Authorship in 2012 was a big deal. It offered a way of connecting specific authors of content with verified profiles in Google’s system. This week, Matt Cutts, head of search spam at Google, confirmed that the team was implementing a 15% reduction in rich snippets on search result pages (SERPs). This change was initially announced at this year’s PubCon, but is only now being seen and experienced by webmasters. What does this actually mean?
At it’s height, search results would display rich snippets next to nearly half of the results, where appropriate. This reduction means that there will be less faces in the SERPs but authorship still exist. According to Search Engine Land, Matt Cutts confirmed full implementation this week. The reduction does not seem to be directed at any given audience, although some snippet users saw a loss of authorship altogether; with some recovering.
The Wrapper
There isn’t a need to head for the hills as it relates to authorship and publishership; both are still relevant to organic search and a necessary part to making the most of Google+. This change is more in regards to the user-facing side of search.
About the Author: Chris Turner is also known as ChocolateSEO. CSEO is Chris' Nashville search marketing and consulting service offering a variety of services to help you, your company and any website maximize web-based marketing opportunities. He is the father of three girls, one boy (finally) and husband to the wonderful Savannah. Join the author's circle: Chris Turner on Google+.
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