Google's 'Most-Read Articles' Carousel Boosts Ranking Opportunities for Publishers

Google's 'most-read articles' carousel is a feature that showcases a collection of articles that are frequently read. It appears as a carousel within Google's search results, providing a significant ranking opportunity for publishers. When an article is featured in this carousel, it maintains its position in the standard web search listing, even when it's also placed within a featured snippet.

When an article is placed within the 'most-read articles' carousel, it does not get removed from the standard web search listing below. This is in contrast to when an article is featured in a snippet, where the standard listing is typically removed. This means that publishers have the chance to appear twice in the search results: once in the carousel and once in the regular listings.

In some cases, the 'most-read articles' carousel and other carousels like the Perspectives and Author carousels may inherit the heading from the page itself, rather than using the title tag. This can result in two different titles being shown in Google Search for the same article, as was observed with Business Insider in the provided example. Google may prefer the title tag set within the HTML for the web search listing.

Articles that typically rank lower in standard web search listings can experience a significant boost in ranking if they are featured in the 'most-read articles' carousel. For example, an article that was previously ranking at position #9 could be catapulted to the 1st position on desktop search results if it appears in the carousel.

Within Google Search Console, any item that appears by default in the 'most-read articles' carousel will automatically be counted as an impression and will share the #1 ranking. Publishers can use this information to monitor for unusual ranking fluctuations in their data, as being featured in the carousel can lead to sudden changes in an article's visibility and ranking.