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In the most recent installment of Google’s “Search Off The Record” podcast, a member of the Search Relations team hinted that Google might be heading towards automatically identifying language versions of web pages. This could potentially lessen the requirement for manually adding hreflang annotations.
Gary Illyes, a Google analyst, advocates for search engines to depend less on manual annotations like hreflang and more on automatically acquired signals.
In a recent podcast, Illyes remarked:
“Ultimately, I would prefer fewer site annotations and more automated learning.”
He argued that this method is more dependable than the current reliance on manual annotations.
Illyes also highlighted the progress Google’s systems have made:
“Nearly a decade ago, we were already capable of this, and that was nearly ten years ago.”
He underscored the potential for further advancement:
“If we could do this reliably almost ten years ago, there’s no reason we shouldn’t be able to do it even better now.”
The discussion also addressed the present state of hreflang implementation.
The podcast highlighted that only approximately 9% of websites use hreflang annotations on their home pages.
This relatively low adoption rate could be influencing Google’s exploration of alternative methods for identifying language and regional targeting.
While supporting automatic detection, Illyes also acknowledged that website owners should have the option to override these automatic settings when needed.
He admitted, “I believe we should provide overrides,” acknowledging the importance of manual control in certain circumstances.
Although no official changes have been announced, this discussion offers a glimpse into the possible future direction of Google’s approach to multilingual and multi-regional websites.
Keep an eye out for any official updates from Google on this subject.
This potential shift in Google’s approach to language detection and targeting could significantly impact website owners and SEO professionals.
It may alleviate the technical challenges associated with implementing hreflang annotations, especially for large websites with multiple language versions.
Key takeaways from this discussion include:
For new multilingual sites or restructuring existing ones, consider a clear and logical structure to make language versions easily identifiable, which may aid in automatic detection.
Original news from SearchEngineJournal
