Today, we're announcing our plans to support a shared AI training control in robots.txt. This will help websites express their AI training preferences across multiple AI providers in a single step and is based on work from the AIPREF working group at the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). This builds on our long history of providing website owners with clear controls, including through Google-Extended, the AI training control we've offered since 2023.
What : Updated the user-generated spam prevention guide with guidance on blocking indexing of link-shared content and monitoring abuse in Search Console. Why : To help platforms keep user-created pages that aren't meant for Search out of the index and detect spam earlier.
What : Updated the URL structure best practices to clarify word separation guidelines using hyphens versus underscores. Why : To synchronize the documentation with the episodes of "The Non-Canonical Cabinet" video series.
What : Updated the control what you share with Google Search documentation to include existing options such as the robots meta tag, data-nosnippet , X-Robots-Tag , and the Search generative AI control, along with minor clarifications that the page applies to Google Search. Why : To keep the page fresh and reflect the current set of options available to site owners.
What : Updated the Indexing API quota page to reflect the current quota limits and process. Why : To document the current quota limits for the Indexing API and remove an outdated form.
What : Added a new page about the UGC Fresh Data Program . Why : To explain the purpose of the program and help prospective applicants understand the eligibility criteria and how to participate.
Over the years, the Search Central YouTube channel has published hundreds of videos across various series, from Search for Beginners and Ask Googlebot to Search Console Training and Search Off the Record. While our series structure works well for deep dives and episodic updates, we know that finding a clear, sequential learning path from scratch can sometimes be challenging.
What : Updated the using generative AI content guide with information from the Search Quality Raters guidelines. Why : To get our documentation in sync with our presentations we use at our developer events.
What : Added the creator property (noting support for author ) and updated interactionStatistic to document supported interaction types in the VideoObject structured data documentation . Why : To document support for the creator and author properties, and clarify supported interaction types for interactionStatistic in VideoObject structured data.
Understanding how users find your content is crucial for any publisher or site owner. As Search evolves to include more visual and multimodal experiences, we want to ensure you have the data you need to analyze your performance.
What : Updated the aggregator unit and supplier unit documentation to include support for local business queries. Why : The aggregator unit and supplier unit now support local business queries.
It's happening! We are absolutely pumped that we're just about two weeks away from Search Central Live Deep Dive Europe 2026! From September 30 to October 2, 2026, the Google Search Central team is heading to the gorgeous city of Barcelona, Spain for three days of deep technical exploration, networking, and collaboration.
What : Added a new guide on how to add a Search profile badge to your website . Why : To help site owners point their audience to their Search profile.
Remember back in March when we told our Indian community to "sit tight" while we figured out the APAC event calendar? Hopefully, you didn't take that too literally, because sitting tight for six months is probably not great for your back. In any case, you can finally stand up and stretch: Search Central Live is officially returning to India in 2026, specifically to Bengaluru!
What : Added documentation about regional differences in Search experience , which includes information about search experiences available in certain countries, such as aggregator units, supplier units, and carousels. Why : To help publishers, businesses, and aggregators learn about the different regional search features available and understand the eligibility criteria and how to participate.
What : Updated the Google European Search Dataset Licensing Program page . Why : Refreshed the program overview, eligibility criteria, and application details.
What : Updated the favicon documentation to specifically list out the supported favicon file formats. Why : To be clearer about which favicon file formats are supported by Google Search. Previously, the documentation linked to an external reference that evolved over time and caused ambiguity about which favicon file formats are actually supported in Google Search. Google Search's supported file formats haven't changed; this update explicitly lists them in the documentation.
What : Updated the site reputation policy . Why : We've adjusted our enforcement approach within the European Economic Area (EEA). For more information, see our blog post .
In 2024, we introduced our site reputation policy to stop a practice where third-party content is published on a trusted website just to exploit that site's good reputation to rank higher in Search. This practice hurts search quality, and creates a bad experience for users.
What : Updated the preferred sources documentation to include instructions on how to add the new custom, interactive button to your site. Why : Site owners can now implement a custom, interactive button to guide their audience to set them as a preferred source, ensuring a seamless experience where users are brought right back to where they left off.
Earlier this month, we announced platform properties for Search Console, allowing you to track how your social and video posts on Instagram, TikTok, X, and YouTube perform on Google Search, Discover, and Google News. Today, platform properties are globally available to everyone.
What : Added a new guide on how to analyze your social and video platform content performance in Search Console . Why : To help content creators, social media managers, and SEO professionals understand how their social and video platform content performs on Google Search.
