Google Ranking Bug Fixed, August Core Update Swings, AI Overviews, Google Ads Bug & More

Search Engine Roundtable Podcast

Google’s larger search ranking bug was fixed four days after the issue was confirmed. Google’s August core update continues to roll out, some hit by the helpful content update are seeing some surges, but Google says wait until the update is complete. Meanwhile, we saw some potential reversals of some of those surges a day later. GA4 stopped showing data this morning for yesterday and today, it is a bug. One site announced bankruptcy the day before the core update was released, and then their traffic surged back. Google also is showing the rich result thumbnails after the core update and sites hit by the core update may also notice their links drop out of the AI Overviews. Google updated its search appearance Search Console documentation. Google also spoke about the discovered - currently not indexed and why it may occur. Google said unanswered comments aren’t a bad thing for Google Search. Google also said many noindex or nofollow links are not necessarily bad. Google is migrating all merchants to Merchant Center Next in September. Google Ads had a bug with attributing traffic to a legacy smart matching type. Google emailed advertisers about the shopping ads bug, asking some to delete data that is not there. Google is testing snippet hover-over effects. Google is also testing verification badges in the organic search results. Google is testing a new local pack user experience. Google Maps has a new design within the search results. We spotted another hidden gems search feature. And Bing image search has refinement cards done well. That was the search news this week at the Search Engine Roundtable.

SPONSOR: This week's video recap is sponsored by Duda, the Professional Website Builder You Can Call Your Own. Check out the upcoming DudCon - I'll be speaking there!

0:00 - Introduction

0:57 - Google Search Ranking Issue Fixed After 4+ Days

1:38 - Some Google Helpful Content Update Resurrections With August Core Update

2:58 - Google: Wait Until The August Core Update Is Complete To See Effects

3:45 - Reports: Some Google August Core Update Gains Vanishing In Past 24 Hours

4:20 - Google Analytics Missing Data From Yesterday/Data

4:58 - Hardbacon Announced Closure Day Before August Core Update, Then Sees Traffic Surge

6:08 - Thumbnails Back In Google Search Result Snippets For Many

6:46 - Seems Like Google AI Overviews Are Impacted By Core Updates

7:16 - Google Search Console Search Appearances Documentation Updated

7:31 - Google Discovered - Currently Not Indexed - Quality, Timing Or Server Speed

7:58 - Google: Unanswered Comments Don't Hurt Your Google Search Rankings

8:12 - Google: Many Noindex & Nofollows Do Not Signal Site Quality Issues

8:28 - Google Migrating All To Merchant Center Next By Next Month

8:49 - Google Ads Bug Attributes Traffic To Legacy Smart Matching Type

9:44 - Google Emails Advertisers On Ad Bug & Asked Advertisers To Delete Your Ad Data

10:16 - Google Testing Search Snippet Hover Background Colors

10:30 - Google Tests Verification Icons For Free Search Result Listings

10:45 - Google Search Local Pack UX Update

10:59 - New Google Maps Design Within Google Search Results

11:13 - Google Search Hidden Gems Refinement Box

11:26 - Bing Images Search Refinement Cards

11:34 - Conclusion