Bug Causes Some Google+ Elements To Drop From Brand Boxes [UPDATED]

Some Google+ elements have disappeared from Knowledge Graph boxes that appear in Google search for some brands, but Google says this is a bug that’s being fixed.

The bug only impacts the Knowledge Graph box appearing on the right side of the search results page. If the brand has a Google+ page, then some Google+ elements are integrated into that box, in particular, a “Recent Posts” section.

For users who aren’t logged into Google, that Recent Posts section no longer shows. Those who are logged-in still see them. Google assures us this is going to return, and that it’s only missing because of a bug that’s being fixed.

In an earlier edition of this story, we said that Follow buttons were also missing for logged-out users. Google tells us those never appeared (and thus, there’s no change in presentation as a result of this bug). Logged-in users still see them.

Our earlier edition also said this was the second pull-back on Google+ integration into search results in as many months. Last month, Google+ authorship display was killed. However, since Google tells us this was a bug, this is more of an isolated incident rather than part of a pattern of removing more of Google+ from search results, it seems.

Postscript: Google tells us that the bug was fixed late Thursday night. And we confirmed that Recent Posts are displaying in brand boxes for signed-out users.

About The Author

Martin Beck

Martin Beck is Third Door Media's Social Media Reporter, covering the latest news for Marketing Land and Search Engine Land. He spent 24 years with the Los Angeles Times, serving as social media and reader engagement editor from 2010-2014. A graduate of UC Irvine and the University of Missouri journalism school, Beck started started his career at the Times as a sportswriter and copy editor. Follow Martin on Twitter (@MartinBeck), Facebook and/or Google+.