Search Engine Land
  • SEO
    • > All SEO
    • > What Is SEO?
    • > SEO Periodic Table
    • > Google: SEO
    • > Bing SEO
    • > Google Algorithm Updates
  • PPC
    • > All PPC
    • > What is PPC?
    • > Google Ads
    • > Microsoft Ads
    • > The Periodic Tables of PPC
  • Focuses
    • > Local
    • > Commerce
    • > Shopify SEO Guide
    • > Content
    • > Email Marketing Periodic Table
    • > Social Media Marketing
    • > Analytics
    • > Search Engine Land Awards
    • > All Focuses
  • SMX
  • Webinars
  • Intelligence Reports
  • White Papers
  • About
    • > About Search Engine Land
    • > Newsletter
    • > Third Door Media
    • > Advertise

Processing...Please wait.

Search Engine Land » Google » Google: SEO » Confirmed: Google Removes “Not Selected” From Webmaster Tools

Confirmed: Google Removes “Not Selected” From Webmaster Tools

Google has confirmed the reports of the removal of the “not selected” filter within Google Webmaster Tool’s Index Status report. Google’s John Mueller said it was removed because it “was causing more confusion than actually helping webmasters with their sites.” That may be true, but many webmasters found the data useful. In fact, there were […]

Barry Schwartz on February 8, 2013 at 12:55 pm

google-webmaster-tools-video-1330350240Google has confirmed the reports of the removal of the “not selected” filter within Google Webmaster Tool’s Index Status report.

Google’s John Mueller said it was removed because it “was causing more confusion than actually helping webmasters with their sites.”

That may be true, but many webmasters found the data useful. In fact, there were times when John from Google said himself that “not selected” data can be useful in some situations.

Here is the comment from Google’s John Mueller, a Webmaster Trends Analysts in Google Zurich.

Yep, this was removed on purpose since it was causing more confusion than actually helping webmasters with their sites.

Previously, the “not selected” would mean either:

  • It redirects to another page
  • It has a rel=”canonical” to another page
  • Our algorithms have detected that its contents are substantially similar to another URL and picked the other URL to represent the content.

This news come shortly after many reports of Google Webmaster Tools having issues with reporting the number of links pointing to a site.

For more details on the index status report, see our article named Google “Reveals Index Secrets”: Charts Indexing of Your Site Over Time.


New on Search Engine Land

    The latest jobs in search marketing
    3 content marketing strategies to support SEO success
    Google Analytics 4 guide for PPC
    SEO reporting to impress: How to successfully report your SEO process, efforts and result
    9 ways to become an SEO problem-solver

About The Author

Barry Schwartz
Barry Schwartz a Contributing Editor to Search Engine Land and a member of the programming team for SMX events. He 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 Twitter here.

Related Topics

GoogleGoogle: SEOSEO

Get the daily newsletter search marketers rely on.

Processing...Please wait.

See terms.

ATTEND OUR EVENTS The SMX Conference logo.

Learn actionable search marketing tactics that can help you drive more traffic, leads, and revenue.

March 8-9, 2022: Master Classes (virtual)

June 14-15, 2022: SMX Advanced (virtual)

November 15-16, 2022: SMX Next (virtual)

Learn More About Our SMX Events

The MarTech Conference logo.

Discover time-saving technologies and actionable tactics that can help you overcome crucial marketing challenges.

Start Discovering Now: Spring (virtual)

September 28-29, 2022: Fall (virtual)

Learn More About Our MarTech Events
Webinars

Benchmark Your Social Media Performance For a Competitive Edge

Take a Crawl, Walk, Run Approach to Multi-Channel ABM

Content Comes First: Transform Your Operations With DAM

See More Webinars
Intelligence Reports

Enterprise SEO Platforms: A Marketer’s Guide

Enterprise Identity Resolution Platforms

Email Marketing Platforms: A Marketer’s Guide

Enterprise Sales Enablement Platforms: A Marketer’s Guide

Enterprise Digital Experience Platforms: A Marketer’s Guide

Enterprise Call Analytics Platforms: A Marketer’s Guide

See More Intelligence Reports
White Papers

How to use AI to make your PR more human

The State of Influencer Pricing

How to Measure Influencer Performance

Reputation Management For Healthcare Organizations

Unlock the App Marketing Potential of QR Codes

See More Whitepapers

Receive daily search news and analysis.

Processing...Please wait.

Topics

  • SEO
  • PPC

Our Events

  • Search Marketing Expo - SMX
  • MarTech

About

  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Privacy
  • Marketing Opportunities
  • Staff

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Newsletters
  • RSS
  • Youtube

© 2022 Third Door Media, Inc. All rights reserved.