For the past few months we have covered the vocal and visual complaints around Google Search not showing image thumbnails for recipe search results and other search results that generally have image thumbnails attached to the search result snippet. Google has responded to the large Google Webmaster Help thread in the forums by saying we know, we are still investigating, follow our guidelines and then locked the thread down.
Ryan T, a Google community manager, posted an update in the Google Webmaster Help Forums thread saying, "We're aware of the concerns reported in this forum and recognize the urgency for website owners." He added, "we have directed them to the appropriate teams, as we always do."
Ryan then explains why Google cannot reply to individual concerns about this issue, he wrote:
In situations like these, after conducting both broad and specific investigations, we often find that what might seem like a common root cause can differ significantly upon closer examination. This makes it challenging to provide a 'general' reply that would be applicable to everyone. Given the scale, it also isn't really feasible to provide individualized feedback for each case.
Ryan then added that you should follow the guidelines and Google's documentation, linking to the helpful content documentation. "We continue to encourage you to follow our quality guidelines and evaluate your sites based on our documentation, as these practices can significantly impact how your sites are perceived by our systems," he wrote.
He ended by saying, "Rest assured that your voices were heard, and we continuously use your feedback to review and improve our systems."
Then he locked the thread down so you can't post more examples (maybe this was a mistake?).
You can see many examples of this issue in the previous stories I linked to above.
Will there be resolution for some of these bloggers and recipes bloggers or is this part of some sort of helpful content hit? I do not know.
Here is Ryan's full post:
Hello everyone,Thank you for your continued updates and for highlighting the significant impact this has across various niches. We're aware of the concerns reported in this forum and recognize the urgency for website owners. I want to assure you that our Product Experts have brought your concerns to our attention, and we have directed them to the appropriate teams, as we always do.
In situations like these, after conducting both broad and specific investigations, we often find that what might seem like a common root cause can differ significantly upon closer examination. This makes it challenging to provide a 'general' reply that would be applicable to everyone. Given the scale, it also isn't really feasible to provide individualized feedback for each case.
We continue to encourage you to follow our quality guidelines and evaluate your sites based on our documentation, as these practices can significantly impact how your sites are perceived by our systems.
We appreciate your patience and commitment to communicating your experiences. One of our primary goals as a community is precisely to actively listen to your input and do our best to enhance the web experience for everyone — both users and website owners.
Rest assured that your voices were heard, and we continuously use your feedback to review and improve our systems.
Thank you again for your cooperation and understanding.
Forum discussion at Google Webmaster Help Forums.
