In June of 2022, Mordy Oberstein first spotted a new SERP feature being tested called Google Explore. That’s where a feed of content shows up after a user scrolls through several pages in the mobile SERPs. It has a special treatment in the SERPs and looks like the combination of Search and Discover. As of now, Explore contains a lot of article content and videos. Since it does resemble Discover, I’ve been joking that a Web Stories and Short Videos carousel could end up there (and maybe it will!)
After Mordy spotted Explore, I was able to trigger it a number of times and covered it in my post about the latest experiments and SERP features I was seeing. It’s a wild feature and I’ve been in the test many times since then.
I'm seeing Google Explore more and more recently...
Well, over the past few weeks I have seen Explore more and more in the mobile SERPs. I’m not sure if it has officially rolled out, or if this is just more testing, but it’s worth noting. And I’m seeing Explore trigger for a range of queries, including people and companies now. Melissa Fach pinged me on Twitter about Explore triggering for various companies she was searching for and I was able to replicate that yesterday.
For example, you can see Explore showing up for various types of queries in the tweets below:
Here is Explore showing up for Aaron Rodgers:
More Google Explore activity. I'm now seeing Explore trigger for people, as well as topics. I love how the first category in Explore for Aaron Rodgers is about him playing the guitar. :) That said, there are many subtopics showing for Aaron... pic.twitter.com/dSlLlKQ9XE
— Glenn Gabe (@glenngabe) November 14, 2022
Here is Explore showing up for Tom Cruise (via Khushal Bherwani):
Yes, 🧵 pic.twitter.com/XPrld9UNSG
— Khushal Bherwani (@b4k_khushal) November 14, 2022
And here is Explore showing up for Wix (via Mordy Oberstein):
Yeah def see them for companies but often not as prolific pic.twitter.com/2mWBeyCnVL
— Mordy Oberstein 🇺🇦 (@MordyOberstein) November 14, 2022
Tracking Google Explore in GSC: Good luck.
I’ve said several times on Twitter after triggering Explore, good luck trying to track the feature in GSC!
And believe me, I have tried tracking it… Well, after triggering Explore many times in the SERPs, I ended up tracking an article showing up in Explore from one of my clients. It showed up in GSC in the Performance reporting under Web Search and ranked #32 in the SERPs…
Let’s face it, there’s no way I would be able to tie that to Explore unless I knew it was showing up there. So, you could very well have Explore data in GSC right now, but there’s no way to surface it specifically as Explore. That’s why a filter in GSC for “Explore” would be amazing.
I checked for GSC when a client was ranking there, it's like normal Web Search (so you won't know it's from Explore). If this ever rolls out, they should add a filter for Explore (but I'm not sure that would happen). :)
— Glenn Gabe (@glenngabe) September 10, 2022
Google (Sort Of) Officially Announces Explore At Search On 2022:
During the Search On 2022 live stream, Google did mention that Explore was rolling out, but it seemed focused on travel-related queries. They didn’t cover Explore heavily but did mention it (see the video clip below). And Barry was one of the few people to actually document what he called “Scroll to Explore” in his blog post recapping Search On 2022.
Here is the segment from Search On 2022 where Google explains you’ll be able to “scroll and then branch out and get inspired by related topics…”
Be on the lookout for Explore:
So, if you publish a lot of article content, videos, etc., then be on the lookout for Google Explore in the mobile SERPs. You can trigger it by scrolling several pages on mobile. Sometimes it triggers after just one or two scrolls, but other times it requires four to five scrolls. Again, it’s a fascinating SERP feature that is flying under the radar right now. So scroll away and see what you find.
Forum discussion at Twitter.
