- Class
- C2 Recommended
- Weight
- 4
- Severity on fail
- major
- Applies to
Scope and evidence
Evaluated on page (P). The book marks this requirement DOCUMENTED RECOMMENDATION, SEARCH-ENGINE-SPECIFIC.
Fail conditions
Each condition has a stable code and a reason template. The evaluator fills the placeholders from observed values only; no sentence in a report is generated.
missing_src{n} <img> elements on {url} have no src attribute, for example {example}. Google finds images in the src attribute and recommends always specifying a fallback URL with src.
The documented fix
Always render src; lazy-loading libraries should swap in the real URL rather than leave it empty.
Sources, quoted
These are the passages the rule rests on, stored once in the knowledge base and emitted exactly as written. A citation marked for specific conditions appears only on findings with those codes.
“Google can find images in src attribute of <img> element (even when it's a child of other elements, such as the <picture> element).”
[G-IMAGES] Google image SEO best practices · Use HTML image elements to embed images · last updated 2026-03-02
https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/google-images“We recommend that you always specify a fallback URL using the src attribute.”
[G-IMAGES] Google image SEO best practices · Responsive images · last updated 2026-03-02
https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/google-images