\n This page details the latest major updates made to the Google Search Central documentation.\n <\/p>\n
\n To get the latest Search Central documentation updates delivered to you, add the URL of this \n What<\/b>: Updated the Google European Search Dataset Licensing Program page<\/a>.\n <\/p>\n \n Why<\/b>: Refreshed the program overview, eligibility criteria, and application details.\n <\/p>\n<\/dd>\n \n What<\/b>: Updated the favicon documentation<\/a> \n Why<\/b>: To be clearer about which favicon file formats are supported by Google Search. \n What<\/b>: Updated the site reputation policy<\/a>.\n <\/p>\n \n Why<\/b>: We’ve adjusted our enforcement approach within the \n What<\/b>: Updated the preferred sources documentation<\/a> \n Why<\/b>: Site owners can now implement a custom, interactive button to guide their \n What<\/b>: Added a new guide on how to \n Why<\/b>: To help content creators, social media managers, and SEO professionals \n What<\/b>: Added a new guideline to the review snippet documentation<\/a> \n Why<\/b>: To improve user review transparency.\n <\/p>\n<\/dd>\n \n What<\/b>: Updated the feature availability and eligibility requirements sections \n Why<\/b>: The package tracking early adopters program is no longer accepting new partners.\n <\/p>\n<\/dd>\n \n What<\/b>: Updated the \n Why<\/b>: To provide better expectations about how long it takes for canonicalization \n What<\/b>: Updated the Merchant listing<\/a> \n Why<\/b>: To help merchants provide both merchant-defined \n What<\/b>: Added a new section on “Sale duration” to the Merchant listing guide<\/a>. This explains how to use the \n Why<\/b>: This aligns schema.org usage with the Merchant Center feed attribute \n What<\/b>: Simplified our AMP documentation<\/a> by removing outdated references to the AMP viewer, AMP Cache, and signed exchange.\n <\/p>\n \n Why<\/b>: Starting today, Google Search is updating how it connects users to AMP pages, \n What<\/b>: The site move guide<\/a> \n Why<\/b>: The domain migrations work best when all variants of a site are migrated properly.\n <\/p>\n<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n \n What<\/b>: Added a note to the AI optimization guide<\/a> clarifying Google Search’s usage of llms.txt files.\n <\/p>\n \n Why<\/b>: To address questions from the community and clarify that while these files \n What<\/b>: Removed documentation for the FAQ rich result feature<\/a>.\n <\/p>\n \n Why<\/b>: The FAQ rich result feature is no longer shown in Google Search results, as announced in the changelog entry in May 2026<\/a>.\n <\/p>\n<\/dd>\n \n What<\/b>: Created a new article explaining how small business owners in Tennessee can receive notifications from Google Search<\/a>.\n <\/p>\n \n Why<\/b>: To help small businesses in Tennessee learn how they can get notified if their web content is removed or restricted on Google Search (for example, signing up for Search Console, Business Profile, or Merchant Center).\n <\/p>\n<\/dd>\n \n What<\/b>: Added Google Search’s guidance on using third-party SEO tools, services, and advice<\/a>. \n Why<\/b>: To highlight important considerations when evaluating third-party SEO tools and \n What<\/b>: Updated the feature availability section of the \n Why<\/b>: The preferred sources feature is starting to roll out to AI Overviews and AI Mode.\n <\/p>\n<\/dd>\n \n What<\/b>: Added the \n Why<\/b>: This property brings parity with the Merchant Center feed specification for the \n What<\/b>: Added a new guide on optimizing for generative AI features<\/a> \n Why<\/b>: To help site owners, SEOs, and developers better understand how to optimize \n What<\/b>: Clarified that our spam policies<\/a> \n Why<\/b>: To make it clear that the spam policies apply to all of Google Search, \n What<\/b>: Added a deprecation notice to the FAQ rich result documentation<\/a>.\n <\/p>\n \n Why<\/b>: This feature will no longer appear in Google Search starting May 7, 2026.\n <\/p>\n<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n \n What<\/b>: Added that the preferred sources feature<\/a> \n Why<\/b>: The preferred sources feature is now available in all languages supported by Google Search.\n <\/p>\n<\/dd>\n \n What<\/b>: Further clarified when and why we may take manual action based on spam reports<\/a>.\n <\/p>\n \n Why<\/b>: To address feedback we received about the change on using spam reports to take \n What<\/b>: Added a new section on “read more” deep links<\/a> \n Why<\/b>: To explain how to increase the likelihood of your content appearing with a \n What<\/b>: Clarified that Google may use spam report submissions<\/a> \n Why<\/b>: Google may now use spam report submissions to take manual action.\n <\/p>\n<\/dd>\n \n What<\/b>: Added a new section to the malicious practices spam policy<\/a> \n Why<\/b>: Learn more about this update in our blog post on back button hijacking<\/a>.\n <\/p>\n<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n \n What<\/b>: Added more supported properties \n Why<\/b>: For providing more clarity on comment thread structure to Google ingestion systems. \n What<\/b>: Added a note to the robots meta tags documentation<\/a> on the way Google Search processes robots meta tags outside the HTML head.\n <\/p>\n \n Why<\/b>: The behavior didn’t change but was previously undocumented.\n <\/p>\n<\/dd>\n \n What<\/b>: Removed a section on accessibility from the JavaScript SEO basics documentation<\/a>.\n <\/p>\n \n Why<\/b>: The information was out of date and not as helpful as it used to be. Google Search has been rendering JavaScript for multiple years now, so using JavaScript to load content is not “making it harder for Google Search”. \n What<\/b>: Added a new section on specifying a preferred image with metadata<\/a> \n Why<\/b>: Based on feedback, we’re clarifying that Google uses both schema.org markup and the \n What<\/b>: Added more information on how sites can increase the likelihood of their \n Why<\/b>: We’re rolling out the February 2026 Discover Core Update<\/a>.\n <\/p>\n<\/dd>\n \n What<\/b>: While moving over the information about the default file size limits of \n Why<\/b>: The original location of the default file size limits was not the most logical \n What<\/b>: Added preferred sources documentation<\/a> \n Why<\/b>: To help publishers understand how to help their audience find their site as a preferred source.\n <\/p>\n<\/dd>\n \n What<\/b>: Updated the structured data carousels (beta)<\/a> \n Why<\/b>: The South African carousel, badges, and refinement chips now support queries \n What<\/b>: Removed documentation for the practice problem<\/a> \n Why<\/b>: The practice problem structured data type is no longer shown in Google Search results. Learn about the latest and most recent Google Search Central documentation updates. Stay current with what’s new at Google Search Central.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"menu_order":7000,"template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"ar_kb_kategori":[668],"ar_kb_etiket":[],"class_list":["post-25684","ar_kb","type-ar_kb","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","ar_kb_kategori-whats-new"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alienroad.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ar_kb\/25684","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alienroad.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ar_kb"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alienroad.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/ar_kb"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/alienroad.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ar_kb\/25684\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25685,"href":"https:\/\/alienroad.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ar_kb\/25684\/revisions\/25685"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alienroad.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27671"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alienroad.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25684"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"ar_kb_kategori","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alienroad.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ar_kb_kategori?post=25684"},{"taxonomy":"ar_kb_etiket","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alienroad.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ar_kb_etiket?post=25684"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n page to your feed reader<\/a>,
\n or add the feed URL directly:
\n https:\/\/developers.google.com\/search\/updates\/search_docs_updates.rss<\/code>.\n <\/p>\nAugust 2026<\/h2>\n
\n
Updated the European Search Dataset Licensing Program page<\/h3>\n
Updated the favicon documentation<\/h3>\n
\n to specifically list out the supported favicon file formats.\n <\/p>\n
\n Previously, the documentation linked to an external reference that evolved over time and
\n caused ambiguity about which favicon file formats are actually supported in Google Search.
\n Google Search’s supported file formats haven’t changed; this update
\n explicitly lists them in the documentation.\n <\/p>\nUpdated the site reputation policy<\/h3>\n
\n European Economic Area<\/a>
\n (EEA). For more information, see our blog post<\/a>.\n <\/p>\n<\/dd>\nNew custom button for preferred sources<\/h3>\n
\n to include instructions on how to add the new custom, interactive button to your site.\n <\/p>\n
\n audience to set them as a preferred source, ensuring a seamless experience where users are
\n brought right back to where they left off.\n <\/p>\n<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\nJuly 2026<\/h2>\n
\n
Added guide on analyzing social and video platform content<\/h3>\n
\n analyze your social and video platform content performance in Search Console<\/a>.\n <\/p>\n
\n understand how their social and video platform content performs on Google Search.\n <\/p>\n<\/dd>\nAdded a new review snippet guideline<\/h3>\n
\n about fake and undisclosed incentivized reviews.\n <\/p>\nUpdated the package tracking documentation<\/h3>\n
\n package tracking early adopters program documentation<\/a>.\n <\/p>\nUpdated the canonicalization troubleshooting guide<\/h3>\n
\n canonicalization troubleshooting guide<\/a>
\n with clarifications on re-evaluation time.\n <\/p>\n
\n changes to take effect.\n <\/p>\n<\/dd>\nAdded
category<\/code> to merchant listing structured data<\/h3>\n
\n documentation to detail how the Product.category<\/code> property can be used with both
\n Text<\/code> and CategoryCode<\/code> types. This aligns with the Google Merchant Center feed
\n specifications for the
\n product_type<\/a> and
\n google_product_category<\/a> attributes.\n <\/p>\n
\n and Google-defined category information within their schema.org markup, enhancing product
\n information for Google Search and Shopping.\n <\/p>\nClarified how to specify sale price effective dates in Product structured data<\/h3>\n
validFrom<\/code>, validThrough<\/code>, and priceValidUntil<\/code>
\n schema.org properties to set the effective range for sale prices, including best practices and examples for placement on either Offer<\/code> ou PriceSpecification<\/code> nodes.\n <\/p>\n
\n sale_price_effective_date<\/a>,
\n providing clear instructions and best practices for merchants using structured data.\n <\/p>\n<\/dd>\nUpdating our AMP documentation<\/h3>\n
\n and will now take users directly to the publisher’s AMP host pages. This change simplifies
\n and reduces maintenance efforts for publishers who are creating AMP content, as they no
\n longer need to update the AMP cache or configure signed exchanges. AMP content will
\n continue to rank just like any other web page.\n <\/p>\n<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\nJune 2026<\/h2>\n
\n
Site move guidance now includes information on domain variants<\/h3>\n
\n now includes information on using the Change of Address tool for all subdomain variants
\n (including www and non-www) during domain migrations.\n <\/p>\n\n
Clarifying guidance on llms.txt files<\/h3>\n
\n aren’t needed for Google Search (and won’t negatively or positively impact your
\n visibility or rankings), it’s fine if you want to maintain these files for other services or
\n systems that use them.\n <\/p>\nRemoving documentation for the FAQ rich result feature<\/h3>\n
New article for small business owners in Tennessee<\/h3>\n
Guidance on third-party SEO tools, services, and advice<\/h3>\n
\n Also added guidance to the Do you need an SEO?<\/a> page on
\n evaluating your SEO’s recommendations and tools, along with other minor updates to the
\n page to simplify and modernize the content.\n <\/p>\n
\n advice, and to simplify some sections and remove outdated examples in existing
\n documentation.\n <\/p>\n<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\nMay 2026<\/h2>\n
\n
Preferred sources is available in AI Mode and AI Overviews<\/h3>\n
\n preferred sources documentation<\/a> to
