Glycerol galactoside (GG; floridoside: 2-O-glycerol-a-D-galactopyranoside, and isofloridoside: 1-O-glycerola-D-galactopyranoside) is known to be a component of edible red seaweed nori. Recently, we have found that lowquality nori (color-faded nori), which has a low protein content, contains a large quantity of GG. From further studies, we have also found that GG has prebiotic characteristics in vitro. In this study, we evaluated the in vivo prebiotic activity of GG in rats. Dietary GG selectively increased the cecal Bifidobacterium count in rats. Other indices of prebiotics, such as pH of cecal content, organic acid concentrations, and fecal weight, also supported the existence of prebiotic activity of GG. The present data will also contribute to the development of a new method of utilizing color-faded nori as a health-promoting foodstuff.