It finally happened, we got a new core update, the Google August 2024 core update touched down on August 15th. It resulted in some movement with some of the sites that were hit by the September helpful content update and also many sad stories, including many sites that saw even more degradation in their search rankings. Yes, we also saw early ranking movement, prior to the official announcement of the core update.
Google also had a search ranking bug that was fixed four days into that core update. Some are also seeing thumbnails return to the results, likely due to the core update.
Google AI Overviews have new links and are now visible incognito mode - i.e. signed out. Google Search Console is testing recommendations, that most people do not see.
We also posted a ton of SEO stories, tons of Google user interface tests and local related stories.
The big business news, Google was ruled a monopoly and then Yelp sued Google on top of that.
Here are a lot of additional top headlines for the past month of August:
Google Algorithm Updates:
- Google August 2024 Core Update Rolling Out - Will Small Sites Rank Again?
- Some Google Helpful Content Update Resurrections With August Core Update
- Google: Wait Until The August Core Update Is Complete To See Effects
- Reports: Some Google August Core Update Gains Vanishing In Past 24 Hours
- Google August Core Update Helpful Content Surge Charts
- Google August 2024 Core Update Impact Poll
- Google August 2024 Core Update Impact Poll Results
- Confirmed: Google AI Overviews Are Impacted By Core Updates
- Hardbacon Announced Closure Day Before August Core Update, Then Sees Traffic Surge
- Google Search Ranking Volatility Heats Up After DOJ Monopoly Ruling
- Google Search Ranking Volatility Combusting Around August 14th & 15th
- Confirmed: Google Search Ranking Bug Impacting Large Number Of Results
- Google Search Ranking Issue Fixed After 4+ Days
- Thumbnails Back In Google Search Result Snippets For Many
- Google Top Stories Showing Fewer Top Stories For Political Figures?
- Report: Google Sending More Discover Traffic But Less Search Traffic To Publishers
- Google Search Team On Crawling & Improvements To Crawling
- Google AI Overview New Links UI, Save, Simpler Mode & More Countries
- Google AI Overviews In Incognito Mode (Not Signed In)
- Google AI Overviews With Tons Of Link Icons
- Google Search Console Recommendations (Experimental)
- Google Doesn't Technically Follow Links, It Extracts, Collects & Checks Later
- Google Now May Use Your OG Title For Title Links Search Snippets
- Google Search Console Search Appearances Documentation Updated
- Google Overhauls Video SEO Docs With More Details
- Google Updates Organization Markup Search Docs To Clarify Logo & Other Usage
- Google Search Finally Supports AVIF Images
- Google: We Generally Don't Try Variations Of URLs
- Google: Many Noindex & Nofollows Do Not Signal Site Quality Issues
- Google: Unanswered Comments Don't Hurt Your Google Search Rankings
- Google Discovered - Currently Not Indexed - Quality, Timing Or Server Speed
- AWS S3 Blocked Googlebot From My Image URLs - Here Is My Recovery
- Google Search To Get Better At URL Parameter Handling?
- Google Search Listing srsltid URL Parameters From Merchant Center
- Google Tests Verification Icons For Free Search Result Listings
- Google Tests New Shopping Search Design
- Google Shopping Carousel More Like This Button
- Google Search Mentioned In Key Answers Box
- Google Testing Search Snippet Hover Background Colors
- Google Tests New Default Favicon Designs
- You May Also Need Google Search Refinements
- Google Your Related Searches Timeline On Sidebar
- Google Search Tests From Your Notifications Box
- Google Tests Rounded Outlines Around Search Feature Snippets
- Google Search Hidden Gems Refinement Box
- Google Search Snippets You May Like Label
- Google Business Profile Appeals Delayed Over 7 Days
- Google Search Local Pack UX Update
- Google Local Panel Maps Tests Expanding In Search Results
- New Google Maps Design Within Google Search Results
- Google Business Profiles Listings See Also Carousel Leading To Competitors
- Google Is A Monopoly, Federal Judge Rules (What's Next)
- Yelp Sues Google Over Unfair Advantage In Local Search
The Google August 2024 webmaster report was published last month, if you missed it.
Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.
