Hiding Content Temporarily Is OKAY, Google Says

Feb 21, 2008 - 8:14 am 4 by

A Google Groups thread asks about hiding content using AJAX and CSS. Google Webmaster Central rep, Wysz, said:

If your text is temporarily "hidden" as part of your site's UI but is still intended for the user to see at some point, you probably don't need to worry about Google mistakenly viewing it as deceptive.

Yes, so my title was a bit deceiving but this question is a common webmaster question.

Many sites deploy styling techniques that only shows content on a specific click. Heck, even Google deploys this on their help content. For example, take a look at this page. Notice that when you click on the links in the middle of the page, you then notice more content appear. Technically, Google is temporarily hiding text from the user until that user clicks on the link.

This is a form of acceptable hidden text, since a user can get to the content while on the same page.

Forum discussion at Google Groups.

 

Popular Categories

The Pulse of the search community

Follow

Search Video Recaps

 
Google Core Update Rumbling, Manual Actions FAQs, Core Web Vitals Updates, AI, Bing, Ads & More - YouTube
Video Details More Videos Subscribe to Videos

Most Recent Articles

Search Forum Recap

Daily Search Forum Recap: March 18, 2024

Mar 18, 2024 - 4:00 pm
Google Updates

Google Urges Patience As The March 2024 Core Update Continues To Rollout

Mar 18, 2024 - 7:51 am
Google

Official: Google Replaces Perspective Filter With Forums Filter

Mar 18, 2024 - 7:41 am
Google Maps

Google Business Profiles Now Offers Additional Review After Appeal Is Denied

Mar 18, 2024 - 7:31 am
Google Maps

EU Searchers Complaining About Google Maps Features Changes Related To DMA

Mar 18, 2024 - 7:21 am
Google

Google Showing Fewer Sitelinks Within Search

Mar 18, 2024 - 7:11 am
Previous Story: First Reports of Google Reader Spam Injection?