Google has recently, estimates are in the past few weeks, added auto-play video thumbnails in the local finder on mobile. Allie Margeson spotted this and posted a video of it in action on Twitter, which I will embed below.
Auto-play thumbnail videos are not new in Google Search but they seem to be in new for the local finder results.
Here is the video:
Videos in Google Business Profiles auto-playing in the Google Maps app🤩 For businesses that have a video, it looks like it gets the second spot in the carousel (first is frequently the cover photo) even if there are more recent photos. pic.twitter.com/EXCVXc0Tc2
— Allie Margeson (@SeoAllie) November 8, 2022
Darren Shaw said this is an "Awesome attention grabber to increase conversions."
Several local SEOs have confirmed this is newish:
It's definitely newish. Noticed it for the 1st time maybe 4 weeks ago.
— Colan Nielsen (@ColanNielsen) November 8, 2022
I hereby declare the feature as new (enough)
— Mike Blumenthal (@mblumenthal) November 8, 2022
Just note, it might not be super new but newish:
In frequently cover - video auto play may new. But in second - not new because I m noticing this since past 4-5 months. As handling client's profile. You may also check in your profile Barry. Might be helpful:) . pic.twitter.com/DWFQkTYwHz
— Khushal Bherwani (@b4k_khushal) November 9, 2022
What do you think?
Forum discussion at Twitter.
