Google updates Page Experience ranking signals

Posted by Edith MacLeod on 9 Aug, 2021
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Safe Browsing dropped as Page Experience ranking signal in an update to the report in Search Console.

Page Experience updated.

Google last week announced an update to the Page Experience report in what it says is a measure to simplify the report.  Safe Browsing is dropped as a ranking signal and the Ad Experience widget has also been removed.

“Today, we’re launching a new version that simplifies the report by removing the Safe Browsing and Ad Experience widgets from the Page Experience report, and fixes on how missing data is handled.“

This is the updated diagram of Page Experience signals:

Page Experience signals.

You can see the old version of the graphic here.

Safe Browsing

Google says it recognises that sites can fall victim to 3rd party actions which aren’t within the control of site owners and which can cause Safe Browsing warnings to show. This is why Safe Browsing has been dropped.

“...we're clarifying that Safe Browsing isn't used as a ranking signal and won’t feature in the Page Experience report. Any Safe Browsing flags will continue to be surfaced in the Search Console outside of the Page Experience report.“

Ad Experience widget

The Ad Experience report was not used as a factor for page experience, and is being removed to avoid duplication of the information in different parts of Search Console. Its removal doesn’t affect a site’s Page Experience status and the Ad Experience report continues to be available as a standalone tool.  

Missing data

Google is also rolling out the following improvements to the way the report handles missing data:

  • 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.

The Page Experience update has been rolling out since 15 June and is expected to complete at the end of August.

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