• About
    • History of Dallas SEO
    • SEO Expert Witness
  • Contact
  • Topics
    • Bing
    • Blogging
    • Branding
    • Domain Names
    • Google
    • Internet Marketing
    • Link Building
    • Local Search
    • Marketing
    • Public Relations
    • Reputation Management
    • Search Engine Marketing
    • Search Engine Optimization
    • Search Engines
    • Social Media
    • Tech
  • Advertise
  • Email Newsletter

Bill Hartzer

Bill Hartzer on Search, Marketing, Tech, and Domains.

SEMrush

Home » Google » The Real Reason Google Removed Google Authorship Photos From Search Results

The Real Reason Google Removed Google Authorship Photos From Search Results

Posted on July 11, 2014 Written by Bill Hartzer

Relevant content in organic search results distracts people from clicking on sponsored search advertisements.

— Bill Slawski (@bill_slawski) July 11, 2014

I know that’s a really long title for this post, but I wanted to get to the point with the headline. We all want to know the real reason why Google removed Google Authorship Photos from the search results, right?

I wrote in my post about Google removing Google Authorship photos that John Mueller from Google responded with a reason. Now, I understand a little bit more about his statement to me. John said it is all based on CTR behavior:

Our experiments indicate that click-through behavior on this new less-cluttered design is similar to the previous one…

Well, uh, yeah. I know really understand. It’s really about the Click-Thru behavior on a less-cluttered design.

When there are less photos in the search results pages, then users click more on Google AdWords ads. It’s all about the money. And while Google won’t come out and publicly state this is the reason (I wouldn’t do that if I were them), I truly believe that by putting the Google Authorship photos in the search results they made less money with Google AdWords.

It’s all about the money.

Those of us who routinely had their photo show up in the search results benefited from increased clicks to our websites and the awesome content that we write. But Google doesn’t care about that. They’re in it to make money. And by removing the Google Authorship photos from the search results, it’s a less cluttered design, and Google’s internal tests showed them that they make more without Google Authorship photos.

Google stock price

Remember, Google is a public company. They have shareholders to report to. And Google is going to make changes to their search results that benefits their bottom line.

Well, that’s not enough? Larry Kim, in a LinkedIn post, has proof that the removal of Google Authorship photos “was based on authorship photos’ impact on the CTR of paid search ads…”. Mr. Kim “examined the CTR of the ad above both before and after Google’s announcement. We found hard evidence that the CTR of the ad improved significantly when author photos were no longer being displayed in the SERP.”

Filed Under: Google, Search Engines

SEMrush

About Bill Hartzer

Bill Hartzer is CEO of Hartzer Consulting, LLC, an SEO Consulting firm that includes services such as search engine optimization, technical SEO audits, domain name consulting, and online reputation management.

Recent Posts

  • Someone Stole My Domain Name: Here’s What You Do January 4, 2023
  • Web Hosting Services Market to Grow to $254.86 Billion by 2029 December 13, 2022
  • This SEO Blog Post Was Written by ChatGPT December 8, 2022
  • Facebook Rolling Out Facebook Articles December 7, 2022
  • Doing SEO is Better Than… December 6, 2022
  • Tucows and GoDaddy Report Q3 2022 Results November 6, 2022
  • How to Measure App Events Sourced by Organic Search and SEO September 20, 2022
  • Google Allegedly Eavesdrops and Monitors the Brain 24 hours a Day to Control Humanity September 14, 2022
  • Why You Shouldn’t Hire SEOs Based on An Email September 13, 2022
  • Global SEO Market to Reach $122.11 Billion by 2028 September 9, 2022
  • Bluehost Launches New Commerce Solutions for WordPress September 8, 2022
  • Which CMS? How to Choose the Best CMS for Your Purposes August 29, 2022
  • Accidental SEO Manager: Interview with Ash Nallawalla August 15, 2022
  • Sometimes Google Isn’t Family Friendly August 1, 2022
  • Something’s Seriously Wrong with Facebook Notifications July 12, 2022
  • Facebook Internet Tracking Settlement June 24, 2022
  • RankSense Acquired by SEOClarity June 1, 2022
  • LinkedIn Links, Digital Marketing News, and SEO Questions Answered May 9, 2022
  • GoDaddy Ending Forwarding of Existing Shortened Links May 5, 2022
  • 7 Ways to Protect Your Domain Name March 31, 2022

US Agency Awards Judge

DFWSEM logo

Bill Hartzer is a Brand Ambassador for:



Industry Friends

I Love SEO
WTFSEO
SEO By the Sea
Jeff Lenney
Jeff Gabriel
Phil Drinkwater
Dixon Jones
Brian Hartzer
Navah Hopkins

Connect With Bill Hartzer

Bill Hartzer on Twitter
Bill Hartzer on Instagram
Hartzer Consulting on Facebook
Bill Hartzer on Facebook
Bill Hartzer on YouTube

Categories

  • Advertising (19)
  • Bing Search Engine (6)
  • Blogging (42)
  • Branding (12)
  • Domain Names (209)
  • Google (236)
  • Internet Marketing (25)
  • Internet Usage (85)
  • Link Building (53)
  • Local Search (39)
  • Marketing (180)
  • Marketing Foo (30)
  • Pay Per Click (3)
  • Podcast (18)
  • Public Relations (8)
  • Reputation Management (9)
  • Search Engine Marketing (44)
  • Search Engine Marketing Events (48)
  • Search Engine Marketing Firms (19)
  • Search Engine Marketing Jobs (33)
  • Search Engine Optimization (164)
  • Search Engines (204)
  • Social Media (192)
  • Tech (7)
  • Web Analytics (17)
  • Webinars (1)

Note: All product names, logos, and brands are property of their respective owners. All company, product and service names used in this website are for identification purposes only, and are mentioned only to help my readers. All other trademarks cited herein are the property of their respective owners. Use of these names, logos, and brands does not imply endorsement.




Hartzer Consulting



Website, Content, and Marketing by Hartzer Consulting, LLC.

Copyright © 2023 ·