\n include AI Overviews and AI Mode.\n <\/p>\nAdded
hasAdultConsideration<\/code> to product-related structured data types<\/h3>\nhasAdultConsideration<\/code> property to the
\n Merchant listing<\/a> and
\n Product variant<\/a>
\n documentation.\n <\/p>\n
\n adult property<\/a>.\n <\/p>\n<\/dd>\nAdding a new guide on optimizing for generative AI features<\/h3>\n
\n on Search. Notable new sections include guidance on the importance of providing non-commodity content,
\n tips about providing local, shopping, image, and video content, mythbusting common “AEO\/GEO”
\n misconceptions, initial guidance on AI agents, and more information on why SEO best practices
\n continue to be relevant for success in our generative AI features on Search.\n <\/p>\n
\n their content for appearance in generative AI features on Search, and what they can ignore.\n <\/p>\nClarifying that spam policies apply to generative AI responses in Google Search<\/h3>\n
\n also apply to generative AI responses in Google Search.\n <\/p>\n
\n including generative AI responses.\n <\/p>\n<\/dd>\nDeprecating the FAQ rich result feature<\/h3>\n
April 2026<\/h2>\n
\n
Expanding preferred sources to all languages where Google Search is available<\/h3>\n
\n is now available in all languages where Google Search is available,
\n including new translated downloadable button assets.\n <\/p>\nClarifying when and why we may take manual action based on spam reports<\/h3>\n
\n manual action.\n <\/p>\n<\/dd>\nAdded a section about “read more” deep links<\/h3>\n
\n to the snippet documentation.\n <\/p>\n
\n “read more” deeplink in Google Search results.\n <\/p>\n<\/dd>\nClarifying the use of spam reports<\/h3>\n
\n to take manual action against violations.\n <\/p>\nIntroducing a new spam policy for “back button hijacking”<\/h3>\n
\n to address a deceptive practice known as “back button hijacking”.\n <\/p>\nMarch 2026<\/h2>\n
\n
Added new supported properties for Discussion Forum and QA Page markup<\/h3>\n
\n for Discussion Forum<\/a>
\n and QA Page<\/a> markup.\n <\/p>\n
\n This prevents misinterpretations in our handling of forum and Q&A content.\n <\/p>\n<\/dd>\nAdded a note on the robots meta tags documentation<\/h3>\n
Removed outdated information about JavaScript and accessibility<\/h3>\n
\n Most assistive technologies are able to work with JavaScript now as well.\n <\/p>\n<\/dd>\nAdded preferred image best practices<\/h3>\n
\n to the image SEO best practices and Discover documentation<\/a>.\n <\/p>\nog:image<\/code>
\n meta<\/code> tag as sources when determining image thumbnails in Google Search and
\n Discover.\n <\/p>\n<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\nFebruary 2026<\/h2>\n
\n
Added information to the Get on Discover page for site owners<\/h3>\n
\n content appearing in Discover<\/a>.\n <\/p>\nClarified information about the default file size limits for Googlebot<\/h3>\n
\n Google’s crawlers and fetchers to the
\n crawler documentation<\/a>,
\n we also updated the
\n Googlebot documentation<\/a>
\n about its own file size limits.\n <\/p>\n
\n place as it applies to all of Google’s crawlers and fetchers, and the move enabled us to
\n be more precise about Googlebot’s limits.\n <\/p>\n<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\nJanuary 2026<\/h2>\n
\n
Adding preferred sources documentation<\/h3>\n
\n for website owners.\n <\/p>\nAdding more supported query types to South African carousel documentation<\/h3>\n
\n documentation and the South African badges and refinement chips blog post<\/a>
\n to include additional query types.\n <\/p>\n
\n related to food delivery, car hire, and bus booking.\n <\/p>\n<\/dd>\nRemoving documentation for the practice problem structured data type<\/h3>\n
\n structured data type.\n <\/p>\n
\n Learn more about this change in our blog post<\/a> and changelog entry<\/a> announced in November 2025.\n <\/p>\n<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"