Google is testing a new mobile search feature, which displays a small smartphone icon next to results for pages that have been optimized for smartphones.
The feature was first spotted by Bryson Meunier, the Director of Content Solutions at Resolution Media, who blogged about it, showing the following screen cap:
He says he was seeing the icon next to Wikipedia and IMDB results, as well as for other sites with mobile content.
Meunier also updated his post with an official confirmation from Google about the test, saying, “We’re experimenting with ways to optimize the mobile search experience, including helping users identify smartphone-optimized sites.”
Perhaps there are more approaches out there in the wild.
Google has been encouraging webmasters to optimize their sites for mobile for quite some time. In recent months, they’ve really ramped up this encouragement with their GoMo campaign.
It’s in Google’s best interest to see that content is optimized for mobile phones as mobile search queries begin to grow. It doesn’t reflect very well on Google or the Google user experience when the search engine points to pages that are awkward for users.
It’s obviously in webmasters’ best interest to provide users with optimized experiences to keep them from leaving their sites before converting.
Hat tip to Barry Schwartz for pointing to Meunier’s post.