Are Google Search Snippets Showing False Dates?

Mar 16, 2017 - 7:52 am 9 by

Greentech Google Bot 1900px

The other day, Bill Hartzer posted that he saw Google showing inaccurate and false dates on his articles within the Google search results. Now I see a WebmasterWorld thread started by the administrator there, with a similar complaint.

In short, some are saying their new articles are showing up with inaccurate dates in the Google snippets. I tested this on a few stories on this site and I was unable to replicate it but Bill documented it on his site.

Engine, the administrator at WebmasterWorld wrote:

Looking closely at the Google SERPs I noticed the dates shown against some of the entries and most show just a date. However, when it's a very recent listing in the SERPs the actual date shown by Google appears to be inaccurate. One example shows it as incorrect by seven hours. "7 hours ago"

Here is a screen shot from Bill showing that:

Google Seven Hours Stamp

Do you also have this issue?

Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.

 

Popular Categories

The Pulse of the search community

Google Search Volatility

More Details

Search Video Recaps

 
Video Details More Videos Subscribe to Videos

Most Recent Articles

Search Forum Recap

Daily Search Forum Recap: June 19, 2026

Jun 19, 2026 - 10:00 am
Search Video Recaps

Search News Buzz Video Recap: Google Volatility, Bing AI Reporting Updates, UK Orders Google To Hand Over Its Search Ranking Algorithm & More

Jun 19, 2026 - 8:01 am
Bing Search

Bing Tests Updated News Design In Search

Jun 19, 2026 - 7:51 am
Google Search Engine Optimization

Google Speaks On Chunking, Site Signals, Content, Paywalls & AI Clicks

Jun 19, 2026 - 7:41 am
Bing Search

Bing Tests Color Options In Product Results

Jun 19, 2026 - 7:31 am
Google Ads

Google Ads Turning On Conversion-Based Customer Lists For Advertisers

Jun 19, 2026 - 7:21 am
 
Previous Story: Google Hamburg Office Mini Swimming Pool