Last week, reports claimed Google was testing mobile search results without favicons or colors, eliminating any advantage conferred by a well optimized favicon. However, a Google representative confirmed this was not a test.
Favicons In Search Results
The word favicon is short for “favorite icons,” an image meant to be shown in browser tabs, in bookmarks and in Google search results. Google recently recommended that publishers use favicons that are at least 32×32 pixels in size.
Google shows favicons in search results, which makes it a subtle way for ranked websites to attract attention and traffic. For that reason it would be a blow for many websites should Google remove the favicons because it would further erode search visibility.
Favicons Missing?
Lily Ray tweeted a screenshot showing that the favicons were missing in search results.
Google testing organic results with NO favicons or colors. 👎🏽 pic.twitter.com/zhcdnQ04bv
— Lily Ray 😏 (@lilyraynyc) November 8, 2024
The screenshot clearly shows that the favicons are missing from the search results. However the reason for that happening turned out to be something else entirely.
Googler Rajan Patel, VP of Engineering at Google, tweeted a response that explained that this was not the way the search results should be displaying. He explained that this kind of search result is meant for low end devices that can’t support rich results.
He tweeted: