Entries from Search Engine Roundtable tagged with 'google webmaster tools'

A Google Webmaster Help thread reports that because .UA domains are currently not considered "root domains" by Google, the change of address tool doesn't work for them. I am not sure if Google did not consider them root domains or...

Posted on November 6, 2009 8:56 AM

Big news for publishers in the Google News index. Inbal from Google announced in a Google News Help thread that in six months, Google will stop supporting the old News Sitemaps format and require you to switch over to the...

Posted on November 5, 2009 2:39 PM

If your publication is included in Google News and you tried to submit a Sitemap file on Friday, you may have noticed it was rejected. Several publishers have been complaining about this in a few Google News Help threads. The...

Posted on November 3, 2009 8:16 AM

There seems to be a Google Toolbar PageRank update going on right now. We have threads on the topic at WebmasterWorld, DigitalPoint Forums and HighRankings Forum. The update seemed to have started sometime yesterday afternoon and many SEOs and webmasters...

Posted on October 30, 2009 9:30 AM

A Google Webmaster Help thread informs us that Google can take about two weeks to remove a blocked Sitelink from showing up in the search results. Google's JohnMu said: A change like this can take two weeks or a bit...

Posted on October 29, 2009 8:56 AM

Not sure how important this is, but it is one of those minor changes that I particularly enjoy covering. The Google Webmaster Tools API lets you verify and reverify sites directly in the API. The thing is, they have changed...

Posted on October 28, 2009 8:38 AM

Historically, Google treated the 404 (page not found) and 410 (gone) server header page status codes as the same. Both meant, the page no longer exists. Well, that has all changed now. Google is now treating the 410 as "more...

Posted on October 27, 2009 9:37 AM

I know Google has been showing many variations of sitelinks in the search results for a while now. I also know, Google began showing Sitelinks for specific sub domains and sub directories for about a year now. But I have...

Posted on October 26, 2009 8:33 AM

A WebmasterWorld thread has new discussion around using the hash tag, in the URL, instead of dynamic parameters such as questionmarks and the like for special tracking purposes. Typically, tracking URLs for ads and campaigns lead to URLs with questionmarks,...

Posted on October 21, 2009 9:14 AM

A Google Webmaster Help thread has reports that the fetch as Googlebot feature might display weird characters for some pages that return non-ASCII characters. Specifically, if the pages are not encoded in UTF-8 and use these non-ASCII characters, the tool...

Posted on October 21, 2009 8:36 AM

tweetmeme_url = 'http://www.seroundtable.com/archives/020960.html'; tweetmeme_service = 'bit.ly';Google has removed the PageRank section in the crawl statistics in Google Webmaster Tools. This has gone mostly unnoticed, with the release of the labs feature, until now. A Google Webmaster Help thread reports...

Posted on October 15, 2009 9:27 AM

Google added the fetch as Googlebot feature the other day and now people are really beginning to explore it. One topic I have seen come up was why is the Fetch as Googlebot feature only showing up to 100Kb of...

Posted on October 14, 2009 8:33 AM

The Google Webmaster Central Blog announced the launch of a new "Labs" section in Google Webmaster Tools. Labs is for Google to launch features that might not be fully tested and have bugs, but at the same time give webmasters...

Posted on October 13, 2009 8:45 AM

Last week Google updated their verification process for Webmaster Tools. A known issue was that it broke the ability for Google Sites to verify in Webmaster Tools. Yesterday, Google resolved the issue and now Google Sites can be verified without...

Posted on October 9, 2009 9:00 AM

About three weeks ago, Google added parameter handling to Google Webmaster Tools. It basically gave webmasters another tool to help communicate to Google any duplicate content or URL issues. I spotted two threads from the same webmaster, one at HighRankings...

Posted on October 9, 2009 8:49 AM

In one of Matt Cutts' videos on SEO questions, he answers a question about if you should build an HTML or XML Sitemap. An HTML sitemap is an old school landing page for users to find all (or most) of...

Posted on October 9, 2009 8:36 AM

Dennis from the Google Webmaster Central team informed us in a Google Webmaster Help thread that now, if you have comment code or extra HTML in the verification file used to verify your site in Google Webmaster Tools, it will...

Posted on October 8, 2009 8:34 AM

A Google Webmaster Help thread has confirmed reports of a bug with Google Webmaster Tools. The bug is someone technical, where you try to download the verification file via a URL that Google provides. That URL, which seems to be...

Posted on October 6, 2009 7:50 AM

A Google Webmaster Help thread reports that some webmasters (at least one) has set his Google Webmaster Tools to geo-target to the UK, but the site is ending up being geo-targeted to France. Here is what the webmaster said: This...

Posted on October 5, 2009 8:31 AM

Google announced that they have updated the verification process for Google Webmaster Tools. The main changes include: (1) META Tag verification is no longer tied to the email address on file, i.e. you can change your email and it won't...

Posted on October 2, 2009 8:25 AM

If you login to Google Webmaster Tools, click on site configuration, then on settings, you will see a new option for "parameter handling." Here is a screen capture: This basically allows you to tell Google which parameters in the URL...

Posted on September 17, 2009 8:49 AM

A webmaster reported in a Google Webmaster Help thread that in his Google Webmaster Tools Keyword report, he noticed that Google is displaying a blank line as one of his more popular keywords used within the site. The blank line...

Posted on September 9, 2009 8:36 AM

A Google Webmaster Help thread reports that when using Google Sites and submitting a Sitemap file to Webmaster Tools, you may receive an error. The error some people are seeing is: Your Sitemap appears to be an HTML page. Please...

