SERP

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SERP is short for a Search Engine Results Page, a feature of search engines including IndieWeb Search that describes search results or direct answers to questions answered using content in a search index.

How

SERP results were known for years as a list of "10 blue links". In this format, both links to pages and meta descriptions were displayed. Ads are also considered SERPs, but should be visually distinct from actual search results. Mainstream search providers are good at distinguishing ads from organic content.

Now many search engines make use of "featured snippets" or "direct answers" which add new features that can be rendered on a SERP. These include: snippets of articles that answer a question being displayed directly on a SERP page; carousels of news stories, recipes, job postings, and other content being displayed; and more.

IndieWeb Examples

IndieWeb Search renders SERP results like this:

Rendering search results has been discussed within the community, particularly with regard to how search results can be represented in a way not currently used by larger, traditional search engines.

With microformats markup available on my sites in the IndieWeb Search index, there are many opportunities to experiment with how search results are rendered.

Some ideas include:

• Adding reply context to search results.
• Adding a discovery mechanism for site home pages rather than just individual pages that match a keyword.