discuss the scraping issue forever if they choose, but not in this thread. For that, go to the thread above... it's already three pages long, and it really needs more attention. ;) ...And there's a whole list of such threads posted in the Adsense forum. It's a topic that's been done to death.

Engine has prepared an excellent intro to the discussion to start this thead, and I don't want to waste it.

To those for whom the reasons for featured snippets isn't clear, here's also an article by Danny Sullivan that was published by Google a little more than a month ago, and is worth your attention...

A reintroduction to Google's featured snippets
by Danny Sullivan - Google Public Liaison for Search
Jan 30, 2018
[blog.google...]

[EditorialGuy]

Thanks for the link, Robert Charlton. A lot f people get worked up over answer boxes, featured snippets, etc., but our site's experience echoes what Google says:

"People click on featured snippets to learn more"

Once those people are on your site to learn more, you can show them ads or sell them things. It's a win-win-win for the search engine, the searcher, and the site owner who gets the clickthroughs.

[aristotle]

Well they may be useful for providing short quick answers to simple questions.

But sometimes google tries to use them to give short quick answers to questions about complex issues for which there are no short simple answers.

A person might need to visit several sites before seeing both sides of an issue. The answer box might only present one side.

[edited by: aristotle at 9:11 pm (utc) on Mar 7, 2018]

[keyplyr]

This forum, though, hasn't yet managed to have a discussion about the algorithmic aspects of these snippets... about how webmasters here might actually make good use of the new serp display.

I opened one part of this discussion a few months back.

Snippets basically present answers to questions. Many web pages are not set up to directly answer questions. They should start.

Using structured data and rich cards, webmasters can furnish Google's featured snippets with what it is looking for; the answer's to questions.

This approach also complies with voice search, where almost all searches are presented as questions.

[seoskunk]

The results are so blatantly biased towards their whitelist I guess they need more crap to backfill the adverts

[NeapTide]

I use these snippets to quickly see meanings of difficult language words. Other than that, these are pretty useless for me since very little information is provided there and I have to visit site to get more information on subject. So for small queries these are fine but for research work these are not.