Report: Google Featured Snippets Decline & Direct Answers Increase

Apr 17, 2018 - 7:28 am 7 by

Keyboard3 Google 1900px

The folks at RankRanger posted on Twitter that they are seeing less Featured Snippets show up on Google mobile search, while more Direct Answers are showing up. They shared a chart from their mobile SERP trackers:

click for full size

The desktop version shows very little change with direct answers or featured snippets, while Mozcast's desktop tool does show an increase.

I have not seen the SEO community talking much about this, so this is going just by tool data. I didn't build the tool, so it is hard for me to say exactly how it works.

But if Google is showing more direct answers on mobile versus featured snippets, that means your web sites are getting less play on mobile search and voice answers.

Forum discussion at Twitter.

 

Popular Categories

The Pulse of the search community

Search Video Recaps

 
Video Details More Videos Subscribe to Videos

Most Recent Articles

Search Forum Recap

Daily Search Forum Recap: January 30, 2026

Jan 30, 2026 - 10:00 am
Search Video Recaps

Search News Buzz Video Recap: Google Rank Volatility Heated, AI Overviews To Send Less Traffic, Opt Out Of It, Yahoo Scouts & Bing AI Performance Report

Jan 30, 2026 - 8:01 am
Google Updates

Google Search Ranking Volatility Super Heated January 29 & 30

Jan 30, 2026 - 7:51 am
Google Ads

Google Ads Tests Third-Party Endorsement Content On Search Ads

Jan 30, 2026 - 7:41 am
Google Search Engine Optimization

Google Search Adds Preferred Sources Help Docs

Jan 30, 2026 - 7:31 am
Google Maps

Google Business Profiles Review Appeals No Longer Delayed

Jan 30, 2026 - 7:21 am
 
Previous Story: Michael Kirchhoff - The Search Community Honors You