Google on Tuesday announced a major change to its search algorithm in an attempt to give consumers what they want more quickly. It said the change, which takes effect today, improves the overall user experience by returning smaller, more relevant text snippets. An initial test of the algorithm was reported in December. Google said then that it would return snippets of about 190 characters, which is about three lines of text. Previously, snippets could contain more than 340 characters. An example of the change can be seen here, where a search for ‘flu symptoms’ returns a snippet that is half the size it was last week. Google said the move was designed to address the problem of ‘blubber’ in its search results. It said users routinely complain that the snippets are too large and that they must click on the search result link to read more. .
Google Trims ‘Blubber’ in Search to Help Consumers Find What They Need Faster
