Google Adds Rich Lists for Calories in Restaurant Chain Menus

Google has added a new rich list to the Google search results when searching for “<restaurant name> calories.”

The rich list appears above the search results and lists popular menu items at the restaurant with calorie contents for each item.

Some rich lists for restaurants also feature a drop down menu that can be used to narrow down results to specific types.

You can then select one of the menu sections from the drop down to see the calorie content in just those areas.

Rich lists, the official name for this format but which are sometimes referred to as carousel style results, have also been used in the search results for event listings, song title lists and in other areas where lists in this style make sense.

Google also added dynamic featured snippets when you search for a specific menu item, that also appears on the page with the regular knowledge panel.  The featured snippets can be changed – in this instance you can select a Big Mac with and without sauce, and for the quantity, you can change it to weight only, versus item, which might not be as useful for a Big Mac, but could be more useful for something like a soup.

And finally, they have also added a dynamic aspect to their nutrition information knowledge panel for specific items.  For example, with this latte from Starbucks, a seacher can update it directly in the knowledge panel when adjusting for size and other options.

This is a great addition to the Google search results and will make it much easier for users to quickly find calorie counts when at a restaurant.  It will undoubtedly hurt various calorie counting and health websites who would normally get traffic from these sources, but it is worth noting that these sites are merely republishing calorie information taken popular restaurants and then reposted on their own sites.

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Jennifer Slegg

Founder & Editor at The SEM Post

Jennifer Slegg is a longtime speaker and expert in search engine marketing, working in the industry for almost 20 years. When she isn't sitting at her desk writing and working, she can be found grabbing a latte at her local Starbucks or planning her next trip to Disneyland. She regularly speaks at Pubcon, SMX, State of Search, Brighton SEO and more, and has been presenting at conferences for over a decade.

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