It seems like Google has started modifying the way meta tags are written in search results by including colon and brand names on them.
In the past, Google simply uses the title tags data you input into your site’s source code. According to an article from seroundtable.com, Google has started adding the company’s brand name followed by a colon at the beginning of some headlines in search results.
When I gave it a try and searched for site:365outsource.com, it gave me the following result:
Notice that the meta title is White Label SEO Outsourcing to the Philippines – 365Outsource. Yet, it came out in the search result as 365Outsource: White Label SEO Outsourcing to the Philippines. A Google+ forum mentioned that several reports say that this change on how title tags are supposed to be written effects your ranking.
Google has not yet released any formal explanation on the issue. But it’s really interesting to see how such change will have a direct effect on SERPs.