Every few months, someone asks me whether they should add "authorship markup" to their blog so their photo shows up next to their articles in Google. Some still believe there is a hidden "AuthorRank" score that makes well-known writers rank higher. Both ideas come from a real Google feature, but that feature ended in 2014.
Google Authorship ran from 2011 to 2014. It put author names, and for a while author photos, right in the search results. Then Google took the photos away in June 2014 and dropped the whole thing in August 2014. Let me explain what it was, why it ended, which myths it left behind, and what actually matters for authors in 2026.
This was not an algorithm update in the usual sense. It was a change to how results looked and what markup Google supported. But it shaped how SEOs think about authors to this day, which is why it has a place on our timeline of Google algorithm updates.
Google Authorship at a glance
| Detail | What we know |
|---|---|
| Launched | June 2011, when Google began supporting authorship markup |
| How it worked | Link your Google+ profile to your site and add rel="author" markup to your posts |
| Photo removal | Late June 2014: profile photos and Google+ circle counts dropped from results |
| Full shutdown | August 28, 2014: author names no longer shown; markup no longer supported in web search |
| Announced by | John Mueller, Google, on Google+ |
| Reason given | Less useful to users than hoped, and could distract from results |
| Ranking effect | Google said removal should not noticeably change traffic |
| Today | Bylines and author information still matter for readers and trust, but not through rel="author" |
What authorship markup actually did
In June 2011, Google announced support for authorship markup. Search Engine Roundtable reported on June 9, 2011 that Google described it as "a way to connect authors with their content on the web." Google also said it might use the data "as a signal to help us determine the relevance of that page to a user's query."
That second line is where a lot of later myths started. Google said "may." It was an experiment, not a promise.
By 2014, setting it up was fairly simple. As TechCrunch explained in August 2014, you linked your Google+ profile to your site and added rel="author" markup to your posts. If Google accepted it, your result could show:
- Your name as a clickable byline
- Your Google+ profile photo next to the result
- How many people had you in their Google+ circles
For a writer or small business, a face in the results felt like a big advantage. It stood out in a page of plain blue links. That is why so many people rushed to set it up.
The June 2014 photo removal
The first big change came in late June 2014. Google removed author photos and Google+ circle counts from search results on both desktop and mobile. Only a clickable author name remained.
Search Engine Land's Barry Schwartz covered the change and quoted John Mueller on click behavior:
“click-through behavior on this new less-cluttered design is similar to the previous one.”
— John Mueller, as quoted by Search Engine Land, Google Drops Profile Photos, Google+ Circle Count From Authorship
Many SEOs doubted this. Schwartz himself said he was not sure click-through rates would stay the same. People had believed for years that a face in the results meant more clicks. Google was now saying, in effect, that the data did not show a meaningful difference.
Wikipedia's Timeline of Google Search notes that the removal was reportedly linked to low author adoption and to improving mobile bandwidth and user experience. I treat the mobile part as reported, not confirmed, because Mueller's public statements focused on design and usefulness.
August 28, 2014: Google drops authorship completely
Two months later, Google went all the way. On August 28, 2014, John Mueller announced on Google+ that Google would stop showing authorship in search results. 9to5Google quoted his explanation:
“Unfortunately, we've also observed that this information isn't as useful to our users as we'd hoped”
— John Mueller, as quoted by 9to5Google, Google officially removes authorship from search results
He added that the information "can even distract from those results." According to Search Engine Watch's coverage, Mueller also said:
- Authorship markup was no longer supported in web search.
- Google's tests showed removing it did not generally reduce traffic to sites or increase clicks on ads.
- Google+ posts from friends and pages would still appear in personalized results, because "Today's authorship change doesn't impact these social features."
- Google would keep supporting structured markup such as schema.org for rich snippets.
The adoption problem nobody could fix
Mueller also admitted that "authorship wasn't always easy to implement." A study by Eric Enge and Mark Traphagen, summarized on CustomerThink, looked at authors on 150 top media sites. It found that only about 29% of authors (151 of 520) had a Google+ profile linking back to the site they wrote for. Of the 72 sites that attempted the markup, 52 had errors.
Think about what that means for Google. If most real journalists at major publishers had not set it up correctly, then authorship data mostly reflected who was good at SEO, not who was a trusted author. That is a weak signal to build anything on.
How the authorship story unfolded, step by step
- June 2011: Google begins supporting authorship markup as an experiment.
- 2011–2013: Setup becomes easier through Google+ profiles; author photos become common in results.
- Late June 2014: Photos and circle counts removed; only names remain. Google says click behavior is similar.
- August 28, 2014: Names removed too. rel="author" no longer supported in web search.
- After 2014: Google keeps telling site owners to show clear author information for readers, through bylines and author pages rather than special markup.
