Here’s an interesting Google development test I came across recently — double-column, non-collapsable organic results for a single brand.

• The example in the picture is a semi-branded term, but I swear I’ve seen this in action on generic keywords.
• The lucky brand dominates the page, pushing down all the other results
• There’s no apparent reason why these particular pages are chosen (I’ve seen really obscure, deep pages returned, so it’s not due to internal links, page authority or jump links)
• I confirmed it works whilst logged out
• I confirmed it works on any browser
• It works as part of Google Instant

Unfortunately, I can’t replicate the results on my own computers, hence the low quality screenshot.

What does this mean?

At this point, it just means that Google is testing the search result layouts again.

However, if it does get rolled out then obviously expect an outcry at brands dropping 12 places on terms such as “car insurance” (tested and confirmed!).