Posted on September 8, 2009 8:13 AM

In May, Google announced the availability of adding rich snippets to the Google search results through microformats and RDFa aided code. The two major complaints were not being about to: (1) Know if you will be able to see the...

Posted on September 1, 2009 8:52 AM

It appears that some webmasters are now receiving warnings from Google Webmaster Tools about SSL certificate issues. A Google Webmaster Help thread has a couple people reporting receiving the warnings over the weekend. Here is a copy of the SSL...

Posted on August 24, 2009 7:12 AM

Many webmasters and SEOs are reporting seeing an issue with the PageRank distribution report in Google Webmaster Tools. If you login and click on crawl stats, and then scroll to the bottom, you may or may not see data. I...

Posted on August 11, 2009 8:34 AM

A WebmasterWorld thread pointed out a very interesting observation in Google. A search for WebmasterWorld in Google shows Sitelinks for the site. But one of those Sitelinks seem to be cut off, the one with the "Google" in front of...

Posted on August 10, 2009 8:39 AM

There are several threads about an issue with Google News publishers and Google Webmaster Tools. The largest thread is at Google News Help where the issue is described as the Sitemap file being in the state of pending. The Google...

Posted on August 5, 2009 8:52 AM

There is a brand new Google Webmaster Tools error for Sitemaps files. The new error or warning is named "Duplicate URL" and has been springing up for many webmasters recently. The full error reads: This URL is a duplicate of...

Posted on August 3, 2009 8:28 AM

A Google Webmaster Help thread reports that several webmasters trying to use the reconsideration form are experiencing significant difficulties. As the user types in the box, explaining why their site should be reincluded in the Google index, the web page...

Posted on August 3, 2009 8:12 AM

About a year ago, Google introduced the new Google Webmaster Tools API. This API allow developers to communicate with Google Webmaster Tools (GWT), without actually accessing the front end, so they can code reports, verify sites and so on, without...

Posted on July 31, 2009 9:07 AM

Over a year ago, we reported that Google Recommends You Split Sitemap Files By File Type. The issue back then, is the same issue some webmasters are experiencing. When you want to create a geo-sitemap, you have to make that...

Posted on July 30, 2009 10:33 AM

I thought I knew everything there is to know about Google Webmaster Tools, but I guess there was one thing I did not know. A WebmasterWorld thread talks about how one webmaster received a message from Google that his site...

Posted on July 30, 2009 9:57 AM

There are some reports of Google Webmaster Tools not loading for some users. Some of these reports are coming from WebmasterWorld and I also personally have this issue. When I try to access the tool, the URL redirects back and...

Posted on July 23, 2009 8:21 AM

Google Webmaster Tools recently added some features to the toolkit. Those include the ability to quick search for sites in your profile, block sitelinks for subpages, review page removal requests made by others and fading out the unverified sites on...

Posted on July 22, 2009 8:54 AM

In August 2008, Google released what was called the enhanced 404 widget that allowed webmasters to easily create custom 404 pages. In fact, we still have a sample of this in action at advertize.html. But for some reason, I think...

Posted on July 8, 2009 9:03 AM

This is your chance to give the Webmaster Central team your ideas and have the SEO community vote on them. The more votes your ideas get, the more likely the Google team will work on them. The Google Blog post...

Posted on June 25, 2009 9:11 AM

There are many threads across the web with webmasters concerned that their sitemaps file is in "pending" status in Google Webmaster Tools. One such thread is at Google Webmaster Help where a few webmasters are complaining about the issue. Google...

Posted on June 22, 2009 8:25 AM

We have covered Google Webmaster tools errors with News sites in the past. But this is the first time I am seeing reports of Webmaster Tools errors specific to News sites that read "Article too long" as the error. "Article...

Posted on June 19, 2009 7:20 AM

I have been watching a Google Webmaster Help thread for about a week now. The thread was started by a 3rd party individual who volunteers a lot of his time helping webmasters in the Google Webmaster Help forum. He was...

Posted on June 18, 2009 7:13 AM

A Google Webmaster Help thread reports the small but yet significant changes made to how Google displays and aggregates the URLs listed in the external link reports within Google Webmaster Tools. The main changes include: Link counts are reduced by...

Posted on June 16, 2009 10:52 AM

If you are currently seeing a warning in Google Webmaster Tools that reads, "Invalid XML tag," don't worry. There are many webmasters reporting the issue and Google has confirmed it is a bug. Google said in an announcement post: Some...

Posted on June 15, 2009 8:32 AM

Yesterday we reported about the new Google Webmaster Tools, with the new change of address feature and a few other new things with it. We also informed you that there were several bugs in the new interface and features. It...

Posted on June 12, 2009 8:19 AM

Back in early 2006, we called for a Google Certified Domain Change solution to allow webmasters to communicate to Google when we move domains. Moving domains is one of the biggest concerns SEOs and webmasters have for when it comes...

Posted on June 11, 2009 8:52 AM

I have excellent news for the SEO world today. It seems like Google has finally pushed through a change with the reconsideration request process that SEOs and webmasters have been asking for since the reconsideration request began. Now, if you...

Posted on June 10, 2009 8:49 AM

Yesterday, Google made two quick announcements about bug fixes with Google Webmaster Tools. The first item was that the URL Removal tool was not working. A Google Webmasters Help thread has confirmation from Susan Moskwa, a Googler, that this was...

Posted on May 28, 2009 7:40 AM

A Google Webmasters Help thread has reports that the Google Webmaster Tools API is having some technical difficulties over the weekend. Users of the API are receiving 502 errors for some requests. Authentication seems to work via the API, but...

