Google has announced a series of updates that will be introduced to Search Console over the next couple of months. In addition to these updates, Google has decided to remove some legacy features from Search Console.
Here’s an overview of the upcoming changes:
New Features in Search Console
Google plans to fully implement the following new features in Search Console by the end of March.
Crawl Errors in Index Coverage Report
To make the list of crawl errors more actionable, Google is shifting focus toward issues and patterns used for site indexing. By moving crawl errors to the Index Coverage report, site owners should be able to identify and resolve issues more quickly.
Sitemaps Data in Index Coverage Report
Sitemaps data will now be included in the Index Coverage report, making it easier to prioritize URLs that site owners care about. Users can track URLs submitted in sitemap files by selecting and filtering data in the Index Coverage report.
Fetch as Google via the URL Inspection Tool
Site owners can use Search Console’s updated URL inspection tool to check and review URLs on their websites. This tool, in addition to offering ‘Fetch as Google’ capabilities, provides information like HTTP headers, page resources, and the JavaScript console log. It can also be used to submit images for re-processing to ensure they are updated in search results promptly.
User-management is Now in Settings
The user management interface in Search Console has been integrated into the Settings section, replacing the old user-management features.
Old Features Being Removed
The following features will be removed from Search Console. In some cases, replacements have been provided, while others will be discontinued entirely.
- Old Crawl Errors report: As crawl errors are now part of the Index Coverage report, the old report will be removed.
- Crawl Errors API: With the deprecation of the crawl errors API, which was based on the old report, there is currently no replacement.
- HTML suggestions: As Google’s algorithms have become more efficient at showing and improving titles, information about short and duplicated titles will no longer be shown in Search Console.
- Property Sets: This feature will be removed due to low usage. Google plans to introduce the option of managing a Search Console account for an entire domain as a replacement.
- Android Apps: This feature will be removed, with most of its relevant functionality having been moved to the Firebase console.
- Blocked Resources: This standalone section will be removed, as blocked resources can now be identified using the URL inspection tool.
- Structured Data reporting: Structured data types not supported with Rich Results features will no longer be reported in Search Console.
Google invites feedback on these changes in its help forums.
