# SERP features

Category: [Structured Data & SERP Features](https://seo-geo-glossary.com/en/glossary/category/structured-data-serp-features/) › [SERP features & Google services](https://seo-geo-glossary.com/en/glossary/category/structured-data-serp-features/serp-features-google-services/) · Also known as: search result features

**SERP features** are elements on a search engine results page that go beyond the standard text links. Examples are featured snippets, People Also Ask, local packs, image and video results, knowledge panels, and AI Overviews. SERP stands for search engine results page.

## How does Google describe them?

Google's visual elements gallery covers text results, rich results, image results, video results, and exploration features such as related searches and questions. Google says the display can change over time and depends on the device, location, and search language. Sitelinks are generated automatically. Google's gallery does not use "SERP features" as a category, so the term and examples such as local pack are common industry usage.

For featured snippets, Google's systems decide whether a page qualifies and elevate it. You can't mark a page as a featured snippet. To keep text out of snippets, you can use `nosnippet`, `max-snippet`, or `data-nosnippet`.

Rich results typically rely on structured data in the markup. Google does not guarantee that they appear.

## Example

A search for a recipe can return a featured snippet, an image block, videos, and People Also Ask before the first standard result. Rank tracking tools record these elements in addition to positions.

## Frequently asked questions

**What does "SERP feature" mean?** It is any element on a results page other than a plain text result with a title link and snippet.

**What is the difference between SEO and SERP?** The SERP is the results page. SEO is the work done to become visible on it.

## Retired search features and rich results

- **September 5, 2014:** Google introduces the improved sitelinks search box. It sends queries straight to the site's own search pages. ([Source](https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2014/09/improved-sitelinks-search-box))
- **August 23, 2016:** Google announces it will remove the “mobile-friendly” label from mobile results, as 85% of pages already meet the criteria. ([Source](https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2016/08/helping-users-easily-access-content-on))
- **January 21, 2020:** Google announces the end of data-vocabulary.org. Markup in this format is to lose rich result eligibility from April 6, 2020. ([Source](https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2020/01/data-vocabulary))
- **October 30, 2020:** Google moves the end of data-vocabulary.org support to January 29, 2021. ([Source](https://developers.google.com/search/updates#october-2020))
- **November 10, 2020:** Google announces that from May 2021, non-AMP pages will also be eligible for the mobile Top Stories feature. ([Source](https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2020/11/timing-for-page-experience))
- **April 19, 2021:** New timing from mid-June 2021. AMP is then no longer required for Top Stories, and Google stops showing the AMP badge. ([Source](https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2021/04/more-details-page-experience))
- **July 18, 2023:** Google removes the related: search operator from its documentation, as it is no longer supported. ([Source](https://developers.google.com/search/updates#july-2023))
- **August 8, 2023:** Google limits FAQ rich results to well-known government and health websites. How-to rich results are shown on desktop only. ([Source](https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2023/08/howto-faq-changes))
- **September 13, 2023:** How-to rich results are no longer shown on desktop either. Google calls the result type deprecated. ([Source](https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2023/08/howto-faq-changes))
- **October 13, 2023:** Google removes the host group element from its visual elements gallery, as it no longer appears in search results. ([Source](https://developers.google.com/search/updates#october-2023))
- **April 17, 2024:** Google removes the guidance for the limited-access video carousel after the markup proved not useful at scale. ([Source](https://developers.google.com/search/updates#removing-video-carousel-limited-access-documentation))
- **August 9, 2024:** The Notes experiment, which let users add notes to search results, has ended. Google removes its documentation. ([Source](https://developers.google.com/search/updates#notes-gone))
- **September 24, 2024:** The cache: search operator no longer works. Google removes its documentation. ([Source](https://developers.google.com/search/updates#cache-docs))
- **October 2, 2024:** The cached link is no longer available in search results. Google keeps noarchive only as a historical rule. ([Source](https://developers.google.com/search/updates#removing-noarchive))
- **October 21, 2024:** Google announces that it will remove the sitelinks search box worldwide from November 21, 2024. Other sitelinks remain. ([Source](https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2024/10/sitelinks-search-box))
- **November 29, 2024:** Google removes the sitelinks search box documentation and archives the nositelinkssearchbox rule. ([Source](https://developers.google.com/search/updates#bye-sitelinkbox))
- **January 23, 2025:** Mobile search results no longer show breadcrumbs in the visible URL, only the domain. They remain on desktop. ([Source](https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2025/01/simplifying-breadcrumbs))
- **June 12, 2025:** Google announces it will phase out several structured data features, including Book Actions, Course Info, ClaimReview, Estimated Salary, Learning Video, Special Announcement and Vehicle Listing. ([Source](https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2025/06/simplifying-search-results))
- **September 9, 2025:** Google removes the documentation for course info, estimated salary, learning video, special announcement and vehicle listing. These types no longer appear in results. ([Source](https://developers.google.com/search/updates#simplification))
- **November 5, 2025:** Google phases out the practice problem and dataset types in Search. For Book Actions, Google withdraws the deprecation notice. ([Source](https://developers.google.com/search/updates#simplification-nov))
- **May 7, 2026:** FAQ rich results no longer appear in Google Search. Google announced this in its changelog entry of May 8, 2026. ([Source](https://developers.google.com/search/updates#deprecating-the-faq-rich-result-feature))
- **June 15, 2026:** Google removes the documentation for the FAQ rich result. ([Source](https://developers.google.com/search/updates#removing-faq-rich-result))
- **July 1, 2026:** Google now sends users directly to AMP pages on the publisher's own host. The AMP viewer, AMP Cache and signed exchanges are no longer involved. ([Source](https://developers.google.com/search/updates#updating-amp-documentation))

## Related terms

- [SERP (search engine results page)](https://seo-geo-glossary.com/en/glossary/serp/index.md)
- [SERP analysis](https://seo-geo-glossary.com/en/glossary/serp-analysis/index.md)
- [Featured snippet](https://seo-geo-glossary.com/en/glossary/featured-snippet/index.md)
- [People Also Ask](https://seo-geo-glossary.com/en/glossary/people-also-ask/index.md)
- [Rich results](https://seo-geo-glossary.com/en/glossary/rich-results/index.md)
- [Knowledge panel](https://seo-geo-glossary.com/en/glossary/knowledge-panel/index.md)
- [Local pack](https://seo-geo-glossary.com/en/glossary/local-pack/index.md)
- [Sitelinks](https://seo-geo-glossary.com/en/glossary/sitelinks/index.md)
- [AI Overviews](https://seo-geo-glossary.com/en/glossary/ai-overviews/index.md)

## Sources

- [Visual elements gallery – Google Search Central](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/visual-elements-gallery)
- [Featured snippets and your website – Google Search Central](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/featured-snippets)
- [Structured data and rich results – Google Search Central](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/structured-data/search-gallery)
- [What are SERP features – Ahrefs Help (secondary source)](https://help.ahrefs.com/en/articles/1259365-what-are-serp-features)

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Last updated: October 8, 2026
URL: https://seo-geo-glossary.com/en/glossary/serp-features/