Posted on May 25, 2009 8:25 AM

Google Webmaster Tools and Webmaster Central are tools I cannot believe SEOs ever lived without. Early on, many experienced SEOs were skeptical about the tools, but many of us have learned that the tools and advice are here to help...

Posted on May 20, 2009 9:13 AM

On Thursday we reported that the backlink data was out of sync in the redesigned webmaster tools. Well, over the weekend, that was fixed. Googler, Jonathan Simon said in a Google Webmasters Help thread that it is now up to...

Posted on May 18, 2009 1:38 PM

The other day, Google released a redesigned Webmaster Tools area. Soon after it was released, webmasters began noticing that the linkage data found in the new Webmaster Tools was out of sync with the one found in the old Webmaster...

Posted on May 14, 2009 8:28 AM

For the past few days, dozens of threads have been popping up in the Google Webmasters Help discussion forum about how Google Webmaster Tools was showing "Data is not available at this time" for some sites. After many complaints, Google...

Posted on May 13, 2009 9:22 AM

Part of the Google Searchology event announcements from yesterday, Google announced a new way to enhance the search results. This way is called rich snippets and it gives webmasters a way to communicate richer data to Google, so they can...

Posted on May 13, 2009 9:06 AM

The last time Google Webmaster Tools was redesigned was back in September 2007. It has been a while since the interface was updated. That doesn't mean features weren't added over time, they were, but within the same old interface. Google...

Posted on May 13, 2009 8:39 AM

Google has confirmed last week that they are officially bring "one-line sitelinks" to the Google search results. In early March rumors of these Sitelinks were spotted first in the UK region. Then the tests of the classic sitelinks continued and...

Posted on April 20, 2009 9:09 AM

A Google Webmasters Help thread has a webmaster worried that Google has not downloaded his XML Sitemap file in about five days. I went to check the status of my sitemap file in Google Webmaster Tools and Google has not...

Posted on April 20, 2009 8:31 AM

Google has been testing showing classic (one line) Sitelinks in the search results for a while now. The one line Sitelinks are interesting in that they seem to differ some from the Sitelinks we are typically accustomed to. Melanie Phung...

Posted on April 15, 2009 7:12 AM

Back in April 2007, Google gave webmasters a new easy way to remove content in Google, through Google Webmaster Tools. It is a great feature to quickly remove your content in Google, but it is an extremely powerful tool. If...

Posted on April 9, 2009 6:55 AM

About a month ago, we reported Google was testing classic Sitelinks, i.e. one line Sitelinks. Well, now it seems like we can reproduce the single line Sitelinks. A Google Webmasters Help thread shows how two different queries return different types...

Posted on April 2, 2009 8:15 AM

Google announced they are now offering access providers, such as hosting companies, the ability to easily give their customers access to Google's Webmaster Tools, AdSense, Custom Search, and Site Search. These access providers can sign up at http://www.google.com/webmasters/provider/. Today, we're...

Posted on March 27, 2009 1:01 AM

A Google Webmaster Help thread asks if there is a limit on the number of Sitemap files you can have under a single Google account. Currently, there is no documentation on the limit but there is a 500 limit per...

Posted on March 17, 2009 9:00 AM

I posted a search brief on this topic at Search Engine Land, when I saw Search Engine War noticing Google UK testing single line Sitelinks. But it seems like more folks in the UK are noticing the "classic" Sitelinks showing...

Posted on March 6, 2009 8:14 AM

Back in September 2005, Google began emailing webmasters about violations to the Google webmaster guidelines. Then in March 2006, Google started stepping up those notifications. Webmasters were loving Google reaching out to them with issues, so they can address them...

Posted on March 3, 2009 8:41 AM

A week ago today, we reported that some webmasters noticed the link reports in Google Webmaster Tools was not being updated or was not allowing for download. On the 19th, Google said in a Google Webmaster Help forum thread that...

Posted on February 25, 2009 8:27 AM

If your Google Sitemap file is in "pending" status and you are worried that it will never come out of that status, I would not worry. Google recently posted an announcement that this is a known issue and they are...

Posted on February 19, 2009 8:41 AM

SEOs and Webmasters should all be huge fans of Google Webmaster Tools, it provides data and insight into our web sites that we did not always have. SEOs and Webmasters that are educated know what to make from these reports...

Posted on February 18, 2009 8:28 AM

If you recently noticed that your News site is spewing errors in Google Webmaster Tools, under the "Diagnosis" - "News Crawl" reports, do not worry. A Google News Help thread has confirmed reports from Google, that this is just a...

Posted on February 6, 2009 7:57 AM

A Google Webmaster Help thread asks if he is being ripped off because his hosting company wants to charge him to help him verify his site with Google Webmaster Tools. So you know, all it takes to verify a site...

Posted on February 3, 2009 8:27 AM

A site owner has confirmed reports from a Google Webmaster Help discussion thread that his site was completely removed from the Google index by his previous webmaster. It seems like this previous webmaster was upset with the site owner and...

Posted on February 2, 2009 7:41 AM

Googlers, John Mueller and Susan Moskwa put together a very comprehensive Knol page on Google Webmaster Tools verification. So if you are new to Google Webmaster Tools and you are about to verify your site with Google Webmaster Tools. You...

Posted on January 27, 2009 3:14 AM

If you are noticing that your index count in Google Webmaster Tools in your Sitemaps section shows zero pages are indexed, then don't panic. Google has confirmed in a Google Webmaster Help thread that there may be a bug impacting...

