Starting on January 24, 2022 and currently still ongoing, Google said there was a “logging issue” with Google “Search data for images” which may result in a drop in the number of clicks and impressions you see in your Google Search Console Performance reports for images. This is just a reporting issue and has no impact on actual rankings or Google Search traffic.
The issue. Google wrote “Search data for images is affected by a logging issue that might cause you to see a drop in clicks and impressions for images on your site in the Performance report.” This issue started on Monday, January 24, 2022 and is still ongoing.
Working on a fix. Google said the the search company is “working on resolving this issue.”
No impact in Google Search. Google confirmed that this “issue is a logging issue only.” Google added that “it does not reflect a drop in either user behavior or search results on Google.”
Why we care. If you see a drop in clicks and impressions for your image searches in the performance reports, this is a logging bug and not likely a ranking issue. Please annotate your reports and communicate these issues to your stakeholders.
New on Search Engine Land
About The Author
Barry Schwartz a Contributing Editor to Search Engine Land and a member of the programming team for SMX events. He owns RustyBrick, a NY based web consulting firm. He also runs Search Engine Roundtable, a popular search blog on very advanced SEM topics. Barry’s personal blog is named Cartoon Barry and he can be followed on Twitter here.