SERPs Are Getting Gusty
Google results are choppy heading into the weekend. Friday, May 8, already showed heated ranking movement, with Search Engine Roundtable reporting multiple tracking tools and early SEO chatter pointing to unusual shifts in Google rankings. Today’s partial volatility score is 7.2/10, up from 6.2 yesterday, so treat the weather as unstable, not catastrophic, but definitely worth watching.
FAQ Rich Results Are Being Retired
The clearest confirmed change is Google’s removal of FAQ rich results. Google Search Central says FAQ rich results stopped appearing as of May 7, 2026, with the Search Console FAQ appearance, Rich Results Test support, and reporting being phased out in June 2026, followed by API support removal in August 2026. Search Engine Land also flagged this on May 8 as a practical loss for sites that used FAQ markup to win larger, more clickable search listings.
For site owners: this is not a penalty. Your pages can still rank. But that extra FAQ dropdown real estate is gone, so pages that relied on it may see lower click-through rates.
AI Search Keeps Pulling Links Closer
Search Engine Journal’s May 8 SEO Pulse highlighted Google adding more inline links and context inside AI Overviews and AI Mode. That matters because citations closer to the answer text may get more attention than links buried at the bottom. SEJ also noted recent data showing aggregators losing ground after the March core update while brand and government sites gained in some verticals.
Meanwhile, Search Engine Roundtable reported that Google may adjust how its site reputation abuse policy applies to EU news publishers, a messy policy area that affects publishers monetizing through third-party content.
What to Do
- Check Search Console for FAQ-heavy pages and compare clicks before and after May 7.
- Do not panic-remove FAQ content if it helps users, just stop expecting rich results.
- Watch rankings through Monday, since today’s volatility score is still partial.
