How large images in Discover improved CTR and increased visits to publisher sites

Published on August 11, 2021

In 2020, we gave publishers more control over how images from their site appear in Discover with the introduction of the robots meta tag max-image-preview setting. When added to the header of each site page, the max-image-preview:large meta tag indicates that Google can feature publishers' images in large formats, creating a more compelling and engaging user experience when their content appears on Search surfaces, like Discover.

Since the introduction of this tag, we're excited to see the success of web publishers who have reported greater visibility of their content within Discover including increased clicks and traffic to their site as well as improved click-through-rate (CTR).

Kirbie's Cravings saw their click-through-rate (CTR) increase by 79%

Kirbie's Cravings is a food blog that specializes in sharing recipes and highlights from dining out experiences. Jennifer, AKA Kirbie, has grown the site from a personal hobby into her full-time job as a professional food blogger and photographer. The biggest challenge Kirbie's Cravings faces is finding new, efficient methods of distributing its content and driving traffic to the blog. Upon adding a short line of HTML, Kirbie's Cravings saw their click-through-rate (CTR) increase by 79%.

"Since implementing the meta tag, we have seen click-through from Discover increase substantially. This has resulted in increased traffic to the site, helping to grow our audience, readership and pageviews."

Istoé increased CTR 30% and over 6 months their clicks increased by 332%

Istoé is a weekly magazine that delivers information to the Brazilian population on diverse topics ranging from the economy to sports and women's health to world events. Adopting the meta tag with large image preview settings increased CTR 30% and over 6 months their clicks increased by 332%.

"The adoption of the meta tag with large image preview settings brought a meaningful increase in clicks and CTR for us. Initiatives like this one make a huge difference in the work that we, publishers, invest in day-to-day life."

If you have large images on your site, consider adding the max-image-preview:large meta tag to pages on your site.

Learn more about max-image-preview