Google adds Googlebot desktop vs. mobile selector for Rich Results test

Here is a new way to test to see if your site has issues with Google's mobile-first indexing.

Chat with SearchBot

Google announced it has upgraded the rich results testing tool to let developers and SEOs see how Google sees your rich results between Googlebot desktop and Googlebot mobile.

Why let you choose? One of the reasons a site may not have been moved over to mobile-first indexing is that its structured data and rich results may differ between its desktop and mobile pages. This addition to the tool lets you clearly see how Google sees this markup on your pages when it is accessed via desktop Googlebot or mobile Googlebot.

Google wrote, “The new functionality will help you review your structured data implementation using both user agents to prepare for mobile-first indexing.”

What it looks like. Here is the announcement and screen shot from Google:

Why we should care. With Google defaulting indexing to mobile-first indexing on July 1st and over 50% of  indexing now done over mobile-first indexing, Google is now going to be giving more tools and advice on what problems a site might have between its desktop and mobile version. This will not just help sites that have yet to move over to mobile-first indexing prepare to move, but also help sites that have already moved monitor the impact of future changes.


About the author

Barry Schwartz
Staff
Barry Schwartz is a Contributing Editor to Search Engine Land and a member of the programming team for SMX events. He owns RustyBrick, a NY based web consulting firm. He also runs Search Engine Roundtable, a popular search blog on very advanced SEM topics. Barry can be followed on Twitter here.

Get the must-read newsletter for search marketers.