Search Result Snippets
Part of the Query Understanding series by Daniel Tunkelang.
Overview
A search result snippet is the short passage of text shown below a result title, and it serves a specific job: helping the user decide whether this result is worth clicking. A good snippet shows the portion of the document most relevant to the query, ideally including the user’s search terms in readable context. Static descriptions written by content authors are consistent but query-agnostic; dynamically generated snippets extract the most relevant passage at query time and are typically more useful. The quality criteria for a snippet are that it shows why this result matches, conveys what the underlying content actually covers, and is readable as a standalone excerpt. In product search, structured data — price, rating, availability — often conveys more decision-relevant information than extracted text.
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