Yesterday, Google sent out a slew of notifications through Google Search Console about security or web compatibility issues upcoming with the site and Chrome 91. The email says there are new requirements for SharedArrayBuffers (SABs).
The email explains that "Google systems have recently detected that SharedArrayBuffers (SABs) are uses on your site, but COOP and/or COEP headers are not served. For Web Compatibility reasons Chrome is planning to require COOP/COEP for the use of SABs from Chrome 91 (2021-05-25) onwards. Please implement "cross-origin-isolated' behavior on your site."
Here is a screenshot from Joost de Valk for the WordPress.org web site that received this notification:
Joost said on Twitter "Incomprehensible GSC error emails reaching new heights today."
The hot topic for today: SharedArrayBuffer. I'm sure @rustybrick will have many people pinging him about that. Hahaha.
— Glenn Gabe (@glenngabe) March 15, 2021
GSC just sent out a bunch of email notifications about that. https://t.co/ygun4wit8j pic.twitter.com/bLjhuDTVx3
Yes, many folks are getting these:
— Valentin Pletzer (@VorticonCmdr) March 15, 2021
If you need more details and you received this email, Google has a blog post on how to fix the issue over here and here is a video:
A lot of folks are confused, and rightfully so:
I laugh but I also get sad. This causes tons of customers to email their SEO, or to email our support team. There’s no warning, no proper explanation, just a blast to 1,000s and 1,000s of sites. Any other company would be blasted to bits over this kind of poor communication.
— Joost de Valk (@jdevalk) March 15, 2021
Well, like the message says, there are good reasons to get up and fix that issue :-) -- though it's not that trivial to work out the specifics. The message went to a relatively tiny number of sites, it's not a general message for everyone.
— 🍌 John 🍌 (@JohnMu) March 15, 2021
But Google should post more details soon:
We're looking into some details and hope to have a bit more soon (though TBH I'm super-zonked, so maybe it'll be tomorrow). I appreciate the flagging & discussion!
— 🍌 John 🍌 (@JohnMu) March 15, 2021
Forum discussion at Twitter.
Update: Google posted a more detailed clarification on Friday about this message.
