Google Measures Server Response Time In Milliseconds, Is 200 Milliseconds The Benchmark?

Oct 25, 2017 - 7:44 am 4 by

Google Page Speed

We've talked about page speed here a lot, but page speed and server response time are really two different things. According to Google's documentation for their PageSpeed insights tool, they say "this rule triggers when PageSpeed Insights detects that your server response time is above 200 ms."

This specific tool measures how long it takes to load the necessary HTML to begin rendering the page from your server, subtracting out the network latency between Google and your server. If it takes over 200 milliseconds the tool triggers an issue.

Pranshu Kumar asked Google about this and Google said on Twitter "we don't define a fixed time requirement," for search but often Google uses "milliseconds" as "the unit used for this though," John added.

Here are the tweets:

I wouldn't be concerned that your rankings will drop if it takes over 200 milliseconds here but it might not be good for your users.

Forum discussion at Twitter.

 

Popular Categories

The Pulse of the search community

Search Video Recaps

 
Video Details More Videos Subscribe to Videos

Most Recent Articles

Search Forum Recap

Daily Search Forum Recap: January 2, 2026

Jan 2, 2026 - 10:00 am
Search Video Recaps

Search News Buzz Video Recap: Google December Core Update Done, News Publishers Hit Hard, Frankenstein AI Recipe Horror & Happy New Year

Jan 2, 2026 - 8:01 am
Google Search Engine Optimization

Some News Publishers Saw Big Declines With The Google Core Update

Jan 2, 2026 - 7:51 am
Search News

(John) Mueller Report Of SEO Memes (2025 Edition)

Jan 2, 2026 - 7:41 am
Google

Google Search Tests Blue Send Button In Query Box

Jan 2, 2026 - 7:31 am
Google Search Engine Optimization

Google: Why 404s Don't Matter For SEO

Jan 2, 2026 - 7:21 am
 
Previous Story: New Google AdWords Showcase Shopping Ads & More