Posted on January 26, 2009 6:09 AM

The first week of January, when we wrote about the Major Google Search Results Changes, January 2009, I noticed the Google Sitelinks for this site, disappeared. Today, I noticed they are back. Today, also, many webmasters are noticing they have...

Posted on January 16, 2009 8:09 AM

The Google Webmaster Central blog announced the release of a new Google Sitemaps generator available at code.google.com/p/googlesitemapgenerator. The new tool works differently then other sitemaps tools. The tool "finds new and modified URLs based on your webserver's traffic, its log...

Posted on January 14, 2009 8:47 AM

A Google Webmaster Help thread reports that Google Webmaster Tools seems to be missing the feature to change the method you would like to verify you site with. Now, I personally don't remember what should or should not be on...

Posted on January 14, 2009 8:41 AM

There is a webmaster at DigitalPoint Forums who is convinced that Google has penalized all his sites that were verified in his Google Webmaster Tools account. This webmaster claimed his sites are clean and he complies with Google's terms of...

Posted on January 12, 2009 8:17 AM

On Tuesday, we ran a poll asking if Google's PageRank data reports in Webmaster Tools useless or useful. The results are in and the majority of SEOs believe those reports are completely useless. I am one to agree with the...

Posted on January 9, 2009 8:46 AM

An SEOMoz post charts the positive impact having a Sitemap file can have on the speed of Google and Yahoo crawling and indexing your web pages. The report seems pretty impressive and I myself feel that Sitemaps are important to...

Posted on January 9, 2009 8:36 AM

A Google Webmaster Help thread asks a very interesting question. Should a webmaster consider submitting a reinclusion request if the site is still ranking well in Google? The question seems obvious. Why would you bother submitting a reinclusion request when...

Posted on January 7, 2009 8:49 AM

A WebmasterWorld thread asks why does the site command in Google not match up in the number of "indexed" URLs reported in Google Webmaster Tools. A very valid question, let me show you. A simple site command in Google for...

Posted on January 7, 2009 8:25 AM

A WebmasterWorld thread asks just how accurate is the table in Google Webmaster Tools that shows the details of "Your page with the highest PageRank." It is found under "Statistics" and then under "Crawl stats" at the bottom of the...

Posted on January 6, 2009 9:19 AM

A Google Webmaster Help thread reports that in some instances, Google will tell you that your Sitemap file is OK, but in reality, it is not. The issue comes up when on the summary page, Google may report that your...

Posted on December 29, 2008 8:29 AM

A Google Webmaster Help thread has a report that Google's preferred domain setting section in Google Webmaster Tools is not working. When some webmasters click on the "Settings" link on the left hand side, they get a response from Google...

Posted on December 29, 2008 7:56 AM

It has been a while since I posted a link update post, based on Google updating their webmaster tools report. One of the reasons for this is because there has been a two to three month bug, where Google has...

Posted on December 18, 2008 7:56 AM

I am a huge fan of Google Sitelinks for a lot of reasons. But what do you do when the Sitelinks Google is displaying for your site is wrong? The manage Sitelinks feature doesn't give you too many options, outside...

Posted on December 16, 2008 7:55 AM

Yesterday we reported there were issues with verifying your site in Google Webmaster Tools. The issues were around using the META tag verification, but that is now resolved, as of yesterday evening. Googler, Susan Moskwa said in the Google Webmaster...

Posted on December 9, 2008 7:53 AM

JohnMu at Google has posted a thread announcement at Google Webmaster Help discussions stating there is an issue with some folks who might be trying to verify their sites with Google Webmaster Tools. Specifically, if you are trying to use...

Posted on December 8, 2008 7:53 AM

Google has made two changes to Webmaster Tools. The first is they consolidated your settings into a single page for a site and the second is they are now giving more control over your crawl rate. There is a new...

Posted on December 5, 2008 8:33 AM

It is now official! Google Webmaster Helps Groups has officially closed yesterday and they have opened up a new discussions area at Google Webmaster Help. Susan from Google explained that the archives at the old group "will remain read-only, but...

Posted on December 5, 2008 8:20 AM

Many Google Webmaster Tools users are complaining about not being able to see their "Top Search Queries" report for a week's worth of time. If you go to Google Webmaster Tools, then go to Statistics, and then click on Top...

Posted on November 20, 2008 8:19 AM

A Google Groups thread asks if Google has made Google Webmaster Tools iPhone friendly? In other words, did Google make a version of Google Webmaster Tools optimized to render well on an iPhone? The answer is, kind of - yes....

Posted on November 19, 2008 9:50 AM

Every day that goes by, I become a bigger fan of setting up an XML Sitemap file for Google and the other search engines to chew on. I think Sitemap files are important for sites to take full advantage of...

Posted on November 18, 2008 8:22 AM

As Googler, Matt Cutts Twittered, he now has Sitelinks under his domain for a search on [matt cutts]. Why did it take Matt over two years to get Sitelinks for his domain when it is such an authoritative source? The...

Posted on November 17, 2008 7:36 AM

In Google Webmaster Tools, you can disable your Google Sitelinks from showing up in the Google search results. But according to a Google Groups thread, it doesn't work. Personally, I don't know anyone who doesn't want Sitelinks to show up...

Posted on November 12, 2008 8:51 AM

Russ Jones over at The Google Cache talks about a new tool he released for public consumption. It's called glync and gives you historical data of links you have accrued over time using Google Webmaster Tools. There is a free...

