The Implications Of Google Removing Author Photos From Search by Omar Rashad Last week the SEO world was rocked when Google announced its plan to remove the author photos from search results. In the past adding authorship and the image in search results had proven to increase the number of clicks exponentially. The question remains, why did Google choose to implement this change that had only been in place a short while? There are many speculations about this sudden change and the reasoning behind it. One school of thought believes that the change might be centered around user experience, and ties in with the search engines new 'mobile first' management strategy. The idea is that, eventually, mobile users will surpass desktop users making it the most important market. Because of this, Google is aiming to unify the site into a single site that is mobile and desktop friendly. This is very possibly the case, as studies have shown that users prefer search results without the author images. This might be shocking, as it is also a fact that the addition of an author image can increase CTR by up to 150%. The removal of this feature will severly impact traffic for many sites, regardless of the studies. Another school of thought suggests that the internet giant has implemented the change solely for the purpose of removing the unfair advantage an image gives search results over their ads. In recent years PPC ads have taken over much of the prime space in Google search, and if they aren't being clicked on then the bottom line will be affecte. Regardless of the reasoning behind the change, the fact remains that one well kept SEO secret is now a thing of the past forcing marketers to find traffic elsewhere. The recent announcement by Google regarding the end of author pictures in search results took the SEO world by storm. This seemingly insignificant feature was actually a gem for online marketers that could raise their CTR by up to 150%. The question on everyones mind has become why did google implement this sudden change, and where do we go from here. Keyword Advantage is a social media site aimed at uncovering the advantages & disadvantages by providing an insightful Keyword Advantage Review.
