Are you worried because your website is ranking, lost index or don't understand why Google changed the way search results are displayed? In the latest Google Search Office Hours, Google Japan experts directly answered the 9 hottest SEO issues that the SEO community is concerned about.
Quick Summary of 9 Outstanding SEO Issues
Here is a summary for those who are busy:
Search by Hashtag: This feature changes because Google wants to optimize the user experience. Don't depend on hashtags to get traffic, instead focus on search intent.
Favicon on Subdomain: This problem is often caused by incorrect URL structure or favicon file declaration. Make sure to declare the path clearly or place the favicon file in the root directory of the subdomain.
Major Keyword Rank Loss: Ranking is never permanent. The cause may be due to algorithm changes, stronger competitors, or content that is no longer relevant.
Knowledge Panel Not Updating: Google aggregates information from many sources, including Google Business Profile. Please update information on all platforms and patiently wait for Google to synchronize.
"Crawled - not indexed" page: This means that Google has crawled but not indexed. Sending a re-index request does not guarantee results. You need to improve content quality and check technical factors.
URLs With Special Characters: Avoid using strange characters like commas in URLs as it can cause display errors and inconsistencies for crawlers.
Googlebot Downloads Reduced: This is usually a good sign, indicating that the bot is working more efficiently. Just worry if this comes with a 4xx/5xx error or ranking drop.
Structured Data for AI Overview: Structured data helps Google understand your content better, but is not a guarantee of being shown in AI Overview.
Separate Desktop & Mobile URL Index: Google recommends responsive design. If you use two separate URLs, make sure they are both indexed and have equivalent content.
Detailed Content and Solutions for Each Problem
1. Hashtag search status - does it still work and why are results changing?
Answer: Hashtag visibility may change over time as Google often tests and updates search interface features. Hashtags are a form of contextual guidance from users, but Google primarily ranks and displays results based on usefulness, relevance to search intent, and source quality. When a feature like “hashtag-specific results” no longer displays like before, it's likely that Google has adjusted the way it handles this signal because it causes results that are less useful, spammy, or incompatible with new user behavior.
What you should do: Don't rely on a separate display feature like hashtags to get traffic. Instead, optimize content according to searcher intent, use clear titles and descriptions, and ensure content has unique value and is easy to share on social networks. Check traffic in Search Console for actual changes (organic search vs social referrals). If you use hashtags to organize content on social media, continue to make it clear but think of it as an outreach channel - not a solid SEO mechanism.
2. Favicon is not displayed in the content on the subdomain - why and how to fix it?
Answer: A favicon is essentially an image file (usually /favicon.ico or a PNG/SVG file declared in the tag). Browsers and services (including Google) find favicons in two main ways: placing the file right at the root of the host (eg https://sub.example.com/favicon.ico) or reading the path declared in the HTML head. If the site structure uses a subdomain but the "home" page is actually a subpath (eg sub.example.com/site/), then pages without explicit link declarations may not display favicons, or the crawler/agent will not find the correct file at the root of the subdomain.
To fix: Make sure each page has in the section pointing to the correct favicon, or place the favicon file at the subdomain's root path (/favicon.ico). Check that the favicon returns HTTP code 200, has the correct Content-Type, and is not blocked by robots.txt. If your site has multiple subdomains, consider setting a favicon for each subdomain or using an absolute URL (https://example.com/static/favicon.ico) and ensure CORS if necessary. Additionally, browser caching may prevent changes from being seen immediately, so check anonymously or with an online testing tool.
3. Big keyword ranking drop - common causes and how to investigate and recover
Answer: Rank drop can be due to many reasons: changes in Google's algorithm, changes in the relevance of content compared to searcher intent, better optimized competitors, changes in backlink profile, or changes on the page (old content, less updated). In addition, SERPs may appear with new features (quick answers, knowledge panels, news) that make traditional display positions appear to fall. It's important to understand that position in the SERP is not a permanent possession, and Google continually adjusts results based on user data.
Testing process: First check the Search Console to look for any manual action notifications or index errors. Compare recent changes on the page to when it dropped (content, meta, canonical, robots). Competitor analysis: what do they do differently in terms of content or backlinks? Check the server log to confirm Googlebot is still crawling as before. Test user experience: page speed, mobile usability, content structure, bounce rate. Recovery actions include refreshing content according to current search intent (adding useful information, updated data, clear structure), strengthening E-A-T (Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) with references, increasing quality backlinks and technical optimization (schema, internal linking). Remember that recovery often requires testing and monitoring over time.
4. Knowledge Panel not updating after rebranding - causes and solutions
Answer: Google's Knowledge Panel aggregates information from many sources: Google Business Profile, Wikipedia/Wikidata, official pages, public data, and many third-party sources. Therefore, updating the brand name on the website does not necessarily change the panel immediately. Response times can be long, and Google will prioritize sources they judge to be trustworthy. Additionally, if there are many sources that still use the old name (for example, old lists, newspaper pages, Wikidata that has not been updated), Google may keep the old information until a trusted source updates it.
What to do: Confirm the business profile on Google Business Profile is updated and verified; Update all other important places (Wikipedia, Wikidata, official newspaper site) if possible. Use structured data (Organization schema) on your website to inform Google about new names and variations. Avoid overusing "disavow" or link removal tools to solve this problem. If you are already a panel owner, use the "claim" function or suggest edits when possible. Finally, be patient: this change often takes time to spread through sources and be updated by Google.
5. The page displays the status Crawled - currently not indexed in Search Console, what should you do?
Answer: The status “Crawled - currently not indexed” means that Googlebot has accessed (crawled) that URL but is not currently indexed (index). Common causes include thin content, duplicate content, a page with canonical pointing to a different URL, a page that returns a header or meta robots instructing it not to index, or Google decides it shouldn't be indexed at this time because the content quality isn't good enough. It's important to understand that "resubmitting" an index request does not guarantee indexing - Google will decide based on quality and usefulness.
