October 2024 Google Webmaster Report: Google Rankings, Spam Policies, Cache & More

This month may have been one of the most volatile Google Search ranking months I reported about ever. Google completed its August 2024 core update, and then we had countless unconfirmed Google ranking updates, tweaks, or volatility – whatever you want to call it. I mean, it was a lot and it still seems to be going on. We actually may be at the longest period of Google Search volatility in history at this point; the last time we had such heated volatility for this long was between July 13, 2023 and September 19, 2023 according to the folks at Semrush (update – Mordy Oberstein confirmed this on the SERPsup podcast at the 48 minute mark).

Google also updated its web spam policies and shortly after Forbes Advisor’s rankings dropped – but why? Google started showing fake review notices on business listings and also updated its review restrictions policies. We also may have seen a spike in review removals recently.

The Google cache operator was killed off but only after Google added Wayback Machine links deep inside the search results snippet.

Google’s Search Liaison was interviewed by yours truly and by Alyeda Solis. We also had an internal Google interview with Irina Tuduce on Google Shopping and Merchant Center.

Oh, and Google quietly ignored its own 26th birthday.

Here are a lot of additional top headlines for the past month of September:

Google Search Algorithm Updates/Volatility:

• Google August 2024 Core Update Finished Rolling Out
• Google Search Ranking Volatility & Shuffles This Weekend
• Google Search Ranking Movement Heated, Volatility Continues 9/25
• Google Search Ranking Increases During Core Update Wiped Out Post Update
• Google Search Ranking Volatility Continue With Big Movement Again 9/18
• Google Search Ranking Volatility Still Heated A Week After Core Update
• Google Search Volatility Still Heated After August Core Update Rollout Completed

Google AI Overviews:

• Google AI Overviews For Branded & Navigational Queries???
• Google Tests AI Overview With Small “More” Link
• Study: 96% Of Google AI Overviews Links Go To Informational Intent Pages
• Report: Half Google AI Overviews Links Overlap With Top Search Results
• Google AI Overviews Show Shopping Results For Commercial Queries Again
• 55% Are Using Traditional Search Like Google Less Since Gen AI Products
• Google Search To Label Images As AI Generated, Edited Or Taken With Camera

Google Search Console:

• Sticky Google Search Console Performance Report Filters
• Google Search Console Recommendations Not Fully Rolled Out
• Google Fixed Google Search Console Product Snippets Report

Google SEO:

• Google Updates Web Search Spam Policies
• My Interview Of Google’s Search Liaison On The August 2024 Core Update
• Another Interview With Google’s Search Liaison: Big Brands, UGC Content, AI Overviews & Future
• Google Shopping & Merchant Center Interview With Irina Tuduce
• Did Google Hit Forbes Advisor With A Search Penalty Over Site Reputation Abuse?
• Google’s Martin Splitt: We Do Not Use Exif Data For Ranking
• Google Clarifies Indexing API Quota & Pricing Information
• Google Describes Importance Of Page Image Is Embedded On For SEO
• Google: Don’t Use Generic Server / CMS Holding Pages For New Sites
• Google Again On When To Use Noindex Or Canonical (Or Both)
• Report: Google Fixing Noindex Bug With Some JavaScript Pages
• Google Merchant Listings Adds priceType Property & Sale Pricing Examples
• Google Indexing API: Submissions Go Undergo Rigorous Spam Detection
• Google Updates Google Crawlers & Fetchers Docs With Affects & Snippets
• Google Search Supports Ineligible Regions Property For Videos
• Ex-Googler Forum Statements On Google Navboost

Google User Interface:

• Google Cache Is Fully Dead
• Google Replaced Cache Link With Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine
• Google Tests Sticky Headers For Ads & Results
• Google Shopping Interface Updated With Expandable Refinements
• Google Search Tests Shopping / E-Commerce Card
• Google Search Product Detail Grid With Most Popular & Best Price Labels
• Google Search Tests Preferred Source Label?
• Google Search Tests For You Label
• Google Search: States In The News
• Google Search Backstory Top Stories Section
• Google Search From Small Businesses Carousel
• Google Tests Expanded & More Discussions and Forums Results
• Google Search Tests Recent Posts Carousel
• Google Testing For Reference Search Box
• Google Tests Top Comments & Related Discussions For Forum Search Results

Google Business Profiles & Local:

• Google Maps Fake Review Notice On Business Profile
• Google Reviews Restrictions For Business Profile Policy Violations
• Spike In Removed Google Reviews On September 17th
• Report: Small Google Business Profile Updates May Trigger Re-Verification
• Google Local Panel Adds “About This Place” Section
• Google Blue Map Pin & City Name On Search Results Snippets
• Google Business Profiles Drops Q&A Feature In India (& Other Some Regions)

Google Misc:

• Today Is Google’s 26th Birthday – Where Is The Doodle?
• Google US DOJ Trial Exhibit Files, Documents & Responses

The Google September 2024 webmaster report was published last month, if you missed it.

Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.