Back in 2012 was the first time I covered Google crossing out or striking out search terms, which is now in the format of Google detailing which word is "missing" from the search result based on your query.
In short, if you do a search for something more long-tail in Google, and Google returns search results that do not match all your keywords in your search phrase, then Google may tell you which word(s) are not part of the snippet they are displaying.
I was unable to replicate the "missing" snippet in Google right now, so I grabbed a newer version of it from Aaron Robb:
Again, this is something we covered back in 2012 but the format for this that stuck is this "missing" format.
A WebmasterWorld thread is discussing it, of course with skepticism. One webmaster said, "You really don't know what you are searching for, so we are giving you what we know you really are looking for."
But truth is, there are ways around it as a searcher, by maybe using quotes and so forth.
In any event, you probably have seen this come up every now and then, and no you are not crazy.
Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.
