Google’s larger search ranking bug was fixed four days after the issue was confirmed. Google’s August core update continues to roll out, some hit by the helpful content update are seeing some surges, but Google says wait until the update is complete. Meanwhile, we saw some potential reversals of some of those surges a day later. GA4 stopped showing data this morning for yesterday and today, it is a bug. One site announced bankruptcy the day before the core update was released, and then their traffic surged back. Google also is showing the rich result thumbnails after the core update and sites hit by the core update may also notice their links drop out of the AI Overviews. Google updated its search appearance Search Console documentation. Google also spoke about the discovered – currently not indexed and why it may occur. Google said unanswered comments aren’t a bad thing for Google Search. Google also said many noindex or nofollow links are not necessarily bad. Google is migrating all merchants to Merchant Center Next in September. Google Ads had a bug with attributing traffic to a legacy smart matching type. Google emailed advertisers about the shopping ads bug, asking some to delete data that is not there. Google is testing snippet hover-over effects. Google is also testing verification badges in the organic search results. Google is testing a new local pack user experience. Google Maps has a new design within the search results. We spotted another hidden gems search feature. And Bing image search has refinement cards done well. That was the search news this week at the Search Engine Roundtable.

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Search Topics of Discussion:

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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 Analytics is not showing data from yesterday or today right now, hopefully it will be fixed soon. There is a sad story of a site that filed for bankruptcy the day before the August core update, and then saw their rankings improve. Google Search Console updated its documentation on the search appearances. Bing Image search is testing new refinement cards. Google is testing a new local pack design and user experience. Google said many noindexes and nofollows don’t mean low quality. Google is migrating all to the new Google Merchant Center Next in September. And I posted the SEO video recap today.

Search Engine Roundtable Stories:

• 
  Google Analytics Missing Data From Yesterday/Data
  
  
  There are a ton of complaints and a lot of concern around Google Analytics missing data in the normal overview report for yesterday and today. I see it also, I am seeing no data from this site and others in my GA4 reports for yesterday or today – although the real time reports work.
• 
  Hardbacon Announced Closure Day Before August Core Update, Then Sees Traffic Surge
  
  
  There are many sad stories around sites getting hit by Google algorithm updates, such as core updates and of course the September 2023 helpful content update. But Hardbacon, a financial and budgeting company, was hit hard by those Google updates, then announced the company would file for bankruptcy the day before the August 2024 core update.
• 
  Google: Many Noindex & Nofollows Do Not Signal Site Quality Issues
  
  
  Martin Splitt from Google said on the latest SEO office hours that having lots of nofollow or noindex tags or attributes on your site does not signal to Google that you have quality issues with your site or many low quality pages.
• 
  Google Search Local Pack UX Update
  
  
  Google has updated the local pack, the local results box, in the Google Search results. Now when you click on the results in the local pack, the map slides to the left, behind the local pack listings. Then the detail local listing slides to the right.
• 
  Google Migrating All To Merchant Center Next By Next Month
  
  
  Google announced that all merchants will be migrated (or as Google put it “upgrading”) from the old Google Merchant Center to Google Merchant Center Next by September (next month). We knew this was coming, we covered the upgrade emails back in July but here is the official announcement.
• 
  Bing Images Search Refinement Cards
  
  
  Microsoft now has these refinement cards or boxes directly in the Bing Image Search results interface. In these cards, Bing will show you a refinement option for your query with example photos you might find for that refined search query.





• 
  Google Search Console Search Appearances Documentation Updated
  
  
  Google has greatly expanded and clarified its documentation around how Search Appearances work within the Google Search Console reports. Google wrote on X, “We improved our documentation on Search Appearances supported in Search Console.” Daniel Waisberg from Google said, “I’ve been asked about this 1000 times, hope you’re all happy now.”





• 
  Dooglers Fighting It Out
  
  
  Here is Jeff and Luna, Dooglers, or Google dogs, at the Google London office in 2020, fighting it out for this dog toy that looks like an Oreo cookie.
• 
  Search News Buzz Video Recap: Google Ranking Bug Fixed, August Core Update Swings, AI Overviews, Google Ads Bug & More
  
  
  
  
  Google’s larger search ranking bug was fixed four days after the issue was confirmed. Google’s August core update continues to roll out, some hit by the helpful content update are seeing some surges, but Google says wait until the update is complete…

Other Great Search Threads:

Search Engine Land Stories:

Other Great Search Stories:

Analytics

Industry & Business

Links & Content Marketing

Local & Maps

Mobile & Voice

SEO

PPC

Other Search

Feedback:

Have feedback on this daily recap; let me know on Twitter @rustybrick or @seroundtable, on Threads, Mastodon and Bluesky and you can follow us on Facebook and on Google News and make sure to subscribe to the YouTube channel, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts or just contact us the old fashion way.

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.

Now we are seeing some early reports of those early August core update gains are being reversed, for some. A new report says if you want links in Google AI Overviews, then you need to rank well organically. Google said unanswered comments are not bad for your rankings. Google Ads bug attributed traffic to a legacy match bidding type. Google is testing verification icons on organic search results.

Search Engine Roundtable Stories:

• 
  Reports: Some Google August Core Update Gains Vanishing In Past 24 Hours
  
  
  I am starting to see some early reports from some site owners and SEOs that the gains they may have seen early on with the Google August 2024 core update, is slowly starting to slip away or vanish as you would… Meaning, some are noticing a surge (small relative to pre-helpful content update) increases but now some are seeing that surge slide back down.
• 
  Google Ads Bug Attributes Traffic To Legacy Smart Matching Type
  
  
  Google has confirmed another bug with Google Ads where it accidentally attributed traffic to a match type that should not exist anymore – smart matching. Ginny Marvin, the Google Ad Liaison, confirmed the issue and said, “Advertisers will not be charged for these clicks, and we’ve reverted the change.”
• 
  New Report: Want Links In Google AI Overviews? Rank Well In Google Search.
  
  
  Do you want to get links in the new Google AI Overviews that show up in Google Search? Well, a new report says all you need to do is rank well in Google Search organically and you are incredibly likely to have links in the AI Overviews.
• 
  Google: Unanswered Comments Don’t Hurt Your Google Search Rankings
  
  
  Martin Splitt from Google said that having unanswered comments on your site or webpages does not negatively hurt your rankings in Google Search and is not a bad SEO thing. He said Google Search does not look to see of your comments get answered or do not get answered.
• 
  Google Tests Verification Icons For Free Search Result Listings
  
  
  After testing the blue verification icons and labels for ads in the Google Search results, now Google seems to be testing them on the free organic search results. Oh, and Google also tested them in gold, and Microsoft tested verification labels in organic free listings too.





• 
  Google IPO Day Ringing The Bell Photo From 20 Years Ago
  
  
  On August 19, 2004 Google’s initial public offering took place, a total of 19,605,052 shares were offered at a price of $85 per share. Here is a photo that former Google executive, Marissa Mayer shared on X the other day, of the photo of some Googlers ringing the bell that day.

Other Great Search Threads:

Search Engine Land Stories:

Other Great Search Stories:

Industry & Business

Links & Content Marketing

Local & Maps

Mobile & Voice

SEO

PPC

Other Search

Feedback:

Have feedback on this daily recap; let me know on Twitter @rustybrick or @seroundtable, on Threads, Mastodon and Bluesky and you can follow us on Facebook and on Google News and make sure to subscribe to the YouTube channel, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts or just contact us the old fashion way.