Posted on November 6, 2008 9:27 AM

Last month, Google added "crawl source" errors reporting to Google Webmaster Tools. Webmasters were happy with this tool, it gave them actionable items to work on. But now, it seems a bug is preventing the tool from showing the crawl...

Posted on November 6, 2008 8:17 AM

There are a lot of reports lately of issues with Google Webmasters Tools. Issues are fixed but then they return. For example, we have this post reporting 0 crawled pages from October 23; on October 24, we still had individuals...

Posted on October 30, 2008 10:12 AM

Google held their third webmaster chat session about a week ago. I was unable to provide you coverage of the event, but I knew they would be posting a recap of the event for us all who were unable to...

Posted on October 30, 2008 8:08 AM

The other day we reported Google Webmaster Tools Showing 0 Pages Indexed For Sitemaps Users. In short, some of those who have submitted a Sitemap file via Google Webmaster Tools were having issues with those Sitemaps. Many saw their Sitemap...

Posted on October 27, 2008 7:21 AM

I am not sure about this, but it seems that Google's webmaster trends team is sending out snail mail letters to some Sitemap users in the Google Webmaster Help forums. I believe the letters read: <url> <loc> http://www.google.com/webmasters </loc> <created>...

Posted on October 24, 2008 8:10 AM

If you login to your Google Webmaster Tools account and notice that Google is reporting that they have indexed 0 of your submitted pages through Sitemaps, then don't worry - you are not alone. A WebmasterWorld and Google Groups thread...

Posted on October 23, 2008 7:57 AM

Adam Lasnik of Google announced in a Google Groups thread that they are going to be hosting the third webmaster live chat event this Wednesday, October 22nd and noon (EST) or 9am (PST). I am personally upset at the time....

Posted on October 20, 2008 11:49 AM

A WebmasterWorld member reports that he was dependent on the Top Search Queries report in Google Webmaster Tools and has found it to be providing incorrect data. After all, using another rank checker proved to see no results and there...

Posted on October 20, 2008 10:36 AM

If you login to Google Webmaster Tools you may notice that something is missing. Google has removed the date from the Home page crawl field from the site overview page. The field was grouped in the "Home Page Crawl" section....

Posted on October 17, 2008 6:04 AM

If your like me and other obsessive SEO’s addicted to the details of fixing everything on your own or a client’s website then Google’s recent addition of showing you where your 404 crawl errors come from is a much applauded...

Posted on October 15, 2008 1:21 PM

Hopefully by the time you read this post, the issue will be resolved. However, yesterday afternoon, a Google representative, JohnMu said there is currently a display issue in the Google Webmaster Tools. A Google Groups thread reports several webmasters who...

Posted on October 9, 2008 7:18 AM

Got a lot of websites? Hopefully you don't have to monitor them all. That's because Google has limited the number of sites registered in Google Webmaster Tools to 500, according to Google Groups. Unfortunately, that number will not be lifted...

Posted on October 1, 2008 8:28 AM

A Google Groups thread has a webmaster questioning the date shown in Google Webmaster Tools that shows the "Home page crawl" summary. In short, the data may be older and slower to update than other tools you have in your...

Posted on September 24, 2008 8:57 AM

Typically, TLDs (top level domains) that end with country specific IDs cannot be geo-targeted in Google Webmaster Tools. For example, if you own domain.co.il, you typically cannot set the Geographic target of that domain to England or the US. But...

Posted on September 23, 2008 8:25 AM

Google Webmaster Tools seems to be generating a lot of fake errors. About a month ago they fixed the false 404 errors and now this month, they are reporting false HTTP errors. Here is a screen capture of the overview...

Posted on September 17, 2008 8:08 AM

It appears like the Google Webmaster Central team is testing a new verification process for Webmaster Tools. A Google Groups thread reports finding the following data in his log file: 66.249.71.119 - - [11/Sep/2008:10:17:09 +0100] "GET / google38b4a154a92b0b4f.html HTTP/1.1" 200...

Posted on September 12, 2008 10:53 AM

We discussed the value of adding a Sitemap file in Google in the past. And we also discussed the various data you can send to Google about each of URLs. In a Google Groups thread, a webmaster created multiple Sitemap...

Posted on September 11, 2008 7:52 AM

Following another Google Popular Picks thread, a forum member asks about the effectiveness of Google communication with the general public. How do you enable two-way communication with Google about your web site? The first suggested step is to register your...

Posted on September 9, 2008 10:05 AM

Ever wonder how Google generates the unique verification code used for authorizing access to Google Webmaster Tools? There are two ways to verify your site in Webmaster Tools. One way is by adding a meta tag code to your header...

Posted on September 9, 2008 7:55 AM

A question I hear a lot is why don't the Sitelinks I see in a Google search result, match what I see when I login to Google Webmaster Tools? For example, here are the Sitelinks I see for a search...

Posted on September 9, 2008 7:40 AM

Google Webmaster Tools is full of useful things, including mobile web page errors and warnings. A new warning that was spotted was on the size of your mobile web pages. We have two threads on the topic, one at WebmasterWorld...

Posted on September 2, 2008 8:28 AM

A Google Groups thread is requesting that Google add a negative keyword filter tool for Google Webmaster Tools. Google AdWords gives advertisers the ability to tell Google, I don't want traffic for these keyword phrases or keywords. At least one...

Posted on August 29, 2008 7:57 AM

Eric Enge interviewed Googler Maile Ohye relatively recently and provided an interesting summary of the interview on his blog. In the interview, Maile talks about the WebmasterTools API (especially with regards to extracting link data), using sitemaps for discovery, spam...