What : Added a new guideline to the review snippet documentation about fake and undisclosed incentivized reviews. Why : To improve user review transparency.
What : Updated the feature availability and eligibility requirements sections package tracking early adopters program documentation . Why : The package tracking early adopters program is no longer accepting new partners.
What : Updated the canonicalization troubleshooting guide with clarifications on re-evaluation time. Why : To provide better expectations about how long it takes for canonicalization changes to take effect.
What : Updated the Merchant listing documentation to detail how the Product.category property can be used with both Text and CategoryCode types. This aligns with the Google Merchant Center feed specifications for the product_type and google_product_category attributes. Why : To help merchants provide both merchant-defined and Google-defined category information within their schema.org markup, enhancing product information for Google Search and Shopping.
What : Added a new section on "Sale duration" to the Merchant listing guide . This explains how to use the validFrom , validThrough , and priceValidUntil schema.org properties to set the effective range for sale prices, including best practices and examples for placement on either Offer or PriceSpecification nodes. Why : This aligns schema.org usage with the Merchant Center feed attribute sale_price_effective_date , providing clear instructions and best practices for merchants using structured data.
Content creators and publishers use many channels beyond their own websites to reach their audiences. As people gravitate toward firsthand perspectives and different content formats, we want to make it easier for site owners and creators—even those without their own website—to get a consolidated view of how all of their content is getting discovered on Search.
We're excited to officially announce the next stop for Search Central Live Deep Dive Europe 2026! Mark your calendars: based directly on your feedback, we're headed to Barcelona, Spain, from September 30 to October 2, 2026.
What : Simplified our AMP documentation by removing outdated references to the AMP viewer, AMP Cache, and signed exchange. Why : Starting today, Google Search is updating how it connects users to AMP pages, and will now take users directly to the publisher's AMP host pages. This change simplifies and reduces maintenance efforts for publishers who are creating AMP content, as they no longer need to update the AMP cache or configure signed exchanges. AMP content will continue to rank just like any other web page.
As we mentioned a few months ago, we are bringing the Search Central Live Deep Dive format to the EMEA region. This SCL format requires finding the absolute best home for the event—a place where all of you can truly connect, learn, and enjoy.
What : The site move guide now includes information on using the Change of Address tool for all subdomain variants (including www and non-www) during domain migrations. Why : The domain migrations work best when all variants of a site are migrated properly.
What : Added a note to the AI optimization guide clarifying Google Search's usage of llms.txt files. Why : To address questions from the community and clarify that while these files aren't needed for Google Search (and won't negatively or positively impact your visibility or rankings), it's fine if you want to maintain these files for other services or systems that use them.
What : Removed documentation for the FAQ rich result feature . Why : The FAQ rich result feature is no longer shown in Google Search results, as announced in the changelog entry in May 2026 .
What : Created a new article explaining how small business owners in Tennessee can receive notifications from Google Search . Why : To help small businesses in Tennessee learn how they can get notified if their web content is removed or restricted on Google Search (for example, signing up for Search Console, Business Profile, or Merchant Center).
What : Added Google Search's guidance on using third-party SEO tools, services, and advice . Also added guidance to the Do you need an SEO? page on evaluating your SEO's recommendations and tools, along with other minor updates to the page to simplify and modernize the content. Why : To highlight important considerations when evaluating third-party SEO tools and advice, and to simplify some sections and remove outdated examples in existing documentation.
Today, we're excited to announce the launch of new Search Generative AI performance reports in Search Console, including dedicated reports for Search and Discover, to help you understand your site's visibility within generative AI features on Search.
What : Updated the feature availability section of the preferred sources documentation to include AI Overviews and AI Mode. Why : The preferred sources feature is starting to roll out to AI Overviews and AI Mode.
What : Added the hasAdultConsideration property to the Merchant listing and Product variant documentation. Why : This property brings parity with the Merchant Center feed specification for the adult property .
What : Clarified that our spam policies also apply to generative AI responses in Google Search. Why : To make it clear that the spam policies apply to all of Google Search, including generative AI responses.
What : Added a new guide on optimizing for generative AI features on Search. Notable new sections include guidance on the importance of providing non-commodity content, tips about providing local, shopping, image, and video content, mythbusting common "AEO/GEO" misconceptions, initial guidance on AI agents, and more information on why SEO best practices continue to be relevant for success in our generative AI features on Search. Why : To help site owners, SEOs, and developers better understand how to optimize their content for appearance in generative AI features on Search, and what they can ignore.
