SEO 106: Google’s SERPs – Learn its Incredible Secrets – Part 2

Part 1 of this post dealt with the 1st seven secrets of the informative guide to SERPs.

8. Google Flights

Google Flights is an online booking search service which enables the sale of airline tickets through third-party companies. Google also purchased the ITA Software in 2010 that is the backbone of the flight industry.
Google Flights was launched in 2011. They are in direct competition with other companies (Expedia, Flight Network, Kayak, Skyscanner) for the same service.

Not all flights are included in Google Flights. It has over 300 partners (e.g. airlines, online travel agencies, aggregators) that it is linked to. If the plane carrier or airline is not partnered with Google, then their flights will likely not show up.

The flight box consists of

• a summary [title] of the flight request
• an origin
• a destination
• a departure date
• a return date
• a list of the carriers with their name, duration of the flight, no. of stops, and price; and
• an action button to “Search [more] flights”.

Below is a SERPs example of “Montreal Paris” typed into Google’s search engine.

By clicking on one of the airlines, you can get more information on that flight. If you decide to continue you the process, you may have the chance to book directly, “Book on Google with [airline]“. Google gets a commission from the “airlines”.

You cannot sign up for Google Flights directly.

9. Google Hotels

Google Hotel Ads display your hotel availability and rates on Google Search, Maps, and the Assistant. It means to attract customers quickly to your hotel in a particular location. Below is a SERPs example of “Cheap Hotels Montreal” typed into Google’s search engine.

You would need a Google Hotel Center account to send and manage your hotel rates and availability across Google’s platforms. This you would need to link to a Google Ads account to run Hotel campaigns and manage your budget. According to them, they can only guarantee budgets that are greater than $100 USD.

Google states that the benefits to the client will be to:

• “Attract travelers who are actively looking for a hotel in a particular area.”
• “Tailor a hotel’s prices” based on availability.
• Allow customers to book on Google or the client’s website.
• “Pay for an ad” when someone has made a successful booking.

With Hotel campaigns, you can bid on when someone completes a booking or when they click on your ad. The bidding options are Commissions (pay-per-booking), Commissions (pay-per-stay), Max CPC bid (fixed or percent), or Enhanced CPC.

10. Google Images

Google Images is a search service that allows one to search the web for images. It was started in 2001 as the Google search could not handle the high demand for pictures of Jennifer Lopez’s green Versace dress. According to Techcrunch, Google Images has some 1 Billion pageviews a day.

Image result boxes are often included in Google’s organic SERPs and appear of the first page. They may not be the first item, but they may appear somewhere on the first page. Below is a SERPs example of “Montreal” typed into Google’s Image search engine.

When one searches Google directly, the image carousal will show several images, with a clickable right arrow to show more images. In Google Images, one usually sees a thumbnail image of the search item.

When the user clicks on a thumbnail, a larger size is displayed, with additional link and copyright information.

11. Google Maps, Drive, Directions & More

Google Maps are everywhere. They are on your phone and in nearly every search you do. They appear is local search results, knowledge graph panels, and more.

Google Maps is a web mapping service that was started in 2005. It offers satellite imagery, aerial photography, street maps, Street Views, real-time traffic conditions, route planning and more. Already in 2017, Google Maps was used by over 1 billion people every month.

Below is an example of a search query done on Google Maps.

If you are in the transportation industry, Google has a free Transit Partner program that you can join, so that your company can a) reach more riders; and b) get worldwide coverage. To qualify for participation, your transit company needs to meet the following criteria: a) provide a publicly accessible service; and b) operate on fixed routes and schedules. Don’t forget that this service is free!!!

12. Google News

Google News has been described as the world’s largest news aggregator. It is offered in 35 languages and aggregates news from various websites. The top three linked stories include a thumbnail image or video for each, the source of the news story, a short snippet, and the age of the story (when it appeared).

Josh Cohen, Senior Business Product Manager, stated

There are more than 25,000 publishers from around the world in Google News today. That’s because Google News is a great source of readers, sending publishers about 1 billion clicks every month.

Josh Cohen

The full page view has additional info where you can filter further to choose stories based on different categories, such as World, Local, Business, Sports, etc. It is also available as an Android or iOS app.

To show up on Google News, you will need to become a Google News Publisher on Publisher Center, and follow its guidelines for submission. And what must I do to rank higher?? Ranking within Google News is determined by certain factors, including:

• Relevance of content / original content
• Prominence
• Authoritativeness
• Freshness
• Location
• Language

Alternatively, if you are a freelance journalist, you might consider offering your content to established publishers that are already active on Google News.

13. Google Shopping

When you use Google Shopping, you are browsing products from “advertisers and merchants” who have “paid” to place their ads there. For consumers, it is a convenient way to compare prices for the same product. This is also known as Comparison Shopping.

Google Shopping has its own homepage, but you can access it also by clicking the “Shopping” tab under the navigation bar. The Google Shopping results are shown in either list or thumbnail image view.

More information on the process can be found at Hubspot, but in short you will need a Google Merchant Center account. Thereafter, you will need to upload accurate product information, and continue with the remaining setup.

14. Google Weather

Google Weather shows localized weather information for the location selected. The snippet shows weather for the day with temperature, precipitation and wind data. This is followed by a weekly forecast and any warning below that. The snippet box has a link below it, showing that the data is coming from weather.com.

And More

For Part 1 of this article, click here Google’s SERPs – Learn its Incredible Secrets – Part 1.

References

https://seoexpertscompanyindia.com/types-of-google-search-results/
https://mayecreate.com/blog/types-of-google-search-listings/