It’s time for the big Google Webmaster Report, the January 2024 edition. This month we saw the November 2023 Google reviews update completed after 29 days. But that wasn’t the end of the volatility, it was a very volatile month. Google also confirmed it tweaked its local ranking algorithm to strengthen openness for non-navigational queries.

Google has brought the power of Gemini to Bard, SGE and more. With that, Google has removed the end date for SGE in Google Search Labs.

Google has confirmed indexing issues again this past month. Danny Sullivan is collecting examples of low-quality search results and part of that is working on parasite SEO issues. Many are noticing spikes in that video not in main content Search Console notices.

Plus, there was a lot more SEO news, a lot of user interface changes, and yes, it was the holidays – so catch up below.

If you missed the last report, here is the December 2023 Google webmaster report.

Here are those top headlines:

Google Algorithm Updates
Google November 2023 Reviews Update Completed After 29 Days
Google New Years Eve Search Algorithm Update
Pre-Christmas Intense Google Algorithm Ranking Volatility
Google Search Ranking Algorithm Volatility Holiday Surge
Google Search Results Super Volatile Days After Reviews Update Completed
Confirmed: Google Local Search Algorithm “Openness” Now Stronger Signal
Here Is When Google Released Search Algorithm Updates In 2023

Google SGE
Google Gemini, Next Level AI, Comes To Bard & Coming To SGE
Google Search Generative Experience December End Date Removed
Google SGE Tests Export To Gmail & Google Docs

Google Search Console
Google Search Console To Remove Product Results Search Appearance Filter From Performance Reports
Google Search Console API Is Delayed

Google SEO
Google Search Having Indexing Issues – Confirmed
Google’s Sullivan Collecting & Submitting Low Quality & Problematic Search Results
The Google Groups Search Ranking & Visibility Boost Is Now Dropping
Google: We Have Taken Steps To Deal With Parasite SEO & More To Come
Google To Rename “Parasite SEO” In Near Future
Google: Video Is Not The Main Content Of The Page Error Spike
Why Google Seems To Not Penalize Sites After Paid Backlink Reports
Google How-To Rich Results Also Returning To Search?
Google Search On When Special Characters Don’t Work
Google: Double Slashes In URLs Can Confuse Some Crawlers
Google: About The Source Information Doesn’t Mean You Rank Better
Google: Sometimes Bot Protection Services Serve Noindex Directive
Google Checks 4 Billion Host Names Each Day For Robots.txt
Google On Why Some Sites Should Use Hierarchical Site Category Structures
Google Showing Less Image Boxes In Search Results?
Google Search May Show Reporter Headshots As Story’s Main Image
Known Issue: Google Site Names With Some Internal Pages

Google User Interface
Google’s Alternative Feeds, Secondary SERPs & Current Tracking Challenges
Google Search Lite Knowledge Panel Snippet
Google Search “You Visit Often” Label
Google Search Full Width Image Pack With More Details Now Live
Google Tests Search Snippet Overlay With Site Preview
Google Author Name (Profile Page) & Site Favicon On Article Carousel
Google Tests Longer Search Result Snippets Again
Google Search Shop By Price & Shop By Brand
Google Search Tests Follow This Search & More Results Buttons
Google Tests Sitelinks In Bubble/Pill Format
Google Search Tests New Health / Medical Design
Google Top Stories Adds Video Labels
Google Tests Expandable Image Box In Search Results
Google Product Results Showing Prices With 30 Day Low

Google Local/Maps
Google Business Profile Suspension Emails Add Appeal Option
Google Business Profile Personalized Emails Regarding Suspensions
Google Local Notice When Review Posting Is Turned Off
Google Local Pack With Websites For Places Box Beneath
Google Local Panel Adds Share Button Within Three Dots

Misc Google
Google’s John Mueller Providing SEO Support On New Years
John Mueller Of Google Providing Webmaster Support On Christmas Again (2023 Edition)
Google Search Christmas Decorations Are Live For 2023
Google Search Kwanzaa Decorations Are Live For 2023

Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.