Bug? Google Sitemap index counts drop across Search Console reports

There are widespread reports of webmasters complaining that the sitemap report in the Google Search Console shows a significant drop in the number of pages indexed over the past 24 hours.

Many webmasters see in this report that the number of pages Google says they have indexed on their website is now about 25 percent lower than it was the day before. Of course, the fewer pages indexed, the less opportunity to rank for more pages and keyword phrases.

Here is a screen shot of my report, but all the screen shots I’ve seen circulating look similar:

Google has not commented on this issue, but I wanted to report it so those who are worried can know they are in good company and that this seems to be a bug on Google’s end.

About The Author

Barry Schwartz

Barry Schwartz is Search Engine Land's News Editor and owns RustyBrick, a NY based web consulting firm. He also runs Search Engine Roundtable, a popular search blog on very advanced SEM topics. Barry can be followed on social media at @rustybrick, +BarrySchwartz and Facebook. For more background information on Barry, see his full bio and disclosures, click over here.