Hiding Content Temporarily Is OKAY, Google Says

Feb 21, 2008 - 8:14 am 4 by

A Google Groups thread asks about hiding content using AJAX and CSS. Google Webmaster Central rep, Wysz, said:

If your text is temporarily "hidden" as part of your site's UI but is still intended for the user to see at some point, you probably don't need to worry about Google mistakenly viewing it as deceptive.

Yes, so my title was a bit deceiving but this question is a common webmaster question.

Many sites deploy styling techniques that only shows content on a specific click. Heck, even Google deploys this on their help content. For example, take a look at this page. Notice that when you click on the links in the middle of the page, you then notice more content appear. Technically, Google is temporarily hiding text from the user until that user clicks on the link.

This is a form of acceptable hidden text, since a user can get to the content while on the same page.

Forum discussion at Google Groups.

 

Popular Categories

The Pulse of the search community

Search Video Recaps

 
- YouTube
Video Details More Videos Subscribe to Videos

Most Recent Articles

Search Forum Recap

Daily Search Forum Recap: April 25, 2025

Apr 25, 2025 - 10:00 am
Search Video Recaps

Search News Buzz Video Recap: Google Earnings Report, Ranking Volatility, AI Overviews Harm Clicks, Search Ads Grow & More

Apr 25, 2025 - 8:01 am
Google Search Engine Optimization

Google: Image Streaming Is Not SEO Friendly

Apr 25, 2025 - 7:51 am
Google

Google Mobile Tests Search Snippet With Blue URL & URL / Site Name Switch

Apr 25, 2025 - 7:41 am
Bing Ads

Microsoft Advertising Suspends Client Connection Requests Temporarily

Apr 25, 2025 - 7:31 am
Google

Google Search Behind The Music Generative AI Section

Apr 25, 2025 - 7:21 am
Previous Story: First Reports of Google Reader Spam Injection?