Posted on August 26, 2008 9:02 AM

The Google Webmaster Central Blog has a post about new widgets that Google has created that allow you to "embed a widget in your 404 page that helps your visitors find what they're looking for by providing suggestions based on...

Posted on August 20, 2008 9:30 AM

About two weeks ago, we reported that Google Webmaster Tools had 404 reporting errors. Well, after about two weeks, the 404, page not found, reports in Webmaster Tools is now accurate. I logged in myself and saw that Google was...

Posted on August 13, 2008 8:11 AM

There have been reports with Google's Blogger tool and Sitemaps not working well together. A Google Groups thread notes that those submitting a Sitemap file to Google Webmaster Tools, and using Google's Blogger service, are having issues. Many who have...

Posted on August 12, 2008 8:32 AM

The Google team has just announced that your Google Sites web site -- that is, the sites.google.com properties -- can be submitted to Google Webmaster Central. This fixes a bug with verification that we reported on June 16. Google has...

Posted on July 31, 2008 2:22 PM

A Google Groups thread has confirmation from Google that Google's Webmaster Tools may be reporting incorrect 404 status reports. In fact, for this site, Google has reported over a 150 pages not found, in the webmaster tools section. The fact...

Posted on July 31, 2008 8:01 AM

When a search engine spider, bot, crawler visits your site, they should all be capable of passing what is known as a reverse DNS test. I have details on how this works over at this article. A WebmasterWorld thread reports...

Posted on July 30, 2008 8:47 AM

A Google Groups thread has a webmaster who was very concerned when he logged into Webmaster Tools to find out that his site was not indexed by Google. The reality was, it was indexed by Google, but Webmaster Tools showed...

Posted on July 25, 2008 8:12 AM

An updated WebmasterWorld thread notes that Google has appeared to add a time stamp value to the last date Google updated your Google Sitelinks. The time stamp can be found by logging into your Google Webmaster Tools, clicking on "Links"...

Posted on July 25, 2008 8:02 AM

Google seems to have been adding new alerts or messages sent via the Google Message Center in Webmaster Tools. We saw an alert for high bandwidth access rates and now I am seeing reports of messages warning of "high response...

Posted on July 24, 2008 7:50 AM

I have a client with a very large database driven site. The site is extremely crawlable, which makes for a really nice amount of pages for very specific search terms. I cannot share the site I am talking about, because...

Posted on July 22, 2008 8:31 AM

A Google Groups thread asks if having two Sitemaps for the same site will cause an issue with Google. In short, Google said no. Why does this site have two Sitemaps? Well, the only way for multiple Google Accounts to...

Posted on July 16, 2008 7:35 AM

A WebmasterWorld thread is reporting either a somewhat widespread glitch in Google Webmaster Tools or some sites that are having issues. I am personally able to validate the issues, so let me show them to you. I logged into Google...

Posted on July 8, 2008 8:02 AM

Did you know that Google's Remove Content tool in Webmaster Tools is not HTTPS or WWW specific? Meaning, if you want to use the tool to remove all your HTTPS pages from the Google index, it will also remove your...

Posted on July 3, 2008 8:07 AM

A Cre8asite Forums thread has a member who is a bit concerned that the page listed in his Google Webmaster Tools, crawl stats section for "highest PageRank" is not his home page. Instead, an internal page is listed as having...

Posted on July 3, 2008 7:40 AM

A WebmasterWorld thread asks how much of an impact will a site see if it is moved from a Dubai host to a USA based host? The answer is not really all that known. This webmaster's main concern is that...

Posted on June 30, 2008 7:25 AM

A WebmasterWorld thread reports that Google has made a small change to the location where you can find your crawl rate charts. In the past, as I described on May 2nd, Google placed the crawl stats under the "Tools" and...

Posted on June 27, 2008 7:50 AM

Google has been updating the link reports in Webmaster Tools more frequently, so I stopped reporting them. But Google also removed the download this table feature from those reports back in February of this year. It was at that time,...

Posted on June 26, 2008 8:25 AM

It is not uncommon to see websites infected with malware. In fact, I see more and more cases of sites being removed or warned by Google for containing traces malware. Sites being hacked is way too common these days. Many...

Posted on June 26, 2008 7:51 AM

Several webmasters are noticing new errors found in their Google Webmaster Tools Sitemaps error diagnostic section. The new error is: All the URLs in your Sitemap are marked as having dynamic content. We have threads at WebmasterWorld and Google Groups...

Posted on June 25, 2008 7:52 AM

I can't express how happy I am to see a real live API available for Google Webmaster Tools. The announcement came late Friday, telling webmasters and developers that they can now use an API to access and communicate data back...

Posted on June 23, 2008 7:33 AM

The second Google webmaster live chat event is now over. I love these things and I wanted to make sure that you all can listen to what took place, just in case you missed it. The agenda went as follows:...

Posted on June 19, 2008 7:00 PM

Google has announced the details of the second live chat session for webmasters and Googlers. The first live chat session was a huge success, I posted transcripts and so on at our site if you missed it. The next live...

Posted on June 17, 2008 7:43 AM

Anyone who has their own Google Sites page may want to verify it for Google Webmaster Tools. At this time, unfortunately, it's not possible. Google Sites does not allow you to upload HTML files or add meta tags, so verification...

Posted on June 16, 2008 9:29 AM

Google Webmaster Tools seems to have a new bug which does not allow you to delete or remove your sitemaps file from your profile. Several reports came from Google Groups starting on May 27th. All have reported that no matter...

