Stories in Google – understanding visibility

  • Resolved leslipeterson

    (@leslipeterson)


    4 years, 8 months ago

    I can see in GSC that our stories are ranking, and the keywords they are ranking for.

    My husband and I have the same phone, the same iOS, the same apps (Google and Chrome) in the same version. He can see our stories for those terms I mention above from GSC and I cannot.

    I’ve tried it logged in, logged out and in incognito.

    Can you please explain how they are being distributed via the ranking keywords? Are only some people allowed to see web stories…like it isn’t rolled out yet to everyone in the US? Is there a phone setting I need to change (I *can* see stories in Discover on my phone).

    Any help in understanding why they show up for some people but not others is greatly appreciated.

Viewing 4 replies - 1 through 4 (of 4 total)
  • Plugin Author Pascal Birchler

    (@swissspidy)

    4 years, 8 months ago

    Hi there,

    The Enable Web Stories on Google documentation has all the information about the various places Web Stories can surface on and where those appearances are available.

    For example, the grid view on Google Search is currently only available in English in the US, and the Web Stories carousel in Discover is currently available in the US, Brazil, and India.

    When it comes to serving search results, there are tons of factors playing a role, including things such as the user’s location, language, device, and previous queries. I’ll have to defer to the more detailed documentation on the basics of how Search works though if you’re curious to learn more about that part.

    And since you’re mentioning ranking and keywords, it is worth highlighting the fact thatthe same SEO best practices for web pages also apply to Web Stories. A Web Story is still a web page.

    Finally, for all sorts of search related questions, Google Search Central is the best place to get answers.

    Thread Starter leslipeterson

    (@leslipeterson)

    4 years, 8 months ago

    This looks like a canned response because it addresses all the things I already mentioned above and in no way answers my question. Also, the linked documentation is not at all related to my question.

    I’m not asking how search works. I understand that.

    I am asking why my phone is not displaying visual stories in ANY search I run (including the basic example, “things to do in new york”)

    Plugin Author Pascal Birchler

    (@swissspidy)

    4 years, 8 months ago

    In addition to the factors I’ve already mentioned above that play a role in serving results, there can be numerous other reasons like recent changes, experiments/tests, temporary bugs with certain appearances, ad blockers, etc.

    I just tested the “things to do in new york” example on my device and the Web Stories grid shows up as expected:

    (video)

    It’s impossible to pinpoint the exact reason why it’s not showing for you right now because there are just too many factors like the ones above.

    Adam Dunnage

    (@adamdunnage)

    4 years, 8 months ago

    As we haven’t received a response, I’ll mark this as resolved. Feel free to open a new support topic if you continue to encounter issues, or reopen this topic and we’d be happy to assist. Thank you!

Viewing 4 replies - 1 through 4 (of 4 total)

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