Google to roll out Page experience signals in Search ranking in May 2021

Back in May 2020, Google announced that it will incorporate the page experience metrics into its ranking criteria for the Top Stories feature in Search on mobile, and remove the AMP requirement from Top Stories eligibility. Google will update the eligibility criteria for the Top Stories experience along with the page experience ranking update in May 2021.

Google on Tuesday said that the page experience signals in Search ranking will roll out in May 2021. Announced in May this year, these new signals measure aspects of how users perceive the experience of interacting with a web page to make the web better for everyone.

The new signals combine Core Web Vitals, a set of real-world, user-centered metrics that quantify they key aspects of the user experience, with Google's existing search signals for page experience including mobile-friendliness, safe-browsing, HTTPS-security, and intrusive interstitial guidelines to provide a holistic picture of the quality of a user's experience on a web page.

Back in May 2020, Google announced that it will incorporate the page experience metrics into its ranking criteria for the Top Stories feature in Search on mobile, and remove the AMP requirement from Top Stories eligibility. Google will update the eligibility criteria for the Top Stories experience along with the page experience ranking update in May 2021.

"At Google Search, our mission is to help users find the most relevant and quality sites on the web. The goal with these updates is to highlight the best experiences and ensure that users can find the information they're looking for. Our work is ongoing, which is why we plan to incorporate more page experience signals going forward and update them on a yearly basis," Google wrote in an official blog post.

In addition, Google is planning to test a visual indicator that highlights pages in search results that have a great page experience. Just like the snippet or image preview that helps provide topical context for users to know what information a page can provide, the visual indicators on Google Search results is another way to help users in choosing the result they want to visit.

"We believe that providing information about the quality of a web page's experience can be helpful to users in choosing the search result that they want to visit," Google said.