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Google Introduces Breadcrumb-Like Mobile Search Results

Written by Amberly Dressler | Apr 21, 2015 5:00:00 AM

Most often used on ecommerce websites, breadcrumb navigation shows users how they got to the page they are currently viewing.

In theory, breadcrumb navigation can improve the user experience and help increase conversion because a user knows how to, for example, get back to the page they were just viewing, like from a product search results page to an individual product page and then back to the search results. 

What's more, when brands mark up breadcrumb information in the body of a Web page, Google can use it to understand and present the information on their pages in its search results. Google has now updated its algorithms that display URLs in the search results to better reflect the names of websites for mobile searches, using the real-world name of the site instead of the domain name, and the URL structure of the sites in a breadcrumbs-like format (see screenshot below, a result from the query "history of pizza").

In addition to this update, Google is also introducing support for schema.org structured data for websites to signal to its algorithms:

*The website name to be used instead of the domain name

*The URL structure of the URL as breadcrumbs

Finally, it should be noted that these changes are rolling out gradually and only affect mobile results.