For some searches, Google provides a quick answer or summary with a content snippet from a relevant website. These featured snippets are most likely to show up when your search is in the form of a question.
About featured snippets
Featured snippets are in a special box at the top of your search results with a text description above the link. If you search with the Google Assistant, featured snippets might also be read aloud. Most featured snippets only contain one listing.
Featured snippets include:
- Information quoted from a third-party website
- A link to the page
- The page title
- The URL of the page
The quoted content in featured snippets can be a paragraph, a list or set of steps, or a table.
How featured snippets are chosen
Featured snippets come from web search listings. Google's automated systems determine whether a page would make a good featured snippet to highlight for a specific search request. Your feedback helps us improve our search algorithms and the quality of your search results.
Tip: If you’re a webmaster, learn how to manage featured snippets in Google Search.
Why featured snippets may be removed
Featured snippets are removed if they don’t follow our policies.
Our automated systems are designed not to show featured snippets that don’t follow our policies. However, since the scale of search is so large, we also rely on reports from our users. Your reports help us improve our search algorithms to avoid issues in the future.
We manually remove any reported featured snippets if we find that they don’t follow our policies. If our review shows that a website has other featured snippets that don’t follow our policies or the site itself violates our webmaster guidelines, the site may no longer be eligible for featured snippets.How to report a featured snippet
If you have an issue with a featured snippet, below the featured snippet, click Feedback. You can report a featured snippet if you think it:
- Doesn’t follow our policies
- Has inaccurate or misleading information
- Gives an answer that you don’t like
Featured snippets receive unique formatting and positioning on Google Search and are often spoken aloud by the Google Assistant. Because of this treatment, we apply a unique set of policies about what can show up as a featured snippet:
Sexually explicit
Featured snippets should not be inappropriately sexually explicit or contain vulgar language out of context with a search topic. We do allow featured snippets that contain medical or scientific terms for human anatomy, such as where the phrasing relates to sex education.
Hateful
Featured snippets should not denigrate, insult nor promote or condone violence against or have the purpose of inciting hatred against an individual or group on the basis of their race or ethnic origin, religion, disability, age, nationality, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or characteristics associated with systemic discrimination or marginalization.
Violent
Featured snippets should not incite or glorify violence, nor contain or lead to extremely graphic or violent materials published for the sake of disgusting others.
Dangerous and harmful
Featured snippets should not promote dangerous goods, services or activities nor provide information in a way that would lead to serious and immediate harm, including self-harm, such as mutilation, eating disorders or drug abuse.
Contradicting consensus on public interest topics
Featured snippets about public interest content -- including civic, medical, scientific and historical issues -- should not contradict well-established or expert consensus support.
These policies only apply to what can appear as a featured snippet. They do not apply to web search listings nor cause those to be removed.