Earlier this year, Google announced a trial test, adding Gmail content directly to users’ SERPs. According to a post on the Inside Search blog, the company will expand this test to include content taken from Google Drive. While it’s unclear if either feature will ever become standard, it makes top search positions and SEO strategies increasingly important to stand out on cluttered SERPs.
Google reported that many of those enrolled in the test have enjoyed the presence of Gmail data in personal search, motivating the company to test Drive-enhanced results pages. Google Drive is the updated version of Google Docs, which allows users to host most media types in Google’s cloud for instant access. With the addition of Drive content in SERPs, users can quickly pull up documents, slideshows and other files they store with the tool.
Like the Gmail SERP data, Drive content doesn’t automatically appear on search pages. Users must click a button in the top right of the page to expand the window showing relevant files from their Drive.
Brafton highlighted inbox content appearing on SERPs earlier this year, pointing out that it could help email marketing campaigns related to queries drive additional engagement among subscribers. However, including Google Drive content on a SERP doesn’t seem to offer increased marketing capability.
