Google problem!!

[Big Bill]

But why is the Description Tag shown as a page description on many search
results for other url's??

Because they do indeed use it.

BB

 

[Big Bill]

Meta tags are a thing of the past. I was reading an article the other
day that said that there was only one search engine left that was useing
them.

A quick google found this.
http://searchenginewatch.com/sereport/article.php/2165061

J.

Actually, meta tags are coming back. They never went away, in fact.
Yahoo, being Inktomi-variant powered, takes notice of meta tags. Under
certain circumstances, so does Google. Frankly, saying meta tags are a
thing of the past is itself a thing of the past. Has been for Lordy
knows how long.

BB

 

[Dado]

You have replied to yourself, and not quoted anything you're replying to.
Tsk tsk.

Can you give an example of a Google search that yields the contents of the
meta description as the bit on the results page?

The description tag shown for:

www.listopadweb.hr ("listopad web studio" as Google search)

 

[Dado]

You have replied to yourself, and not quoted anything you're replying to.
Tsk tsk.

Can you give an example of a Google search that yields the contents of the
meta description as the bit on the results page?

The description tag shown for:

www.listopadweb.hr ("listopad web studio" as Google search)

 

[Neal]

They have changed a lot of things recently -- but not the display of
descriptions -- they've been doing that for ages.

Can't have been that long - I've just noticed it, and I check like once a
month on sites I follow. Normally I expect to see quoted material from the
content, but now the description seems to be the norm.

 

[C.W.]

Actually, meta tags are coming back. They never went away, in fact.
Yahoo, being Inktomi-variant powered, takes notice of meta tags. Under
certain circumstances, so does Google.

Google does appear to do so _at times_ but other thingies often win
out too on that search engine. Yahoo though did create a little buzz
when they announced they would take META into consideration ... which
they also supply AllTheWeb results and, I think, currently MSN's.

Frankly, saying meta tags are a

thing of the past is itself a thing of the past. Has been for Lordy
knows how long.

Since around 1996 or 1997 I think - when the poor little tags were
being abused to gain "good placement" on metacrawlers and search
engines around in that time period that did consider those a bit more
highly even though the META didn't always match the page's text at
all. However Yahoo learned their lesson - although they will take META
description, at least, into consideration, they don't weigh it heavily
in consideration to other factors although part of the META
description shows up in the abstract on the results page.

Odd that after all these years some folks never learned "less is best"
or keywords is for keywords and description and/or one of the other
META tags is not a nifty place for you to just repeat the META
keywords listing of 500 or more characters in length ...

Carol