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 Search Console » De-indexing bug hits Google Search Console reports, tools

De-indexing bug hits Google Search Console reports, tools

Don't trust the Google Search Console coverage and enhancement reports, nor the URL inspection tool until Google fixes ongoing indexing bugs.

Barry Schwartz on April 15, 2019 at 10:49 am

Just when we thought we were out of the woods with Google’s de-indexing bug — we are now seeing issues related to that bug within Google Search Console. Google confirmed Monday morning that the index coverage report and the enhancement reports were not updated and the Inspector might not reflect live status of the page. This is all related to the indexing bug according to Google.

What’s the issue? The new issue is that if you look at your Google Search Console reports, specifically the index coverage report and the enhancement reports, you may not see accurate data. Over the weekend SEOs were noticing huge drops in their index coverage within the coverage report. The thing was, the report was showing the issue after the de-indexing bug was already resolved. There were similar issues with the enhancement reports in Search Console as well.

In addition, the URL Inspection tool, which is the tool Google has been telling SEOs to go to in order to check the true status of a page being indexed, also may have issues. Google said the “URL Inspector might not reflect live status.”

Here are the tweets with Google’s announcement about these issues:

Search Console is still recovering from the indexing issue we reported on last week. As a result, index coverage and enhancement reports were not updated recently & URL Inspector might not reflect live status, at the moment.

— Google Webmasters (@googlewmc) April 15, 2019

In the case of a site-specific issue, you can report into our forum. You can also use the URL Inspector tool to resubmit, but be aware the status report might not be correct until that issue is resolved https://t.co/2d36OARdZ5

— Google Webmasters (@googlewmc) April 15, 2019

What do we do? For now, there is nothing for us to do about it. We can just wait for Google to fix the issues. But being aware that there are these issues in Google Search Console is important for us to all know.

When Google fixes the issue, Google will let us know and we will let you all know.

If you want to know if a page is in Google’s index, Google is now suggesting you use the site: command, that is until Google fixes the issues listed above.

Still not indexed? We are still seeing some reports from site owners that their sites are still not fully indexed. Google has said it does not index all pages on the web. So don’t expect Google to fully index your web site. But if you do believe there is an indexing issue, you can communicate that via the Google help forums over here.

Why it matters. Understanding there are reporting issues and delays is important for us to know. Understanding that the URL Inspection tool isn’t fully working as expected is also important. We should delay sending clients reports from Google Search Console until this is resolved. We can quote Google above when communicating to clients about the reporting delays.

Most importantly, do not panic if you see something weird today in the index coverage report and the enhancement reports or in the URL Inspection tool. Wait for Google to confirm it is resolved before being concerned about any potential issues.


New on Search Engine Land

    Google search results spam for ‘Bill Slawski obituary’ shows the dark side of SEO

    New mobile Google ad experiment puts favicon in-line with display URL

    Google launches video health tools to help publisher monetization

    SEO pioneer and expert Bill Slawski passes away

    New Yelp feature: Request a Call

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 Search ConsoleGoogle: SEOSEO

Get the daily newsletter search marketers rely on.

Processing...Please wait.

See terms.

ATTEND OUR EVENTS

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

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

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

Content Comes First: Transform Your Operations With DAM

Dominate Your Competition with Google Auction Insights and Search Intelligence

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

Reputation Management For Healthcare Organizations

Unlock the App Marketing Potential of QR Codes

Realising the power of virtual events for demand generation

The Progressive Marketer’s Ultimate Events Strategy 2022 Worksheet

CMO Guide: How to Plan Smart and Pivot Fast

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.