Google Testing 4 Line Description Snippets in Search Results

Google is testing out longer snippets in the descrption for some Google search results, giving some results 4 lines of description over the standard two lines that you see in the majority of results.

While Wikipedia triggered the first 4 lines of description as information sites, as you can see with the Hobbycraft result, commercial sites can trigger the longer 4 lines of description as well.

These are not in-depth article results, which no longer have the header above them, but which are still stylized between line breaks and run in sets of 3 results, usually near the bottom of the search results.  In-depth article results feature 3 lines of description and includes a source in the URL line, where as these new longer descriptions are 4 lines and display breadcrumbs and not URLs.

Here is another example, this time it is eBay that is getting the four lines of description, interestingly enough it is two different search results but with identical descriptions.

Here is how it appears within the webpage itself, and you can see how after the featured snippet, the second longer descriptions stand out.

When looking at the eBay example, it was taken from one of the eBay listings, and one near the bottom of the page.  There was nothing special about the structured markup on the page that wasn’t included in the many eBay listings above the one Google selected.

They also show up on mobile search results with 6 or 7 lines of description, which makes some of the results dominate the mobile screen.

They don’t appear to be happening on very many searches at this time, but they are showing internationally.

H/T Anthony Lavall via Rob Kerry.

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Jennifer Slegg

Founder & Editor at The SEM Post

Jennifer Slegg is a longtime speaker and expert in search engine marketing, working in the industry for almost 20 years. When she isn't sitting at her desk writing and working, she can be found grabbing a latte at her local Starbucks or planning her next trip to Disneyland. She regularly speaks at Pubcon, SMX, State of Search, Brighton SEO and more, and has been presenting at conferences for over a decade.

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