Video listings on Google SERPs change & PRT’s new “Search elements”

Last week, Google started rolling out a change in how videos are listed in its SERPs.

Instead of showing videos as organic results, now up to 10 videos are shown within an “element box” called Videos. (If you’re not sure what we mean by element box, think of it like Top Stories, Images, etc.)

This change means that most videos showing up in a Google search will be found in the new Videos element box on page 1. (After the first page, videos may continue to appear as organic results, but this is likely a temporary situation until the change is fully applied.)

Below, we’re including a mini-FAQ to attempt to answer some anticipated questions about this change right up front. If you think of something we didn’t include here, just let us know.

 

What’s changed?

The immediate effect within PRT is that all video terms tracked on Google are shown in PRT as ‘not ranked’ (NTH). Since they’re now within their own Google element box, they’re no longer found in the top 100 organic results. But don’t worry, keep reading and we’ll help you locate these ranks.

 

How do I track videos now on Google with PRT?

Within PRT, videos now fall under a new term-type called “search elements”. We’ve automatically switched all of the affected terms to this new term-type. When you’re adding videos to be tracked on Google, now use Search Elements > Videos to track.
You’ll see this icon near those terms: 

 

What are search elements?

The boxes of data in Google SERPs that aren’t organic 1-100 results, such as Videos, Images, Top Stories, and Snack Pack, are called “search elements” within PRT. (Above, we described them as “element boxes” to help you visualize them in the Google SERP.) Currently, PRT supports Snack Pack and Videos as search elements, and soon we’ll support more.

 

How do I add search elements?

In both the Add form and the Wizard, you’ll now see Search Elements listed as a new type of term you can track. Select it, and then select the elements you’d like to track for your URL and term.
(Select Organic, too if you like. Organic plus any number of searched elements tracked for the same term-URL combination will count as only 1 term out of your quota.)

 

How are search elements displayed?

Just as with Snack Pack, you will see a number and a letter. For example, 3 J.
The number represents the position of the entire box on the page, and the letter represents the position of your URL within the search element’s results.

For example, when tracking a video on Google, 3 J would mean that the Videos element box was in the 3rd position (occurring after two organic results), and your video within that search element was 10th (J being the 10th letter in the alphabet), from left to right.

 

What happened to Snack Pack terms?

In this new concept, Snack Pack listings are no longer treated as a term-type of their own.
As we explained with Videos, Snack Pack is now a search element (a box of data separate from Google’s organic results). It’s now supported under this new term-type. And as with Videos, Snack Pack terms have been switched to the new type. When adding Snack Pack terms now, just add them as search elements (instead of as the old Snack Pack type).
You’ll now see this icon near snack pack terms: 

 

This was just a short FAQ, so give us your additional questions!
Contact us by opening a ticket, catching us on PRT,chat or booking a 1-on-1 Skype meeting. We’re here to help.

-The ProRankTracker Team.