It’s time for the big Google Webmaster Report, the January 2024 edition. This month we saw the November 2023 Google reviews update completed after 29 days. But that wasn’t the end of the volatility, it was a very volatile month. Google also confirmed it tweaked its local ranking algorithm to strengthen openness for non-navigational queries.
Google has brought the power of Gemini to Bard, SGE and more. With that, Google has removed the end date for SGE in Google Search Labs.
Google has confirmed indexing issues again this past month. Danny Sullivan is collecting examples of low-quality search results and part of that is working on parasite SEO issues. Many are noticing spikes in that video not in main content Search Console notices.
Plus, there was a lot more SEO news, a lot of user interface changes, and yes, it was the holidays – so catch up below.
If you missed the last report, here is the December 2023 Google webmaster report.
Here are those top headlines:
Google Algorithm Updates

• Google November 2023 Reviews Update Completed After 29 Days
• Google New Years Eve Search Algorithm Update
• Pre-Christmas Intense Google Algorithm Ranking Volatility
• Google Search Ranking Algorithm Volatility Holiday Surge
• Google Search Results Super Volatile Days After Reviews Update Completed
• Confirmed: Google Local Search Algorithm “Openness” Now Stronger Signal
• Here Is When Google Released Search Algorithm Updates In 2023

Google SGE

• Google Gemini, Next Level AI, Comes To Bard & Coming To SGE
• Google Search Generative Experience December End Date Removed
• Google SGE Tests Export To Gmail & Google Docs

Google Search Console

• Google Search Console To Remove Product Results Search Appearance Filter From Performance Reports
• Google Search Console API Is Delayed

Google SEO

• Google Search Having Indexing Issues – Confirmed
• Google’s Sullivan Collecting & Submitting Low Quality & Problematic Search Results
• The Google Groups Search Ranking & Visibility Boost Is Now Dropping
• Google: We Have Taken Steps To Deal With Parasite SEO & More To Come
• Google To Rename “Parasite SEO” In Near Future
• Google: Video Is Not The Main Content Of The Page Error Spike
• Why Google Seems To Not Penalize Sites After Paid Backlink Reports
• Google How-To Rich Results Also Returning To Search?
• Google Search On When Special Characters Don’t Work
• Google: Double Slashes In URLs Can Confuse Some Crawlers
• Google: About The Source Information Doesn’t Mean You Rank Better
• Google: Sometimes Bot Protection Services Serve Noindex Directive
• Google Checks 4 Billion Host Names Each Day For Robots.txt
• Google On Why Some Sites Should Use Hierarchical Site Category Structures
• Google Showing Less Image Boxes In Search Results?
• Google Search May Show Reporter Headshots As Story’s Main Image
• Known Issue: Google Site Names With Some Internal Pages

Google User Interface

• Google’s Alternative Feeds, Secondary SERPs & Current Tracking Challenges
• Google Search Lite Knowledge Panel Snippet
• Google Search “You Visit Often” Label
• Google Search Full Width Image Pack With More Details Now Live
• Google Tests Search Snippet Overlay With Site Preview
• Google Author Name (Profile Page) & Site Favicon On Article Carousel
• Google Tests Longer Search Result Snippets Again
• Google Search Shop By Price & Shop By Brand
• Google Search Tests Follow This Search & More Results Buttons
• Google Tests Sitelinks In Bubble/Pill Format
• Google Search Tests New Health / Medical Design
• Google Top Stories Adds Video Labels
• Google Tests Expandable Image Box In Search Results
• Google Product Results Showing Prices With 30 Day Low

Google Local/Maps

• Google Business Profile Suspension Emails Add Appeal Option
• Google Business Profile Personalized Emails Regarding Suspensions
• Google Local Notice When Review Posting Is Turned Off
• Google Local Pack With Websites For Places Box Beneath
• Google Local Panel Adds Share Button Within Three Dots

Misc Google

• Google’s John Mueller Providing SEO Support On New Years
• John Mueller Of Google Providing Webmaster Support On Christmas Again (2023 Edition)
• Google Search Christmas Decorations Are Live For 2023
• Google Search Kwanzaa Decorations Are Live For 2023

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