GoogleData ChangeConfirmed

Featured snippet deduplication

A page promoted into a featured snippet stopped also appearing as a regular result on page one, removing the double listing.

What changed

Google confirmed that a URL shown in a featured snippet would no longer be repeated in the standard ten organic results on the first page, treating the snippet as the site's position-one listing. Publishers that had previously occupied both slots lost the second appearance, and click-through patterns changed accordingly. Google presented the change as decluttering rather than a ranking change.

Timing

Rollout began 22 January 2020. No completion date was announced. Rankings typically remain unstable for the whole rollout window, so measurements taken inside it are not a reliable read on the outcome.

What it affected