Changes to Impressions & Position Data in Google Search Console

If you have noticed changes in Google Search Console reporting with impressions and position data, that is to be expected.  Google made some changes to make searches with lower positions more accurate, which is reflected in the changes.

Google has posted an update in their Data Anomalies list, as well as including a notation when you look at your data in Search Analytics within Search Console.

July 14 – onward

An incremental improvement in Google’s logging system now provides better accounting for results in lower positions. This change might cause increase in impressions, but also a decrease in average positions. This change only affects Search Console reporting, not your actual performance on Google Search.

Many site owners were posting on Twitter that they were seeing what seemed to be fluctuations in Search Console data earlier this week, and Google confirmed the changes yesterday.

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Jennifer Slegg

Founder & Editor at The SEM Post

Jennifer Slegg is a longtime speaker and expert in search engine marketing, working in the industry for almost 20 years. When she isn't sitting at her desk writing and working, she can be found grabbing a latte at her local Starbucks or planning her next trip to Disneyland. She regularly speaks at Pubcon, SMX, State of Search, Brighton SEO and more, and has been presenting at conferences for over a decade.

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