Google Search Console now offers a branded queries filter in the Performance Report to separate traffic from branded and non-branded queries. Branded queries include the brand name, variations, and related products, while non-branded do not. The AI-powered filter shows metrics like clicks and impressions for each type across all search types. A new Insights card shows click breakdowns. It rolls out gradually for top-level properties with enough query volume.
Google added a new user agent named Google-CWS to the Googlebot's user-triggered fetchers documentation. This user agent is used by the Chrome Web Store to request URLs that developers include in the metadata of their Chrome extensions and themes.
Google added Google-NotebookLM to its list of user-triggered fetchers based on feedback. This user-agent requests individual URLs provided by NotebookLM users as sources for their projects.
Google will stop reporting six deprecated structured data types in Search Console: Course Info, Claim Review, Estimated Salary, Learning Video, Special Announcement, and Vehicle Listing. These will be removed from rich result reporting, Rich Result Test, and Search appearance filters on September 9. The API supports them until December 2025. Deprecated fields will show as NULL by October 1, 2025, so queries should use IS NOT TRUE to handle NULLs.
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Google Search Console API now includes a metadata field in the Search Analytics API that indicates when data is incomplete. It shows either the first incomplete date or hour, depending on the data grouping and request type. This helps identify when data collection and processing are still ongoing. Dates and times are in the America/Los_Angeles time zone, with formats based on ISO-8601 standards.
The documentation clarifies that offer-level return policies support only some organization-level policies, and merchant-level return policies must be defined under Organization markup. Loyalty program info must be separate from offer-level benefits and defined under Organization markup or Merchant Center. Shipping and returns loyalty benefits are not supported by Google. These updates remove confusion and ensure consistent return policies across catalogs.
Google Search Console now has a filter for discussion forum content, showing how user discussions perform in search. Discussion forum markup helps Google identify forum content for features like Discussions. Forums should nest comments under posts using DiscussionForumPosting markup, with structures for threaded or linear forums. Q&A markup is for question-answer forums. Use Collection or ItemList to group posts on pages with multiple posts.
Google updated its URL guidelines to improve crawling, stressing IETF STD 66 compliance and proper encoding. It advises against URL fragments for content changes and favors descriptive, human-readable URLs with audience language and UTF-8 encoding. Hyphens separate words, and URLs are case sensitive. Multi-regional sites should use country domains or subdirectories. Issues like filtering, session IDs, and dynamic calendars need robots.txt and crawl fixes.
Google Analytics updated its Measurement Protocol with new device and user_agent fields for better event measurement via HTTP requests. Users can send device info such as category, language, screen resolution, OS, model, brand, browser, and versions. This enhances data accuracy by capturing detailed device info for server-to-server and offline interactions, helping businesses track user activity across platforms.
