This month we had two unconfirmed Google search ranking algorithm updates, one around August 17th and the other around August 29th. Google began penalizing domain leasing portions of sites, and also slammed a popular SEO with a link penalty.

The evergreen GoogleBot is now running Chrome 76 and now supports Google’s tools finally. Google also explained a lot more about two waves of indexing despite having two more indexing issues including a post about what happened.

On the EAT side, Google said they do try to recognize these types of details on the site and content, including if a doctor reviewed the content or not.

Anyway, the ongoing WebmasterWorld thread is currently very chill coming off a long three-day Labor Day weekend. But you can also read the August report if you missed it.

Here are the more important stories for the past month or so:

Google Algorithms & Updates:
Signs Of A Google Search Ranking Algorithm Update On August 29th
Google Search Ranking & Algorithm Update Over The Weekend?
Google Search Algorithm Tweaked To Show Less Porn For Lesbian, Teen & Other Queries

Google Penalties:
Google Begins Penalizing Domain Leasing
Google Issues Warning About Leasing Subdomains Or Subfolders
Google Still Penalizing Sites For Unnatural Links & It Can Hurt Bad
Moving To A New Domain To Escape A Google Penalty Might Not Work Says Google
Is Quora In Google Trouble?
Google Considers Notifying Webmasters For Featured Snippet Penalties

Google SEO:
Evergreen GoogleBot Now On Chrome 76
Google: Two Waves Of Indexing Less Vital & Going Away
New Native Lazy-Loading Support In Chrome 76 & Evergreen GoogleBot
Google’s Indexing Issues Continue But This One Is Different
Google’s Indexing Bugs Explanation Is A Weak Post Mortem
Google Indexing Bug Is Resolved (Updated)
Google: We Do Not Index Parts Of A Page Independently
Google: Noindex Robots.txt Directive Won’t Work After September 1st
Google: Structured Data Not A Ranking Factor But May Be Worthwhile
Google: Web Site Traffic Is Not A Ranking Factor
Google: We Try Recognize Author Details, Reviewer Details & Overall Site Quality Details
Google: Says Dates On Articles Makes It Easier To Recognize High-Quality Evergreen Content
Google: You Should Document If A Doctor Reviewed Your Medical Content
Google JavaScript SEO Docs Adds Meta Noindex Examples
A Google Leak? Google News 4,000 Submissions Per Month, Web Spam Works With News Spam, Blacklists & Fringy Search
Google Warns: Embedding Instagram Images Can Cause SEO Issues

Google Search Console:
New Evergreen GoogleBot Support For Google Testing Tools
Google Search Console Adds AMP On Image Result Report – Here Is How To See It
Google Search Console Adds Auto-DNS Verification With Some DNS Providers
Is Google Investigating Consolidation Issues With Google Search Console Performance Report?
Google Search Console API Removes App Indexing Features
New Issue Types Added To Google Search Console Rich Result Reports
Google Search Console Sending Monthly Performance Reports

Google User Interface & Features:
Google Adds Playable Podcasts To Search That Indexes Spoken Words Within Podcasts
Google Expands Favicon & Black Breadcrumb At Top Test
Google Tests Capitalizing URLs Of Snippets In Search Results
Google Confirms Featured Snippets Anchors & Highlights Feature On Desktop
Google Fully Dropping URLs For Breadcrumbs On Desktop Search?
Google Tests Expandable People Also Search For
Google People Also View Images
Google People Also Ask With Embedded Suggested Video Clips
Google Featured Snippets That Extract Definitions Automatically?
Google Search Tests More Pagination Options: More Results, Infinite Scroll & More
Google Tests Bigger Search Results Fonts
Google Tests Infinite Scroll Search Results Interface Again
Google Question Hub: Asking Questions In Search & Publishers Answering
Google Drops Magnifying Glass In Search Bar For Text Search Button
Google Wizard of Oz Easter Egg
Google Image Search Removes Exact Size & Larger Than Tools

Google Local & Maps:
Google Shows Competitors Local Listings Above The Branded Local Knowledge Panel
Google Local Listing For Dodge Dealership Shows Toyota
Google My Business Adds New Service Options For Some Industries
Owners Can Now Reply To Reviews On Google Maps Android 
Google Adds Delivery Icons To Local Pack
Google My Business Adds Bulk Reviews For Multiple Listings
Google My Business Currently Unable To Transfer Reviews
Google My Business Edit Hotel Services & Amenities
Google Maps Adds AR & Travel Features & Will Guarantee Flight Prices
New In Google My Business: Messaging Insights, Site Manager Sign-Up & Status Changes
Google Local Pack Tests Image Carousel For Each Local Listing

Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.