Google, as well all know, loves to play innocent and quietly test new formatting for its search results, Places pages, maps, etc - as those relying heavily on search gulp in horror.
The latest "test", first seen a few weeks ago but now starting to be more widespread, concerns how searches for brand names are returning multiples links for a website in a new sub-category at the top of page one.
For example, a search for European cross-channel ferry operator "sea france" is now producing the following result (in some areas - in the UK in this example):
The main website is the top result (after the paid-for ad), with a further eight links to key pages such as booking and offers, contact.
Similar results are shown with a query for "thomas cook" (but this time including a search box for the site, but only six links):
And rival "thomson" (minus the search box):
Or "princess cruises" (this time with 12 additional links):
Why is this important?
Well, with real estate at a premium on page one of search results, big brands will find themselves with a nice position and plenty of links, while anyone optimising with relevant content will either find themselves pushed far down the page (below the fold, in old newspaper talk) or relegated to the dreaded page two or worse.
One of the only ways to get visibility in search against a big brand name will be to bid more on Adwords for handy placement on the right-hand side.
Now, say you're an online travel agency, content site or metasearch engine winning a reasonable amount of traffic from a prime position on brand name search results - well, you may find that a bit of a challenge if and when the roll-out continues.
It appears, as some are suggesting, Google is continuing its push to favour brands in search results, a process first hinted at in March 2009.
This all begs some pretty fundamental questions: what is a brand, how big do you have to be before Google gives you a nice big block of links such as above, what is the search giant's methodology for choosing the links?
Mark Hodson of search marketing company Travel SEO says:
"There has been some speculation on the signals that Google is using to define a brand. It's possible that search volume is a factor, which certainly makes sense.
"It is also likely that having lots of links to your site with your brand name as anchor text is going to be a good signal (ironically, the opposite of what many SEOs are trying to achieve)."