Google picks up the best that it founds relevant to your content and page. But my question is why you need to add two description when Google clearly mentioned in its webmaster section to used only 1 description and that too in limited words.
M not adding two desc but actually was just asking what will google do if this happens by mistake....
I think it will not follow the search engine algorithm. So google can penalize the website. Most probably best one will be shown by the Google.
The least you can get by adding two Meta Description is drop in your SERP results and at the max get penalized. My advice is follow Webmaster guidelines and don't ever think to outsmart SEs.
You won't get penalized for using multiple descriptions. Did you know that Google does not include the description text into its ranking algorithm. The sole purpose of the meta description when it comes to search is to help encourage click-thrus when it appears in SERPs. Here's a quick a few quick guidelines for best practices for descriptions: 1. Include the keyword phrases you are targeting on that URL 2. Limit your description to 155 characters or less as that is the limit that Google displays in search results. For sitelink descriptions, the character limit is even shorter -- around 50 characters. 3. Include a call to action that encourages searchers to click thru to your page 4. Make sure each and every page has a unique description When no description is available, Google will create one using text that appears in your body content. Sometimes, based on relevancy, Google will use snippets of text from the page if they are confident that content better reflects what the searcher is looking for, and not display your meta description.
Sethnickerson, i respectfully deny your thoughts that Google wont penalize. If you haven't read the quality guidelines stated in Google then i'll point out few important points as mentioned in it like For more information you can visit http://support.google.com/webmasters/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=35769#3 It's big Gs playground, so better play by their rules. Good luck.