Google just confirmed that they have resolved the two search-related problems that influence what is displayed in Google’s search results had been resolved. The issue is the review snippets that show in the search results and Google’s handling of the soft 404 error.
Although the two issues appear to be unrelated, Google has addressed and resolved them both. In this article, we will know about the two bugs and how Google fixed the two. So, let’s move on.
See also: “Confusing The Search Engines Is Not The Role Of SEO” Says Google
Contents
Soft 404 Bug
The soft 404 bug that Google fixed leads to de-indexing issues. Some pages were eliminated from the Google search index a few weeks ago because Google altered the way it recognizes soft 404 pages.
In other words, Google stated that it began detecting soft 404 problems for each device type and that while there was an increase in soft 404 errors, it was unclear whether or not those pages were included in the Google index. Google also verified on its Twitter and YouTube pages that it would improve the problem in the coming days.
Google noted in the post that you might have seen an uptick in soft 404 error reports in the search dashboard during the last several weeks. And they went on to say that their team had found the classifier that was causing the issue and had disabled it a few days ago. According to a source, Google’s Gary Elise wrote the article.
John Mueller’s Comment On The Matter
Google’s John Mueller offered a few comments as well, saying that he has gone through several reports in the last two weeks. And that their team is currently looking into it, and that one of the classifiers has been switched off as a result of some of the feedback.
He went on to say that this will most likely catch up and work in the coming days and weeks and that consumers should expect to see improvements in this area in the coming days.
Review Snippets
The second bug which Google fixed is review snippets. Google Search has almost wholly ceased providing review snippets in the last several days. And the stars that appear beneath some of the search results are now used to review structured data.
So, a week ago, Google’s Danny Sullivan stated that this was undoubtedly a bug, which Google would presumably fix shortly. However, some people are concerned about this because all of these issues might directly harm Google Search traffic. If Google fixes the error, your site’s traffic from Google Search may improve.
Reason For Decrease In Visitors
The first bug, in which Google did not list some pages in the search results, was due to soft 404 errors, but Google will relist them as soon as they fix the bugs. In the second situation, Google did not display review stars in search results, potentially lowering the clickthrough rate of search results. And this was the sole reason for the decrease in visitors to these websites.
Wrapping Up
After reviewing the user input, Google took the matter seriously. And fixed all of the flaws affecting the search results. i.e. Soft 404 bug and review snippets. As a result of these problems, Google removed certain pages search results, as were the review stars.