Let's add this to the list of things Google is doing or trying to test, in order to keep the searcher in the Google search results. Google is testing a new preview feature for the recipe results that overlay more details about the steps of a recipe without immediately taking you to the publishers site with the full recipe.
Normally when you see a recipe rich result, you click on it, it will take you to the publishers site, at least when it is in this grid format. But now Google is testing a "preview" button that will overlay a nice number of the steps of the recipe with a button to then take you to the publishers site.
Here is what Sergey Alakov spotted Google testing and posted this screen shot on Twitter:
And when you click it, it overlays this:
This is what the normal recipe results look like, and if you click on any of it, it takes you right to the publishers site:
Google!
Forum discussion at Twitter.
Update: Here is Danny Sullivan from Google's response:
So the compact grid format can make it hard for people to know which recipes might be useful to them, such as if they already have needed ingredients at hand. This test is meant to let people get more but limited info while still directing to the recipe page thru the link....
— Danny Sullivan (@dannysullivan) November 21, 2019
It is an experiment, and we might consider other options including how to describe this option, such as perhaps "Learn More." Overall, the goal is to better connect people to the recipes and recipe providers that are useful to them.
— Danny Sullivan (@dannysullivan) November 21, 2019
