Ecommerce

Geo Data Added To Google Search Results

It was just a couple weeks ago that Google confirmed the addition of breadcrumb information in place of URLs for some search results. Today, Google has announced another change to the green URL line: In some cases, “region tags” — geographic information about the web site — will appear next to the URL.

Google shares this example of a boxing club with a fairly common name:

google-geotag

Site owners have some measure of control over the region tag by using the geographic targeting settings in Google’s Webmaster Tools.

When will this geographic information show? Google says only in very specific circumstances:

  • only for sites with .com or .net addresses, and never for sites with geographic TLDs such as .br for Brazil
  • only when the geographic info supplied by the site owner is different from where the search takes places

Google estimates that only 1% of searches will include results with region tags during this “initial release” of the feature.

Explore more on

Brazil Geographic information system Google Google Search Google Search Console Search engine optimization Top-level domain
Add Search Engine Land as a preferred source on Google

Editorial disclosure

Contributing authors are chosen for their expertise and work under the oversight of the editorial staff. Search Engine Land is owned by Semrush. The contributor was not asked to mention Semrush; the opinions expressed are their own.

About the author

Matt McGee
Matt McGee joined Third Door Media as a writer/reporter/editor in September 2008. He served as Editor-In-Chief from January 2013 until his departure in July 2017. He can be found on Twitter at @MattMcGee.