Notes from the Google Webmaster Hangout on the 31st of October, 2017.
Empty Cached Pages Can Appear For JavaScript Sites
Google’s cached page usually reflects the raw HTML. For JavaScript based sites, if the JavaScript doesn’t run when it’s shown on the caching URL, then the cached version could appear empty.
Google Counts Links Again When Removed From Disavow File
Removing URLs from the disavow file means Google will count these links again the next time they are processed.
Voice Queries Are Included in Search Console As Normal Queries
Voice queries appear in Search Console but they aren’t split out separately from other queries. Voice queries may be split out from typed queries at some point if this provides extra value for webmasters.
Old Pages Can Still Rank If the Content Is Useful
Old sites can still be useful and rank in search even if they haven’t been updated in years, as long as they are still relevant. Pages can still appear in search even if they aren’t mobile friendly.
Geo-targeting Doesn’t Restrict Pages to a Specific Country
Geo-targeting in Search Console indicates to Google that a page is more relevant for a specific country, and it may rank higher for local search queries, not that it will be removed for other countries.
Video Sitemaps Can Specify Countries Where Content is Available
With a video sitemap you can define which countries your content is available in, which is used for video search results.
Disavowing Links From Partial Manual Actions Isn’t Necessary
If a site has received a partial manual action for spammy links, these links will have already been taken out of consideration by the Webspam team. In this case, it is up to the webmaster if you want to disavow the spammy links or leave them there.
Views of Cached AMP Pages Won’t Appear in Log Files
AMP pages may make log files look unusual as Google is requesting the page to update the cache but the page will appear to receive little traffic because users see the cached version of the page.
