Pages that earn a featured snippet will no longer repeat as a regular search result on the first page of Google search, Danny Sullivan, Google’s public search liaison, announced Wednesday. The corresponding regular search result will instead appear at the top of the second page of results.
If a web page listing is elevated into the featured snippet position, we no longer repeat the listing in the search results. This declutters the results & helps users locate relevant information more easily. Featured snippets count as one of the ten web page listings we show.
— Danny Sullivan (@dannysullivan) January 22, 2020
Why we care
For featured snippet owners, this change means that your URL will only appear once on the first page of search results, instead of twice.
For those that don’t own the featured snippet, it means that your competitor that does own it will no longer appear twice.
Because it is now possible to earn a featured snippet while appearing on the second page of results, SEOs should keep an eye on their traffic and tracking tools to see how they adjust.
Futher on the announcement
- As of January 22, the change has rolled out globally.
- Featured snippets will also be counted amongst the ten organic listings shown.