Posted on May 30, 2008 7:56 AM

One constant thread you see at the forums are threads complaining that their sites become automatically unverified in Google Webmaster Tools. So the webmaster needs to go back in and manually click the verify button in Webmaster Tools, to reverify...

Posted on May 27, 2008 5:30 AM

Google's Malware Review form, which was added back in August of last year had some technical issues this week. First reports came via Google Groups at about 1am on May 15th. Webmasters trying to utilize the form received a "oops,...

Posted on May 16, 2008 8:16 AM

search_engine981:http://www.seroundtable.com/archives/017091.htmlBack in October of 2007, Google launched Set Geographic Target in Google Webmaster Tools. It basically allowed you to tell Google if your site is based in a certain geographic location. For example, let's say you had a UK site,...

Posted on May 9, 2008 7:37 AM

Let's say, you have a subfolder on your domain that gets hacked. The hack causes your subfolder to be penalized by Google, due to the hack. Did you know that in order to issue a request for a review from...

Posted on May 5, 2008 7:45 AM

There seems to be a major bug in Google Webmaster Tools where Google is telling virtually all webmasters that their sites are not indexed in Google. For example, I am personally getting the following message for all my sites: Yes,...

Posted on April 18, 2008 7:20 AM

Google has finally written a formal post at the Google Webmaster Central blog named Best practices when moving your site. It honestly is a nice place to send a client or webmaster when the question comes up. Does it give...

Posted on April 17, 2008 7:33 AM

I was doing my forum research this morning and I spotted a HighRankings Forum thread with the title "Link Unbuilding." I love it! The new link building, for some, is link unbuilding! Here is the SEO's concern and this concern...

Posted on April 10, 2008 8:23 AM

Just when we were getting over the Google Webmaster Tools Verification bug, when the far east is now suffering with a similar bug. If you have a .ASIA domain, Google has confirmed that you will not be able to verify...

Posted on April 3, 2008 7:52 AM

After about 6 or so days of webmasters not being able to verify their sites in Google Webmaster Tools, Google has finally applied the fix. On March 28th, we reported verification issues with Google Webmaster Tools starting some time before...

Posted on April 1, 2008 7:59 AM

As reported, Google held their first live chat even hosted by the Google Webmaster Help team. I listened and participated in the live chat event, and I can personally attest that it was a huge success. I believe there were...

Posted on March 31, 2008 7:14 AM

Want an official Google robots.txt generator? You have one. Yesterday, the Google Webmaster Central blog announced the launch of a new tool in Google Webmaster Central, the robots.txt generator. Here's what it looks like: You'll then need to download it...

Posted on March 28, 2008 9:32 AM

Googler, JohnMu, posted a Google Groups thread telling everyone that Google is aware of the verification issue in Google Webmaster Tools and not to worry. He said: I just wanted to give a short heads-up that we're aware of the...

Posted on March 28, 2008 8:21 AM

Monday we reported that Google Webmaster Central Team to Offer Live Chat on Friday, March 28th. As promised, I am updating you with the how to join details of this live chat session. Google's Adam Lasnik posted a bunch of...

Posted on March 27, 2008 8:12 AM

Google Webmaster Central is hosting a live chat session this Friday at 9pm (PST), noon (EST). Adam Lasnik of Google posted some details at the Google Webmaster Central Blog. Date/Time: Friday, March 28 at 9am PDT / noon EDT /...

Posted on March 25, 2008 8:15 AM

Serbia currently has two TLDs, .rs and .yu. The .rs TLD is now replacing the .yu TLD, all .yu TLDs should be transferred over to .rs by September 30, 2009. FYI, .rs stands for Republika Srbija (The Republic of Serbia)....

Posted on March 25, 2008 7:50 AM

Recently, one of the most requested Google Webmaster Tools features I have been hearing through the forums either directly or indirectly is the ability to mark links as links you do not vouch for. Even though we have said time...

Posted on March 20, 2008 7:24 AM

Google recently improved the Webmaster Tools "message center" by having messages wait for you even if you are not verified. But a few reports are coming from Google Groups that the message center is not displaying open messages. Users are...

Posted on March 19, 2008 7:49 AM

The Google Webmaster Tools "external links" report is buggy over the weekend. The tool is not showing any backlinks anymore for, I believe, any site. For example, here are the non-existent backlinks for the Search Engine Roundtable: There are dozens...

Posted on March 17, 2008 6:32 AM

Google announced you can now add Google Webmaster Tools stats directly to your iGoogle home page. It comes from a feature request we linked to in the past and now it is here. Vanessa Fox has an excellent post documenting...

Posted on February 29, 2008 6:55 AM

We reported several days ago that Google hasn't updated their external link counts and data in Google Webmaster Tools since early January. Webmasters and SEOs began to complain so Googlers began looking into it. We now have reports via Google...

Posted on February 28, 2008 9:24 AM

I have been hearing reports from friends in the industry that the external link reports at Google Webmaster Tools have not been updated for an unusually long time. I personally stop tracking those updates back in November 2007. We now...

Posted on February 25, 2008 7:24 AM

Do you love or hate Google Webmaster Tools? Do you have ideas or suggestions for improvements to the tools? Do you want to give Google a piece of your mind? If you log into Google Webmaster Tools and click on...

Posted on February 21, 2008 7:07 AM

Search Engine Watch Moderator, Beu, posted a Search Engine Watch Forums thread noting that Google has published a PDF document named Making the Most of Your Content: A Publisher's Guide to the Web. The PDF document is a printable 13...

