November was a pretty busy month where Google gave us a date for the launch of the page experience update and with that, Google will be testing a visual indicator or badge in the search results for this. Google released several unconfirmed Google algorithm updates this month but we have yet to see an official core update since May 4th – it has been over 7 months – and we might not see one throughout the rest of the year. And we learned that DeepRank is the code name for BERT.

Google tested some weird augmented link overlays on featured snippets that upset SEOs and publishers. Google also ended up ranking its own AI generated web stories, but that was a mistake and removed them all from search.

The folks at the Google Search Console team were busy with launching an outstanding new crawl stats reporting section, they migrated the disavow tool, fixed the manual actions bug and more. On top of all that, Google did a huge migration from Google Webmaster Central to Google Search Central. But still, the request indexing tool is not working.

There was a lot on the local from too with a big spike in suspensions, and concerning increase in business hijackings. Google also launched a bunch of new features in local and Google Maps. Google did tons of UI tests as well.

To catch up on last month, see our November webmaster report. I should note, the current ongoing WebmasterWorld thread is chatting up the unconfirmed Dec 1 update.

Here is a break down of the more important stories you may want to catch up on:

Google Search Algorithm Updates:
Google Page Experience Update To Launch May 2021 With New Snippet Labels
Google Core Web Vitals & Page Experience FAQs
Google Page Experience Update Ranking Factor Will Apply To Mobile Search Only
December 1 Google Search Ranking Algorithm Update
Was There A Google Update Earlier This Week?
Google Search Ranking Algorithm Update November 17th & 18th?
Google Search Ranking Algorithm Disturbance On November 4th
Unusual Google Search Ranking Algorithm Chatter
Google May Not Release Another Core Update Before Holidays
Some Google Algorithm Updates Are Jarring & Others More Gradual
DeepRank Is Google’s Codename For BERT

Google Search:
Google Featured Snippets With Data Overlay Links To Other Sites
Google Deletes Its Autogenerated Web Stories & They Now 404
More From Google On Passage Indexing vs Featured Snippets
Google: Passage Indexing Is A Lifeline For Pages With Diluted Content
How Google Passage Indexing Might Look In The Search Results

Google Search Console:
Google Search Console Crawl Stats Report Is Now Outstanding
Google Disavow Tool Finally Migrated To New Search Console
Manual Actions Back In Google Search Console
Manual Actions Disappearing From Google Search Console
Google Updated Remove Outdated Content Tool
Google: No Plans On Taking Away Request Indexing Tool
Google Search Console Misclassified Discover As Video Performance Data
Google Merchant Center: Build Your Own Performance Reports
Google Webmaster Central Now Known As Google Search Central

Google SEO:
Google Q&A Schema Supports STEM Education-Related Pages
Here Is How Google May Use Machine Learning During Crawling
Google Help Doc On Advanced Crawl Budget Management
Google Podcast: Indexing Images, Video, Audio & AMP & Launch Freezes
Short Google Search Video On Rendering & Crawling
Google: Redirected URLs Are Put Into A Cluster For Canonicalization
Google One-On-One On Why Rankings Go Up But Traffic & Clicks Down
Click Bots Won’t Improve Your Google Rankings
Google: Private Whois Domain Name Data Does Not Impact Rankings
Google: We Can Still Rank A Page After Matching Content Is Removed
Video On Google Search Quality Evaluators/Raters

Google Local & Maps:
Large Spike Google My Business Suspensions
Beware Of Google My Business Listings Hijackings
Google Maps Improves Messaging & Performance Insights Reports
Google My Business Dashboard Tests New Location Manager Interface
Google Guaranteed Badge Displays On Google Local & Maps Results
Google Local Packs May Roll Out X Years In Business Label
New Google Maps Community Feed Within The Explore Tab
Google Hotel Health & Safety Data Now Fully Live
Google Local Suggest An Edit Placement Moved On Mobile
Google Local Panel Adjusts How To Suggest An Edit To Store Hours

Google User Interface:
Google Tests Highlighting Snippets To Refine Your Search
Google Tests Half Line Break Design In Search Results
Google Tests Bolder Font For Search Result URLs
Google Tests Subcategories In Search Results
Google Search Podcast Carousel Updated With Larger Graphics
Who Is Alex Trebek Google Search Easter Egg

Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.