Update: Resolved Feb. 8. Google finally has resolved an indexing issue, more than 7 days after the issue began. Google wrote on Feb. 8:
- “We fixed the issue with indexing. There will be no more updates.”
Google said previously that the issue was mitigated and had no visible impact on the search results starting on Feb. 2.
Original story:
Google has confirmed it is investigating an indexing issue affecting a “small number of sites” from showing up in the Google Search results in a timely fashion. The issue seems to have started at around 11:30 pm ET Wednesday, Jan. 31, where some sites noticed indexing issues with Google Search.
Google confirmation. Google posted a confirmation of the issue at 4:42 am ET this morning:
- “We’re investigating an issue with indexing in Google Search that’s affecting a small number of sites. Sites may experience slower than usual indexing times. We’re working on identifying the root cause. Next update will be within 12 hours.”
What to do. If you notice that your new or updated content is not showing up in Google Search as quickly as normal, it is not necessarily an issue on your side. Google is having a technical issue that it is working on to fix indexing issues impacting some publishers.
Who is impacted. Google said this is affecting a “small number of sites.” But it seems there have been several complaints about indexing issues in the past several hours. I posted some of those complaints on Search Engine Roundtable.
Danny Sullivan, Google’s Search Liaison, replied to one of them:
Why we care. Sadly, like any software company, Google Search has bugs. Google is working on resolving the issue. For now, hang tight and wait for Google to post that the issue is resolved to confirm that your new content is showing up in a timely fashion within Google Search.
