Google says there are no plans for a Core Web Vitals badge in search results after proposing the idea when the metrics were first introduced.
This is stated by Google’s Search Advocate John Mueller during the Google Search Central SEO office-hours hangout recorded on January 21.
A question was submitted asking for an update on the Core Web Vitals badge and whether it’s something that will be rolled out in the future.
It was never 100% confirmed there would be a Core Web Vitals badge in SERPs, but it was an idea Google mentioned on numerous occasions.
Now it sounds like Google won’t be following through on its idea.
Read Mueller’s full response in the section below.
No Plans For A Core Web Vitals Badge In Search Results
Mueller says he can’t promise a CWV badge will never happen, but chances aren’t good.
Since the badge hasn’t rolled out yet, and the idea was first proposed over a year ago, the feeling is that it won’t happen.
“I can’t promise on what will happen in the future, unfortunately. And since we haven’t done this badge so far, and it’s been like over a year, my feeling is probably it will not happen.
I don’t know for certain, and it might be that somewhere a team at Google is making this badge happen and will get upset when I say it, but at least so far I haven’t seen anything happening with regards to a badge like this.
And my feeling is, if we wanted to show a badge in the search results for Core Web Vitals or Page Experience, then probably we would have done that already.”
Muller brings up the fact that Core Web Vitals and Page Experience are always evolving.
The Core Web Vitals metrics, as they are defined today, may include different measurements in the future. It depends what users care about.
“That said, everything around Core Web Vitals and Page Experience is constantly being worked on. And we’re trying to find ways to improve those metrics to include other aspects that might be critical for websites or for users that they care about.
So I wouldn’t be surprised if any of this changes. And it might be that, at some point, we have metrics that are really useful for users, and which make sense to show more to users, and maybe at that point we’ll have something more visible the search results, or within Chrome, or I don’t know. It’s really hard to say there.”
My interpretation of Mueller’s response is that a Core Web Vitals badge in search results isn’t an ideal solution, considering the criteria for earning the badge may change from one year to another.
If the Core Web Vitals were a set of metrics that would remain the same from year to year then a badge might make more sense, but that’s not the case.
Hear Mueller’s response in the video below:
Featured Image: Screenshot from YouTube.com/GoogleSearchCentral, January 2022.