Thread: Google adds site hierarchy display in search results

Google is moving forward. A couple of days ago they announced that for certain queries they will be showing breadcrumbs (site hierarchies) in the search results, rather than the well known green web address, or URL, at the bottom of each search result.
For example, the folowing URL ("/spidersapien/"), which doesn't give the user much additional information on the site


will be replaced with the new site hierarchy display

The new display provides useful information about the page you're going to visit, and also you can even tell that "Spidersapien" is a robot toy.
Another advantage, is that each phrase or word from the green line where the URL used to be, is actually a link. For example, clicking on "Robots" will take you to the Robots category page. This way, if you're interested in a more general category than just the product you've searched for, you can easily access it.

Here is how the hierarchy links are generated:

The information in these new hierarchies come from analyzing destination web pages. For example, if you visit the ProductWiki Spidersapien page, you'll see a series of similar links at the top, "Home> Toys & Games> Robots." These are standard navigational tools used throughout the web called "breadcrumbs," which webmasters frequently show on their sites to help users navigate. By analyzing site breadcrumbs, we've been able to improve the search snippet for a small percentage of search results, and we hope to expand in the future.

What do you think about this new site hierarchy display in search results? Will it have impact on keyword optimization?

I like it. The more explanation the better. Everythime I use Google, I feel and appreciate their effort that they pu up to bring us this great service. It is just those little subtle additions that differ them from the rest.

Indeed, the user-friendly experience makes the difference.