le has reduced the visibility of FAQ and HowTo rich search results.

Google will show fewer rich search results. This includes less FAQ rich search results and more How-To rich search results on desktop devices.

Google announced that the update would be rolled out globally over the next week.

FAQ changes. Google has announced that the rich results, FAQPage structured information, and FAQs will only be displayed for “well-known authoritative government and healthcare websites.”

Google has added that this rich result is no longer displayed regularly for all other websites.

Google’s decision on which sites to display is automated and algorithmic.

Do not remove structured data. Google says there’s no reason to remove structured information from your website. Google stated that “Structured Data not being used doesn’t cause problems for Search but also has no noticeable effects in Google Search.”

HowTo changes. Google has announced that the How-To, derived from HowTo structured data rich results, will only be displayed for desktop users and not mobile users.

Google said that “with mobile-indexing, Google will index the mobile version as a basis for indexing. To have How-To rich search results displayed on desktop, your mobile website must contain the appropriate markup.”

Why we care. You may notice a drop in the number of clicks coming from Google Search. Google Search Console reports will show a decline in clicks, and analytics traffic will show a decrease in traffic from Google Search.

Google stated that “you may also notice these changes in the Search Console reports for your website.” This will be evident in particular in the metrics for FAQ and How To search appearances shown in the performance report and the number of impressions displayed in the enhancement reports. The number of items in the enhancement report is not affected by this change. “For the moment, the search appearances and reports will be retained in Search Console.”

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