I asked Google but I didn't hear back, so I then asked some of the tool providers - what percentage of the index was removed, dropped or de-indexed as of result of the issue from Thursday/Friday? Dr. Pete Meyers said he is researching it but he is seeing about a 4% change.
Now - keep in mind, Moz and other tool providers generally just see a small piece of Google's whole index. I don't know what that percentage is - but it is large enough to have an accurate sample size for analyzing such data? I am not sure - but I think Pete Meyers will be posting more details at Moz when he has it.
Here is what Pete said on Twitter:
As of today, I'm seeing a return to baseline levels.
— Dr. Pete Meyers (@dr_pete) April 9, 2019
One point of validation -- the trend was stable during the March "core" update -- so, this appears to be measuring something unique from our usual flux metrics.
— Dr. Pete Meyers (@dr_pete) April 9, 2019
The issue is pretty much fixed, as we have been keeping you posted on. Here is the latest from Google:
The indexing issue should be almost completely resolved within the next eight hours. Some documents might take an additional 12-24 hours to restore. We'll provide a further update when the issue is fully resolved.
— Google SearchLiaison (@searchliaison) April 9, 2019
I'd love to get reports from more tool providers - actually, I'd love for Google to tell us what the true impact was for that time frame and who pressed the wrong button at Google. But I doubt we would be getting more details from Google on this issue.
Forum discussion at Twitter.
