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    Google fixed a bug with the October 2023 core update impacting Discover traffic

    Some sites may see an increase in their Discover traffic starting soon.

    Google has confirmed an issue with Google Discover traffic related to a bug with the Google October 2023 core update.

    The issue started on October 5, 2023, when the core update started to roll out, and was fixed on October 31, 2023.

    What Google said. Google wrote, on the Search Status report, “On October 5, we found a bug with how our October 2023 core update was applied to Discover.” “As of October 31, we fixed the bug. Some sites may see an increase in Discover-related traffic, as a result of this bug fix,” Google added.

    Google also posted, “We found a bug with how our Oct. 2023 core update was applied to Discover, which has now been corrected. Some sites may see an increase in Discover-related traffic, as a result. Start and end time for this issue is now on the Search Status Dashboard,” on X.

    Why we care. If you noticed unusually low Google Discover traffic for your site since October 5th, it may be related to this bug with the core update. If you notice an increase in your Discover traffic starting today, then you can be assured it was likely due to that bug.

    That being said, traffic from Google Discover is not normally something you can rely on as it can be very sporadic with highs and lows.


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    About the Author

    Barry Schwartz
    Barry Schwartz is a technologist and 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.

    In 2019, Barry was awarded the Outstanding Community Services Award from Search Engine Land, in 2018 he was awarded the US Search Awards the "US Search Personality Of The Year," you can learn more over here and in 2023 he was listed as a top 50 most influential PPCer by Marketing O'Clock.

    Barry can be followed on X here and you can learn more about Barry Schwartz over here or on his personal site.