What : Added a deprecation notice to the FAQ rich result documentation . Why : This feature will no longer appear in Google Search starting May 7, 2026.
What : Added that the preferred sources feature is now available in all languages where Google Search is available, including new translated downloadable button assets. Why : The preferred sources feature is now available in all languages supported by Google Search.
What : Further clarified when and why we may take manual action based on spam reports . Why : To address feedback we received about the change on using spam reports to take manual action.
What : Added a new section on "read more" deep links to the snippet documentation. Why : To explain how to increase the likelihood of your content appearing with a "read more" deeplink in Google Search results.
What : Clarified that Google may use spam report submissions to take manual action against violations. Why : Google may now use spam report submissions to take manual action.
What : Added a new section to the malicious practices spam policy to address a deceptive practice known as "back button hijacking". Why : Learn more about this update in our blog post on back button hijacking .
What : Added a note to the robots meta tags documentation on the way Google Search processes robots meta tags outside the HTML head. Why : The behavior didn't change but was previously undocumented.
What : Added more supported properties for Discussion Forum and QA Page markup. Why : For providing more clarity on comment thread structure to Google ingestion systems. This prevents misinterpretations in our handling of forum and Q&A content.
What : Removed a section on accessibility from the JavaScript SEO basics documentation . Why : The information was out of date and not as helpful as it used to be. Google Search has been rendering JavaScript for multiple years now, so using JavaScript to load content is not "making it harder for Google Search". Most assistive technologies are able to work with JavaScript now as well.
What : Added a new section on specifying a preferred image with metadata to the image SEO best practices and Discover documentation . Why : Based on feedback, we're clarifying that Google uses both schema.org markup and the og:image meta tag as sources when determining image thumbnails in Google Search and Discover.
What : Added more information on how sites can increase the likelihood of their content appearing in Discover . Why : We're rolling out the February 2026 Discover Core Update .
What : While moving over the information about the default file size limits of Google's crawlers and fetchers to the crawler documentation , we also updated the Googlebot documentation about its own file size limits. Why : The original location of the default file size limits was not the most logical place as it applies to all of Google's crawlers and fetchers, and the move enabled us to be more precise about Googlebot's limits.
What : Added preferred sources documentation for website owners. Why : To help publishers understand how to help their audience find their site as a preferred source.
What : Updated the structured data carousels (beta) documentation and the South African badges and refinement chips blog post to include additional query types. Why : The South African carousel, badges, and refinement chips now support queries related to food delivery, car hire, and bus booking.
What : Removed documentation for the practice problem structured data type. Why : The practice problem structured data type is no longer shown in Google Search results. Learn more about this change in our blog post and changelog entry announced in November 2025.
What : We added a note on how Googlebot processes JavaScript . Why : While pages with a 200 HTTP status code are sent to rendering, this might not be the case for pages with a non- 200 HTTP status code.
What : Migrated the following documentation to Google's crawling infrastructure site . The functionality hasn't changed, only the location of the documentation and some minor wording changes to clarify that some guidance applies to both Google Search and other Google products. Why : This documentation is more relevant to many Google products that use Google's crawlers, not just Search.
What : We added a section on canonicalization best practices for JavaScript to our JavaScript documentation and the best practices for consolidation of duplicate URLs . Why : Canonicalization happens before and after rendering, so it's important to make the canonical URL as clear as possible. With JavaScript, this means setting the canonical URL to the same URL as in the original HTML or if that isn't possible, to leave the canonical URL out of the original HTML.
What : Clarified in our JavaScript documentation how Google's crawler handles noindex tags in pages that use JavaScript. Why : While Google may be able to render a page that uses JavaScript, the behavior of this is not well defined and might change. If there's a possibility that you do want the page indexed, don't use a noindex tag in the original page code.
What : Added information to the core updates documentation about how Google continually makes updates to our search algorithms (including smaller core updates), and how that can affect your website. Why : To clarify that site owners that make content improvements can see a rise in position in Google Search results without having to wait for the next major core update.
What : Consolidated robots.txt error handling documentation into a single spot. Why : We previously had information about robots.txt error handling in several places (specifically, HTTP status codes and Search Console documentation ), which lead to some confusion. This is a docs-only change, no change in behavior.
What : Added new documentation about crawling faceted navigation URLs . Why : While the information was already public in form of a blog post , it was never officially made into documentation.
What : Added a section about how Google's crawlers handle cache control headers in the overview of Google's crawlers . Why : While the information was already public in form of a blog post, it was never officially made into documentation.
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