Google today published a recap of 8 things about the Search happenings which were discussed at Google I/O 16 and they are:
1: Introducing 'Rich Cards'
Google announced “Rich Cards” which is a new search result format which uses schema.org structured mark up, just like the Rich Snippets format.
The focus is to provide a more rewarding experience to the mobile user.
Currently this is on an experimental stage and available only for Movies and Recipes but Google seems to be having promising future plans in taking this ahead for other content categories too.
2: New Search Console Reports
Google launched a new report in Search Console to help developers confirm that their rich card markup is valid. In the report Google highlights,“enhanceable cards,” which are cards that can benefit from marking up more fields. The new Search Appearance filter also makes it easy for webmasters to filter their traffic by AMP and rich cards.
3: Real-time Indexing
Google has always given importance to the freshness index for content. Instead of waiting for content to be crawled and indexed, publishers will be able to use the Google Indexing API to trigger the indexing of their content in real time. It’s still in its early days, but Google plans to launch a pilot later this summer.
3: Getting up to speed with Accelerated Mobile Pages
AMP or Accelerated Mobile Pages is an open source initiative by Google launched in October 2015.
Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) are lightweight pages designed to load quickly on mobile devices. AMP-compliant pages use a subset of HTML with a few extensions.
Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP), is a very accessible framework for creating fast-loading mobile web pages.
The AMP project aims at improving the performance of the mobile web. Further, the intent is that the webpages with rich content like video, animations and graphics should work alongside smart ads, and load instantaneously.
I/O 16 attendees could talk directly with Googlers at the Search & AMP sandbox.
5: A new and improved Structured Data Testing Tool
The new Structured Data Testing tool is tightly integrated with the DevSite Search Gallery and the new Search Preview service, which lets you preview how your rich cards will look on the search results page.
6: App Indexing got a new home (and new features)
Google announced App Indexing’s migration to Firebase, Google’s unified developer platform. Watch the session to learn how to grow your app with Firebase App Indexing.
7: App streaming
App streaming is a new way for Android users to try out games without having to download and install the app -- and it’s already available in Google Search. Check out the session to learn more.
- Revamped documentation
Google has revamped the developer documentation, organizing the docs around topical guides to make it easier to follow.
With Google working towards improving the mobile experience in so many ways, it is needless to say that 'Mobile Search' needs to be the current focus for all search marketers .
