Though Google has fixed the Search Console data bug that delayed with most reports supposedly because of the de-indexing bug, we now have learned that data from April 9 to April 25 was completely lost and filled with data from April 26 instead. This impacted all of the reports within Google Search Console with the exception of the Performance report.
In addition, Google is investigating another bug in Search Console where manual action notifications are disappearing from within the manual action viewer.
Data loss. To visualize this, the yellow area in this chart below is technically not real data and probably should be ignored:
Manual actions disappearing. Yesterday afternoon reports starting coming in that manual actions were disappearing from Google Search Console without any reason. It turns out that this is a more widespread bug. “Something weird does seem to be happening there. I got some examples from folks and the team here is taking a look. I’ll post an update once I know more,” Google’s John Mueller said on Twitter.
Marie Haynes was one of the first to bring this to my attention but there are numerous complaints throughout the industry about this bug.
Why it matters. We simply cannot rely on the data in any of the Google Search Console reports, with the exception of the Performance report, between April 9 to April 25th. Make sure when you communicate your reporting to your clients, to inform them of this data loss.
In addition, because of this data loss, and because it overlapped with the de-indexing bug, it is almost impossible to see if your site was impacted by the indexing bug. Sounds convenient, doesn’t it?
Finally, with the manual actions – for now, if you had a manual action and it is no longer there – do not celebrate. Give it a few days and hopefully Google will address the bug and your manual action may simply return within Google Search Console. For now, it seems like a reporting bug and sites with manual actions probably are still impacted in search.
About The Author
Barry Schwartz is Search Engine Land’s News Editor and owns RustyBrick, a NY based web consulting firm. He also runs Search Engine Roundtable, a popular search blog on SEM topics.