Google is removing safe browsing from the criteria sites need to meet to benefit from the page experience ranking factor.
As a result of this change, Google is updating Search Console’s page experience report with a simplified design that removes redundant data.
Specifically, the safe browsing and ad experience widgets are getting dropped from the report. Google provides the rationale behind this decision in a blog post.
In addition, several fixes are being implemented to improve the way missing data is handled.
Here’s more about all the changes rolling out today.
Removing the Safe Browsing Widget
Google is removing the safe browsing widget from the page experience report because it is no longer a ranking signal.
The report was created to help SEOs understand how sites fare against signals that make up the page experience ranking factor.
Including safe browsing data in the report in the report isn’t necessary as it’s not used in rankings.
“Safe Browsing systems at Google are designed to keep users safe on the internet. Sometimes sites fall victim to third-party hijacking, which can cause Safe Browsing warnings to be surfaced.
We recognize that these issues aren’t always within the control of site owners, which is why we’re clarifying that Safe Browsing isn’t used as a ranking signal and won’t feature in the Page Experience report.”
Google Search Console will continue to report on safe browsing flags outside of the page experience report.
Removing the Ad Experience Widget
Google is removing the ad experience widget from Search Console to avoid surfacing the same information in multiple reports.
A standalone version of the ad experience report will remain available in Search Console, which identifies ad experiences that violate the Better Ads Standards.
Similar to safe browsing, the ad experience report is not a factor for the page experience ranking signal.
Additional Improvements
Google is updating the page experience report with several bug fixes and improvements, which include:
- Added a “No recent data” banner to the Core Web Vitals report and Page Experience report.
- Fixed a bug that caused the report to show “Failing HTTPS” when Core Web Vitals data was missing.
- Rephrased the empty state text in the Page Experience report and Core Web Vitals report.
As a reminder, Google’s page experience algorithm update started rolling out on June 15, 2021 and the rollout will be completed by August 31, 2021.
Source: Google Search Central Blog
