Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today, through the eyes of the Search Engine Roundtable and other search forums on the web.
Google told us to wait until the August core update is done rolling out to see how we were impacted, maybe because of that ranking bug overlap. Google AI Overview inclusion is impacted by Google core updates. Google spoke about why you may see the discovered – currently not indexed note in Google Search Console. Google is showing a new style for maps in the Google Search results. Google is testing your related searches in the sidebar as a timeline.
Search Engine Roundtable Stories:
Google: Wait Until The August Core Update Is Complete To See Effects
As you know, Google released its August 2024 core update on Thursday, August 15th, followed shortly after by a large search ranking bug hours later. SEOs and site owners are asking how we can differentiate between the two. Google’s John Mueller explained that you should not fully judge the effect of the current core update until it is fully done rolling out.
Seems Like Google AI Overviews Are Impacted By Core Updates
Google core updates, such as the August 2024 core update, seem to directly impact if a site shows in the Google AI Overviews or not. Google did say quality is a benchmark for showing in the AI Overviews, plus we know featured snippets and many other search features are all impacted by Google core algorithmic updates.
Google Discovered – Currently Not Indexed – Quality, Timing Or Server Speed
Google’s Martin Splitt posted a video in his SEO Made Easy series on the topic of the Google Search Console “Discovered – Currently Not Indexed” page indexing report status note. In short, there are three primary reasons you’d see pages in this category, they are:
Google Your Related Searches Timeline On Sidebar
Google is testing a new search feature named “your related searches” that seems to be pinned to the sidebar of the Google Search results. It reminds me of the Chrome Journeys but this seems to be baked right into Google Search.
New Google Maps Design Within Google Search Results
Google Search has a new design for the embedded map you see for both local pack maps and knowledge panel maps. The new map has a more subtle design, with blue roads, not yellow roads and other design differences.