Posted on February 11, 2008 8:15 AM

If you login to Google Webmaster Tools and go to your "links" and then "external links" section, you may notice Google removed the "Download This Table" link from the bottom. What remains is the "Download all external links." Why did...

Posted on February 8, 2008 2:19 AM

Google Webmaster Central launched the ability to set the "geographic target" of a particular site within Google Webmaster Tools back in late October of last year. We have been gleaning hints and tips on if it works and how well...

Posted on January 28, 2008 7:49 AM

Just a tidbit based on a Google Groups thread, using the Google Remove URLs feature will only remove the content from Google for 90 days. After 90 days, if you do not block the page from crawlers or tell crawlers...

Posted on January 22, 2008 7:25 AM

If you haven't used Google Webmaster Tools yet, you might as well start because there's absolutely nothing that should hold you back. It's highly recommended and now it even has its own start guide. The guide gives you basic information...

Posted on January 21, 2008 8:57 AM

Last night Google released a new feature for Google Webmaster Tools named Content Analysis. Vanessa Fox's Search Engine Land post named Google's Webmaster Tools Adds More Diagnostic Features and Video Sitemaps is outstanding. Basically, the Content Analysis feature shows you...

Posted on December 14, 2007 7:53 AM

I have been following a WebmasterWorld thread that has a site owner asking why his SEO company is requiring him to remove his verification code and add only access to Google Webmaster Tools for the SEO company. Again, Site Owner...

Posted on December 6, 2007 7:30 AM

Google recently released a new tool in Google Webmaster Tools that enables you to set your Geographic Target market for your site. Since then, we have been waiting to see any real feedback on how exactly it works. We learned...

Posted on November 13, 2007 7:32 AM

Google has updated Google Webmaster Tools with a link update earlier this week. Google typically does these updates monthly, around this time. There is currently discussion at DigitalPoint Forums. Here is a look at our top pages, by links reported...

Posted on November 6, 2007 1:27 PM

Let Google Know The Geographic Location of Your Site from Vanessa Fox at Search Engine Land has nice coverage of Google's new Set geographic target feature in Google Webmaster Tools. In short, if your site is tailored to a certain...

Posted on October 31, 2007 7:30 AM

A Google Groups thread has a fairly simple but educational FAQ on how the "Set Crawl Rate" feature works in Google Webmaster Tools. In short, you can only set the crawl rate for a site on the domain or subdomain...

Posted on October 25, 2007 8:15 AM

We talk a ton about Google Webmaster Tools and how important they have become to SEOs and Webmasters over the course of this year. Amanda Camp, who worked with Vanessa Fox (before Vanessa left to Zillow), at the Google Seattle...

Posted on October 25, 2007 8:08 AM

Two days ago we reported, Google Webmaster Tools Link Page Troubles Again. Since then, there has a huge amount of discussion on this topic. Tons of SEOs and Webmasters were really frustrated that the tool wasn't giving them information. They...

Posted on October 25, 2007 7:51 AM

For the past couple days, Google Webmaster Tools has been having issues displaying the detailed links for a particular page of a site. Many people are seeing what I am seeing: When you try to download all external links or...

Posted on October 23, 2007 2:22 PM

Yesterday, I got confirmation that Google is now showing up to 8 Sitelinks for a search result. I tried to find real examples of this in action, and finally found something that works on my computer. A search for search...

Posted on October 19, 2007 7:14 AM

A DigitalPoint Forums thread is reporting yet another recent Google Webmaster Tools Link update. It appears Google is now updating the linkage data, not monthly, but much more frequently, over at Google Webmaster Tools. We typically track only the monthly...

Posted on October 15, 2007 7:41 AM

Google has updated Google Webmaster Tools with a link update last week. Google typically does these updates monthly, around this time. There are additional reports of and ranking changes. There is currently discussion at DigitalPoint Forums. Here is a look...

Posted on October 8, 2007 8:11 AM

Yesterday we reported that Google's link report tool was not working fully. To be specific, the link reports were not downloading to your desktop, when that feature was requested. After about two-plus days, the feature is now back. Webmasters can...

Posted on September 21, 2007 7:23 AM

The Google Link Tool at Google Webmaster Tools is now allowing you to download all external links. I have been trying it myself from several locations for the past two days and no luck. You can the "Download all external...

Posted on September 20, 2007 7:02 AM

When you login to Google Webmasters Tools and click on your "Crawl stats" under the statistics section, you are suppose to see a screen like this: Notice it shows two tables, the first is for "The PageRank of your pages...

Posted on September 18, 2007 7:40 AM

I have been tracking a WebmasterWorld thread about an issue with Google Webmaster Tools. Apparently, the link reporting tool, within Google Webmaster Tools, has issues with pagination. By this I mean, when someone clicks on the "next" page link, it...

Posted on September 12, 2007 6:31 AM

In April Google released a way to remove URLs in Google from within Google Webmaster Tools. There has been very little chatter about reincluding content that you have removed in the past. With Google it is very easy to reinclude...

Posted on September 4, 2007 7:24 AM

The Google Webmaster Central Blog announced earlier this week that it will begin starting to offer malware reviews of websites. The process is simple: you can view a list of dangerous URLs in the Webmaster Tools, make any changes according...

Posted on August 15, 2007 10:07 AM

A WebmasterWorld thread asks if the incoming links in Google Webmaster Tools list the nofollowed links. Yes. All links show up in Google Webmaster Tools, but Google Webmaster Tools does not make any distinctions between incoming links that pass link...

Posted on August 8, 2007 9:56 AM