According to Google, Tweets with Animated GIFs are Videos

According to Google, this Tweet above is a video.

According to Google, tweets that contain animated GIFs (very short videos, usually a few seconds long) are considered to be videos. In the search results, Google is showing a Tweet from someone. That Tweet, along some of the replies to it, contain animated GIFs. Google is listing that tweet as a video in the organic search results. I typically don’t think of animated GIFs as being videos, let alone Tweets that contain animated GIFs. This is new to me.

Here’s a specific example of this:

If you search Google for my name, Bill Hartzer, you will see the search results include a 3-pack of videos, as shown below:

Look at the video on the right, which shows Gary Illyes’ Twitter profile. His profile image is NOT a video. You’ll only see an animated GIF image in his Tweet, which is a Tweet that I replied to. Apparently that Tweet with an animated GIF is a video?

Here’s another screen shot of the 3-pack of videos, clearly marked as videos in the Google search results:

Here’s the tweet in question:
https://twitter.com/methode/status/831047566284431360?lang=en

Would you consider that tweet a video? I would NOT consider it a video. It’s too short, right? And it’s a Tweet, not a video. A video would be something that appears on YouTube, Vimeo, or a video embedded on a website. But not a Tweet.

What do you consider a video?

About two weeks ago we started seeing a 3-pack of videos show up in the Google search results, especially in the desktop search results. But honestly I think that’s good. Just don’t label animated GIFs videos. They’re not videos.