This past month we had a bunch of tremors and somewhat unconfirmed and semi-confirmed Google search algorithmic updates. We also had a big Google Local and Maps update that seems to be about relevancy, not proximity. It was not an insane month of news but it was busy.
On the bug side, Google had a bug with the new meta tags where in some cases pages would be removed from the index. The recipe markup bug is still ongoing, through Thanksgiving. Google may be ignoring the rel=canonical for syndication partners, in some cases. Oh, and Search Console lost data again.
Google got the median time to render for GoogleBot down to 5 seconds, which is super impressive. Google added a method to preview your recipes on smart displays like Google Home Hubs. Google added product result filters to Search Console. And Google updated the video structured data help documents in a big way.
The ongoing WebmasterWorld thread is pretty calm, it was a slow Thanksgiving weekend.
Here are the more important Google webmaster stories over the past month but if you missed the month prior, see here.
Google Algorithms & Updates:
- Unconfirmed Google Search Algorithm Ranking Update November 8th
- Google Confirmed Search Algorithm Update Rolled Out; Here Is What We Know
- Yet More Google Search Ranking Algorithm Tremors Over The Weekend
- Did Google Just Confirm The Weekend Google Algorithm Update?
- Google Search Result Rankings Had A Very Volatile Week: Tremors All Week?
- Google November Core Algorithm Updates Probably Not Just Links
- Google My Business Local Listing Update This Week
- Google Local Update (Bedlam Update) Related To Relevancy Not Proximity
- New Google Meta Tag Resulted In Pages Not Being Indexed: Now Fixed
- Google Ignoring The rel=canonical For Syndication Partners?
- Google: Best Approach For Syndication Partners Is To Use rel=canonical
- Do Republish Your Content Elsewhere? Google May Rank That Content Above Yours.
- Google: Median Time For GoogleBot To Render Is 5 Seconds
- Google Search Recipe Bug Continues Into Thanksgiving Cooking Season
- Google Workaround To Get Google To Find Noindex Faster
- Google: Setting A Geographic Target Doesn't Prevent Your Site From Showing In Other Locations
- Google: Do Not Use Robots.txt To Block Indexing Of URLs With Parameters
- Google: There Is No Indexing Limit For Number Of Pages Indexed Per Site
- Google Featured Snippets Are Impacted By Algorithmic Updates
- Google: Our Production Parser Is Different; The Search Console Parser Uses A Java Port
- Google: We Ignore Links From Sites Where Links Are Unlikely To Be Natural
- Google Negative SEO Attack Response: These Links Have No Effect
- Google: Links Are Between Indexed URLs, If One Side Is Gone, The Link Is Ignored
- Google Search Console Lost Image Search Click Data Between Nov 14 & 19
- Google Rich Results Test Shows Google Home & Smart Display Previews
- Product Results Filter Added To Google Search Console Performance Results
- Google: Search Console Team Working On "New Email Stuff"
- Google Video Structured Data Help Document Gets A Big Update
- Is Google My Business To Provide Its Own Booking & Reservation System?
- Google My Business Adds Job Types For Services With Services Editor
- Google My Business Listings Disappear - It's A Bug
- Report: Google Local Q&A Display Bugs Confirmed
- Google My Business Limits Businesses To 20 Service Areas
- Google Dictionary Search Results Add Images
- Google Tests Recipe Rich Result Preview; Making It Harder To Go To Publisher
- Google Offering Searching Tips When It Can't Find Search Results
- Google Tests More Spacious Search Result Snippets
- Google Tests Arrows By Titles In Search Result Snippets
- Google Search Tests Grouping Results From Same Domain In Single Box
Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.
