Back in 2011, Google's social network Google+ launched. In addition to the network, they initiated an "Authorship" feature, which seemed to tie to Google+ as a ranking signal assistant to social media influencers in Google search.As of August, however, Google decided to end its Authorship program.
What was it?
Authorship allowed content creators to connect their blog posts, articles, videos, and other content to their Google+ profiles. Google search results would then display said creators' profile photo next to their content with a “rich snippet.” This verified the authors of posting original content and proving ownership their of it.
It was idyllic, in theory.
Why did Google Authorship Fail?
- Low Adoption Rates: Apparently, of the Top 50 Most Influential in Social Media, only 30% had set up an Authorship connection. A survey conducted later by Barry Schwartz found an even lower adoption rate of 9%. What's more, 17 of the 50 were already gaining traction from the the rich snippet author result without the use of Authorship. Although Google made a step forward in surfacing worthwhile content, not enough people knew about (or knew how to work) the Authorship program.
- Low Value: John Mueller, of Google Webmaster Tools, stated that the presence of Authorship snippets (think the little blue check mark on a Twitter bio reflecting a "verified" account) was making little difference in a user's click behavior on search result pages.
A few reasons I think Authorship didn't bode well overall is because of the time needed to learn implementing something called "rel=author markup usage." Authors may have not found Authorship very important or influential, didn't want to create a Google+ profile or give *too* much information to Google. Maybe they simply didn't have knowledge of or experience with SEO (search engine optimization). Rather, they focus on consistency in use of keywords and phrases across their platforms and messages. Maybe that is the real moral of the story here.
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