The AuthorRank myth and other leftovers
When authorship was live, many SEOs wrote about "AuthorRank," an imagined score that would rank content higher based on the author's reputation. It became one of the most repeated ideas of 2012 and 2013. Here is how the main claims hold up:
| Claim from the authorship era | What the record shows |
|---|---|
| "AuthorRank boosts rankings for known authors." | Google never confirmed an AuthorRank score. In 2011 it only said it "may" use authorship as a relevance signal. |
| "Author photos massively increase clicks." | Google said click-through on the photo-free design was similar. |
| "Losing authorship will hurt your traffic." | Google's tests showed removal did not generally reduce traffic to sites. |
| "You must keep rel=author markup or you lose trust." | Google stopped supporting it in web search in August 2014. It does nothing for Google today. |
| "Authors no longer matter to Google." | Wrong in the other direction. Google's current guidance strongly encourages accurate bylines. |
The AuthorRank idea is a good example of how the SEO world turns a cautious Google comment into a "ranking factor." I cover more of these in our post on Google algorithm update myths.
Should you remove old rel="author" tags?
If your site still has rel="author" links from 2013, you do not need to panic. Google simply ignores them for web search. Here is how I would decide:
- Leave them if they are part of a working link to a real author page on your own site. A link from an article to its author's bio is still useful for readers.
- Remove them if they point to dead Google+ profiles. Google+ itself was shut down for consumers in 2019, so those links now lead nowhere. Dead links are poor for users.
- Do not expect any ranking change either way. This is housekeeping, not SEO.
A quick example (hypothetical)
Say a law firm blog has 300 posts, each with a sidebar link to a partner's old Google+ profile. That is 300 broken outbound links. Replacing them with a link to each lawyer's bio page on the firm's own site takes an afternoon in most CMS templates. The result: no dead links, and every post now leads readers to a page showing the lawyer's qualifications. That helps readers judge trust, which is the point Google now makes about authors.
What replaced authorship: bylines, author pages and E-E-A-T
Here is the twist. Google stopped showing authors in results, but it never stopped caring whether readers can tell who wrote something. Its current guide on creating helpful, reliable, people-first content asks:
- "Is it self-evident to your visitors who authored your content?"
- "Do pages carry a byline, where one might be expected?"
- "Do bylines lead to further information about the author or authors involved," giving background about them and the areas they write about?
The same page says Google strongly encourages "adding accurate authorship information, such as bylines" where readers might expect it, and warns: "avoid using deceptive authorship information."
This ties into E-E-A-T, which stands for experience, expertise, authoritativeness and trust. In plain words, it is how Google's quality raters judge whether content comes from someone who knows the subject. Google says "trust is most important." Clear author information is one of the simplest ways to support trust.
The big difference from 2014: there is no special tag that makes this "count." You show real authors to real readers. Our post on what Google actually says about E-E-A-T and core updates goes deeper, and the guide to author pages and bylines gives you a practical template. For how raters use these signals, see quality rater guidelines and updates. If you are new to E-E-A-T, start with the Learn SEO lesson on E-E-A-T.
Where authorship fits in the 2014 update calendar
Summer 2014 was busy. The authorship changes landed between two big Panda events. Panda 4.0 hit in May 2014, the photos went in June, the names went in August, and Panda 4.1 arrived in September 2014. Some site owners blamed traffic changes in that period on losing their author photos. In most cases, a Panda update or another algorithm change was the more likely cause, since Google said authorship removal did not generally reduce traffic.
Questions writers ask about the end of Google Authorship
When did Google remove author photos from search results?
In late June 2014. Photos and Google+ circle counts were dropped, and only the author's name stayed visible.
When did Google Authorship end completely?
On August 28, 2014. John Mueller announced that Google would stop showing authorship in results and no longer support the markup in web search.
Was AuthorRank ever a real ranking factor?
Google never confirmed it. In 2011 Google only said it "may" use authorship as a relevance signal, and the feature ended in 2014.
Does rel="author" markup do anything now?
No, not for Google web search. A link from an article to a real author page is still useful for readers, though.
Do author bylines still matter for SEO?
They matter for trust. Google's helpful content guidance encourages accurate bylines and author information where readers expect them.
Showing your experts the right way in 2026
In brief, Google Authorship was a 2011 experiment that ended in 2014 because it was hard to set up and did not help users enough. The photos are gone, the markup is ignored and AuthorRank was never confirmed. What survived is the simple idea that readers should know who wrote what, and why that person is worth listening to.
If you want help building author pages, bylines and content that shows real expertise, our content writing team and SEO services can set it up properly. Get a quote and tell us about your writers.
Google updates around the same time
Before this update:
- HTTPS as a Ranking Signal: What Google's 2014 Announcement Really Meant (Aug 2014)
- Google’s Pigeon Update (Jul 2014)
After this update:
- Panda 4.1 (September 2014): Helping Small Sites and Targeting Thin Affiliates (Sep 2014)
- Penguin 3.0 (2014): The Long-Awaited Refresh and Its Recoveries (Oct 2014)
Or browse every Google update on one timeline, newest first.
Sources for this Google Authorship history
- TechCrunch: Google stops showing authorship in search results (August 28, 2014)
- 9to5Google: Google officially removes authorship from search results (August 28, 2014)
- Search Engine Watch: Google drops authorship from search results
- Search Engine Land: Google drops profile photos and circle count from authorship (June 2014)
- Search Engine Roundtable: Authorship rich snippets come to Google (June 9, 2011)
- CustomerThink: Authorship adoption fail – detailed stats
- Wikipedia: Timeline of Google Search
- Google Search Central: Creating helpful, reliable, people-first content
