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Google announced that when a URL is too long, they might now replace the URL in the Google search results with a "site hierarchy display," or what appears to look more like a breadcrumb trail. Technically, Google analyzes a site's breadcrumb trail and shows this instead for a "small percentage of search results."
I personally cannot trigger it yet, but many are now seeing it. Here is one example:
Google actually has been testing this since August. We have reports of this at Search Engine Land, RedCardinal.ie and Rob Hammond.
Forum discussion at Cre8asite Forums and WebmasterWorld.
Comments:
No Name
11/19/2009 02:55 pm
google hierarchies....i've never seen this working...must be new
Dave
11/19/2009 09:21 pm
You can see them at http://74.125.67.100/search?hl=en&gl=us&q=spidersapien+reviews&btnG=Search&aq=f&oq=.
Kath
11/24/2009 06:23 pm
I just noticed this in live results and I like it. It doesn't seem to work across the board with long URLs being replaced with breadcrumbs. Is there a format or prefered location that the the breadcrumbs should be in order for this to work in Google? It will be really interesting to see if visitors start clicking on the link rather than the title... it might be more attractive to the visitor to click on the category rather than the product. Interesting, thanks :) Kath