Google Search has finally started supporting the AVIF file format across Google Search, Google Images, and all other areas where Google Search displays images, including Google Discover and Google News. "We're excited to announce that AVIF is now a supported file type in Google Search, for Google Images as well as any location that uses images in Google Search," wrote John Mueller, Google Search Advocate.

What is AVIF? The AV1 Image File Format is an open, royalty-free image file format designed to store images or image sequences compressed with AV1 within the HEIF container format. It competes with HEIC, which also uses the same container format based on ISOBMFF but employs HEVC for compression.

Google mentioned that AVIF is one of the most widely used image formats today. "AVIF is an open image file format based on the AV1 video compression standard," Google further explained.

What this means for SEO. Technically, there's no immediate change. Google stated that if you're already using AVIF formats, there's no action required; Google will handle them just like other image formats. "You don't need to do anything special to have your AVIF files indexed by Google," noted John Mueller.

In March 2024, Google hinted at this upcoming support, and now it's officially available.

For the full list of supported image file types, visit this link.

More details. Mueller added:

"AVIF is an open image file format based on the AV1 video compression standard. It's supported by all major web browsers, and images in AVIF format are supported by various services and platforms online, including WordPress, Joomla, and CloudFlare. It's not recommended to hastily implement sweeping changes to images across a website: take the necessary time to assess which format suits your particular needs best. If you decide to alter image file formats for some of your images, and this leads to changes in filenames or extensions, ensure server-side redirects are set up."

Why we care. If you've been employing workarounds for AVIF files on your site, you no longer need to. Google now natively supports AVIF file types in Google Search.

Additionally, any workarounds you have in place can now be removed.

Ensure you monitor your Search Performance reports for any modifications made concerning AVIF files to confirm Google processes those images correctly moving forward.

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