Processing steps: Use the URL Inspection tool to view crawl details and any notifications. Check robots meta, canonical, redirects (redirect) and HTTP code. Compare content with other pages on the site to avoid duplication. If the content is thin, expand the article with deeper information, unique data, real-life examples, and reliable references. Increase internal linking to that page to help Google understand that the page is valuable. Check the sitemap to make sure the URL appears there properly, but understand that the sitemap is just a suggestion. If everything is clear but still not indexed, check the server logs to see if Googlebot actually sees the page and if there are any errors during the loading process.
6. Robots.txt and URLs with commas: Does robots.txt block the encoded version?
Answer: Robots.txt is a crawl guidance mechanism, and the way crawlers handle special characters sometimes differs because of the complexity of the RFC standards for URLs and robots.txt. Some characters are considered "reserved" and require encoding, but characters such as commas may not be encoded by all parsers. Additionally, different crawlers may implement robots.txt parsing slightly differently. Therefore, using non-standard characters in URLs can cause inconsistencies, causing both browsers, social networks and crawlers to misinterpret the URL, leading to links not working or being truncated.
Recommendation: If possible, avoid using commas and strange characters in URLs. URL design should use safe characters such as letters, numbers, and dashes to ensure compatibility. If you can't change the URL structure, you need to experiment: use robots.txt tester to check whether the patterns you write actually block the encoded URL, and consider blocking encoding variations if necessary. Note that robots.txt only blocks crawling and does not necessarily prevent indexing altogether if there is another source pointing to that URL; To prevent indexing, use meta robots noindex on the page. In short, avoiding creating confusing URLs is the most sustainable way.
7. Is a sharp decrease in Googlebot download size a bad sign and what should be done?
Answer: Download size in the crawl report represents the average amount of data that Googlebot downloads for each request. Size reduction can be due to a variety of technical reasons that are not necessarily bad: the server may return better compressed content (gzip/deflate/brotli), the crawler may change the way it loads resources (e.g. less likely to load large images or JS files), or the CDN/edge configuration changes. If the size reduction is accompanied by 4xx/5xx errors or reduced SERP visibility, further investigation is needed. If the index and traffic remain stable, it is likely that Googlebot is crawling more efficiently and is not loading unnecessary resources.
How to check: Check the server logs at previous and subsequent times to see exactly what files Googlebot requested, the return size and the HTTP status code. Check for changes in content compression, Content-Encoding header, or CDN configuration. Make sure important resources like CSS/JS are not blocked by robots.txt and are still loaded successfully when accessed by Googlebot. If everything displays normally in Search Console and there are no negative index or ranking changes, there is usually no need to worry. If there are negative symptoms, use logs and debug tools (Fetch as Google/URL Inspection) to find specific differences.
8. Should structured data be added to be displayed in AI Overview?
Answer: Structured data (structured data, for example schema.org) helps Google better understand the structure and meaning of the content on the page. Typically structured data is not a direct ranking factor, but it helps Google display rich results and can increase the likelihood of content being selected for specific features. When it comes to "AI" features (e.g. model-aggregated summary cells), structured data can provide clear context and structured information that the system can use to understand and extract content; However, there is no guarantee that just because you attach a schema, you will be selected for the AI Overview.
Advice: If your content fits the schema types (Article, Product, Organization, FAQ, HowTo, etc.), implement it correctly and accurately. Ensure structured data accurately reflects the content presented to users and complies with Google's guidelines. Test with Structured Data Testing Tool/ Rich Results Test to ensure there are no errors. However, don't consider structured data as a "back door" to appear in AI - the deciding factor is still useful content, source reliability and context on the web. Combining both quality content and structured data is a reasonable approach.
9. Is it necessary to index both desktop and mobile versions when the URLs are different?
Answer: Some websites use separate URLs for desktop and mobile versions. In this case, Google now applies mobile-first indexing - meaning Google prioritizes crawling and ranking based on mobile content. So, the most important thing is to make sure Google can access and understand the mobile version.
Advice: The most sustainable way is to use responsive design (one URL for all devices) to avoid complications. If you must maintain two URLs, make sure you properly declare rel="alternate" / rel="canonical" between the two versions according to Google's guidelines, and ensure that the content on the mobile version is equivalent in terms of key information.
rel="alternate"refers to a different version of the same content (e.g. mobile, AMP, or language other).rel="canonical"is used to tell Google which official URL needs indexing priority when there are many duplicate or nearly identical pages. Check in Search Console to see which version Google is using for indexing. If you find that the desktop is not indexed and that is affecting desktop users, consider merging to responsive or ensuring the desktop also has crawlable content and is not blocked.
Valuable Lessons for SEOers
Through the 9 questions and answers in the Google Search Office Hours session, it can be seen that SEO is not a "fixed formula" or just revolves around technical optimization. Google continuously tests and adjusts algorithms and display features to meet searcher needs, while filtering out signals that are less useful or easily abused. This means that what works today may change tomorrow, and the SEOer's job is to always adapt quickly to those changes.
The lesson learned from this Q&A session is: focus on building quality content, consistent with search intent, maintain accuracy and reliability (E-A-T), and combine technical optimization to keep the website user-friendly use search engines. At the same time, don't depend entirely on an individual feature or trick, but consider SEO as an overall strategy, where every factor - content, technical, user experience and brand reputation - must be balanced and continuously reinforced.
With this approach, whether Google changes the algorithm, tests new features or adjusts rankings, your website still has a solid foundation to maintain and develop sustainable search traffic.
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