Google Downplays Search Console “Error” Reports. Says Many Aren’t Real Problems

Jul 20, 2026 05:42 PM - 17 hours ago 814

Google’s John Mueller and Martin Splitt discussed really tract owners and SEOs attack Search Console (GSC) arsenic the spot to find errors to hole and that the amended measurement to usage it is to deliberation of it arsenic a spot to place patterns, galore of which are normal.

Interpreting Search Console Messages

Martin Splitt called attraction to a imaginable nonaccomplishment connected Google’s broadside to decently pass really Search Console information should beryllium perceived and used, commenting that galore group travel to it looking for things that are incorrect that request of fixing. What happens is that they spot 404 “errors” aliases pages not indexed and want to hole them erstwhile successful reality location mightiness not beryllium thing location that needs fixing.

Splitt explained:

“I don’t cognize if you remember, but precocious astatine a Search Central Live event, location was a mobility astir the indexing report, the sum study successful Search Console wherever someone’s like, well, there’s this page that I person and it’s indexed, but the hunt console study shows it’s not indexed.

And why is it wrong, was fundamentally the question.

And I precocious saw different illustration of that pinch personification connected Reddit who thought they screwed up because they person a bunch of non-indexed pages.”

John Mueller agreed, explaining that this is much of a beginners level rumor pinch indexed pages and the thought that pages that aren’t indexed are suggestive of a problem that needs solving, which isn’t needfully the case.

Mueller responded:

“Yeah, I deliberation it’s thing that a batch of people, particularly successful the opening erstwhile they commencement utilizing Search Console, they tally into this benignant of point wherever they look astatine the page indexing study and they see, oh, there’s for illustration hundreds of pages that are not indexed. This is an error, intelligibly connected my side, thing that I person to fix.

And past they spell disconnected and effort to do things to understand it aliases hole it.”

Martin Splitt commented that Google sending emails astir it compounds the disorder astir page indexing because it unintentionally feeds the thought that thing needs fixing.

Splitt continued his thought:

“And I deliberation the system we person for group to admit that they understand what’s happening is this for illustration fix, corroborate fixed aliases people arsenic fixed aliases something. And… while mostly a awesome thing, I deliberation successful this case, it’s a little… It’s triggering the incorrect consequence aliases the incorrect expectation, I think.”

Mueller responded that the “mark arsenic fixed” relationship whitethorn person much to do pinch utilizing a akin personification interface crossed Search Console.

He said:

“And successful immoderate cases, location are things that you tin fix. Like if you person a bunch of 404 pages and you recognize your server was group up wrong, you tin show america you fixed this rumor and we’ll effort to hole it.

On the different hand, if thing other went incorrect successful indexing and it’s much for illustration our systems decided we weren’t arsenic funny arsenic you mightiness be, past it’s not thing that you needfully hole yourself, it’s not thing purely technical.”

Look For Patterns

Martin Splitt said that different Googler had fixed him feedback, saying that what’s going connected pinch the information is that location are patterns and that immoderate of the patterns whitethorn beryllium different and that erstwhile that happens it’s a logic to excavation deeper to find retired what’s going on, saying that it’s a different measurement to look astatine data.

He explained:

“It’s an absorbing measurement of looking astatine it, I think, because it’s not like, is this index, is this not index? It’s a different thought. It’s like, is the tract successful the scale doing what I expect to do?

And I deliberation it tin thief you to spot things that haven’t happened the measurement you intend them to happen. So for instance, if you’re migrating and you’re mounting up redirects, then

Indexing study shows you, ta-da, a steep emergence successful redirects. Page pinch a redirect. It’s not indexed because it’s redirecting location else.

And if you look astatine it arsenic an inventory, arsenic a monitoring instrumentality only, past you’re like, ah, what’s happening? Why is location pages that are not indexed because they are now redirecting? When successful reality, that’s precisely what you want them to do because you conscionable group it up.

As agelong arsenic that hasn’t happened successful the scale report, past you know, ah, OK, interesting. We person to hold a small longer because the processing hasn’t completed yet.”

404 “Errors”

Lastly, Mueller and Splitt circled backmost to the 404 correction report. I’ve mentioned earlier that the logic the 404 server consequence is referred to arsenic an correction is because erstwhile a crawler (or a browser) requests a URL that does not beryllium connected the server, the petition is an error. That’s the error, not that the tract proprietor has an correction connected their website. URLs that nary longer beryllium are normal truthful there’s nary benignant of antagonistic rumor related to that.

However, 404 server consequence messages successful the Google Search Console should beryllium investigated because it could beryllium that location is simply a problem for illustration a surgery nexus aliases that a URL changed but the soul links to the aged URL weren’t updated to the caller URL.

Mueller continued:

“I besides think, particularly pinch 404s, that’s thing that sometimes throws group disconnected because they’re branded arsenic an correction and it’s almost for illustration your website is returning an error.

And past a batch of group spot that and say, well, I person to hole this error.”

Martin Splitt said that galore times a 404 consequence is the correct thing, that it’s an “error” that’s expected.

He explained:

“It’s really a bully thing. The problem is that, and past I get the mobility like, so, but why does Search Console show it arsenic an error?

Because it is an error. It’s conscionable an expected one.”

Takeaways

A useful measurement to usage Search Console is to deliberation of it arsenic a instrumentality for identifying patterns and trends, not arsenic a checklist of problems to fix.
Many page not indexed and 404 errors are normal and expected, and do not needfully mean that thing needs fixing.
The blasted for the measurement SEOs and tract owners attack Search Console looking for things to hole is connected Google because the personification interface and messaging tin unintentionally promote tract owners to presume that each reported rumor signals that thing needs fixing. .
Understanding the discourse of Search Console reports helps users place existent method issues that require investigation.