Google Confirms Ongoing Issue With Its Search Index [Update: Fixed?]

Update 15/07/22 5:50 p.m. 

Google says it has identified the issue with indexing and is working on a fix.

We've identified the issue with indexing and we're working on a fix. Next update will be within 12 hours.

— Google Search Central (@googlesearchc) July 15, 2022

It looks like the fix is now rolling out because new content is getting indexed. Here’s a story we just published within the past hour about a Google Ads bug that the search engine had no problem indexing.

Still, no confirmation from Google that the issue is fixed, though.

The original story continues below.

Today, at 10:50 a.m Eastern time, Google confirms there’s an ongoing indexing issue affecting a large number of sites.

The cause of the issue is unknown at this time. Google will provide an update within the next 12 hours.

There's an ongoing issue with indexing in Google Search that's affecting a large number of sites. Sites may experience delayed indexing. We're working on identifying the root cause. Next update will be within 12 hours.

— Google Search Central (@googlesearchc) July 15, 2022

These are the details we know so far.

How Many Sites Are Impacted & To What Extent?

Today’s ongoing issue with Google’s search index appears to be impacting new content only.

If you publish new content today, it likely won’t get indexed until the problem is fixed.

You can check for yourself by doing a ‘site:’ search and filter results by the past day or hour.

We’ve published multiple articles on Search Engine Journal today, and none of them are indexed so far, as you can see in the screenshot below:

It’s not known when the issue started, though we can narrow it down to a time window of the past 4 hours based on when new content was last indexed. That means Google likely stopped indexing new pages around 7 a.m Eastern time.

As for how many sites the issue impacts, as far as we can tell, all of them. Or at least all sites that are publishing new content today.

If you haven’t added new pages to your site and don’t intend to, then you have nothing to worry about.

These indexing issues affecting new content have happened before, and history shows they don’t extend to existing content.

Will This Impact My Search Rankings?

People’s primary concern regarding Google issues is how they will impact search rankings.

To be sure, this issue is limited to indexing, not ranking. This bug won’t harm Google Search rankings for existing content.

New content won’t get a chance to rank by not getting indexed, though that’s only temporary until Google corrects the problem.

Will My Content Eventually Get Indexed?

Google doesn’t guarantee to index all content even when systems are functioning as usual, so it’s impossible to say if the content you publish today will eventually get indexed.

If Google usually indexes your new pages, it will likely resume when it fixes the bug.

When Will Google Fix The Problem?

Historically, Google indexing bugs take around 24 hours to fix. However, the timeframe could be longer or shorter because Google doesn’t provide an estimate.

Google will provide an update on Twitter via @GoogleSearchC either when it fixes the bug or has more information to share.

Featured Image: Sergei Elagin/Shutterstock