Recent leaks suggest that ChatGPT conversations, including sensitive user prompts, have been appearing in Google Search Console, raising concerns about OpenAI scraping Google search results and compromising user privacy. OpenAI has acknowledged the issue and claimed to have fixed a glitch, but questions remain about the extent of data scraping and the effectiveness of their response.
Google Search Console's URL Inspection Tool is experiencing a "failed: hostload exceeded" error, which Google attributes to spammers overloading the tool. While normal indexing is unaffected, users encountering this error are advised to wait it out and try again later. Google recommends relying on its regular crawling and indexing processes rather than manually submitting URLs. The Search Console team is investigating the issue and working to block spam attempts.
In the September edition of the Google Webmaster Report, notable updates include the confirmation of the August 2023 core update, the expansion of Google Search Generative Experience (SGE) to Japan and India, the addition of links and Google Cards to SGE, and the testing of a News Showcase filter in Google Search Console. Other updates include changes to FAQ and HowTo rich results, the importance of human oversight for AI-generated content, the ability of Googlebot to index CSV files, and the removal of reviews from local listings. Additionally, Google introduced an auto-expand local map pack, the option to add social media links to Google Business Profiles, and a new "mentioned in" snippet feature.
Google Search Console's page indexing report has been updated to provide more detailed information on page indexing issues starting from July 2nd. The update aims to address the confusion around the sudden spike in errors reported by some users. Google apologized for the delayed annotation and clarified that the increase in reported issues does not indicate new problems but rather improved reporting. This update is separate from the Google News indexing issue.
Google is removing the existing page experience report within Google Search Console and replacing it with content around what Google thinks is a good page experience. The Mobile-Friendly Test tool and Mobile-Friendly Test API are also being removed. However, a dashboard view of the individual Core Web Vitals and HTTPS reports will remain in Search Console. Good page experience is a requirement for creating helpful content, and those seeking to provide a good page experience should take a holistic approach.
