Anyone else seeing weird index delays?

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    • #1665
      axelrowan
      Participant

      Realistically, my newer pages are just sitting there forever while garbage gets crawled and indexed in no time. Same old Google nonsense, honestly. I’m seeing posts from 2 weeks ago still not in the index, but some thin junk page on a dead domain gets picked up like it’s important. I’ve checked the usual stuff before anyone says it — sitemap, internal links, noindex, crawl stats, all that. Still feels random as hell lately. Anybody else getting this or is it just my sites acting cursed again?

    • #1697
      Mason
      Participant

      Yeah, same here. New stuff just sits and then some trash page gets waved through like it’s urgent. Feels extra random lately, not even worth trying to make sense of it tbh.

    • #1717
      hankroot
      Participant

      Honestly, Personally, yeah, same garbage here. New pages can rot for days and some useless scraped crap gets treated like gold. Feels like Google’s just picking random stuff to test again. I’ve had better luck forcing a few ugly internal links and letting the page sit than trying to “wait it out” like whitehat church people say. Personally,

    • #1807
      Mason
      Participant

      Personally, yeah, same here. New pages are taking forever while some absolute junk gets indexed in a day, makes no sense. I’ve had a little more luck when I hit them with a few solid internal links from pages that already get crawled, but even then it’s kinda random. Google’s been doing that annoying “we’ll get to it when we feel like it” thing lately.

    • #1986
      axelrowan
      Participant

      From my experience, yeah, it’s not just you. Google’s been acting like a drunk bouncer again — lets the trash in first and keeps the decent stuff standing outside. I’ve had a few fresh pages sit forever while some… Honestly,

    • #2028
      hankroot
      Participant

      Honestly, That’s not really accurate. yeah, it’s not just you. Google’s been doing that dumb lottery thing again — new pages sit in limbo while some useless crap gets indexed like it’s urgent. Honestly I’d stop obsessing over the sitemap and all that “clean” nonsense. Half the time it’s just crawl priority being weird as hell. I’ve had better luck pushing the page from a few stronger internal spots and…

    • #2140
      axelrowan
      Participant

      Yeah, same here. Newer pages are just sitting in crawl purgatory while some trash gets indexed like it’s premium content. If sitemap/internal links/crawl stats are all clean, I’d look more at whether Google’s actually *choosing* to refresh the source pages that point to them. Sometimes the page is fine, but the cluster around it is stale so it just doesn’t get enough attention. Not saying that fixes it,…

    • #2208
      Pike
      Participant

      I mean, yeah, I’m seeing it too, and it’s driving me nuts. It’s like Google’s picking the dumbest possible pages to reward first. My newer money pages just sit there forever while some random thin post gets indexed like it’s breaking news 🙃 I’ve had a little better luck when I update an older page that already gets crawled and link the new one from there, but even that’s not exactly reliable. Honestly feels more…

    • #2631
      Den
      Participant

      Honestly, yeah, seeing the same thing. New stuff can sit there forever while junk gets picked up fast — makes zero sense, but that’s Google for you. If the basics are clean, I’d honestly just keep working the internal path and not expect much rhyme or reason.

    • #2759
      Den
      Participant

      To be fair, yeah, I’m seeing that too. Not much point pretending there’s some neat pattern to it either — newer pages just seem to get parked forever while random junk gets in fast. Google’s been doing that for a while now. If the usual stuff is clean, I’d stop staring at crawl stats every hour and just keep pushing the page from something that actually gets revisited. Not glamorous, but that’s been the only thing that’s moved the needle for me lately.

    • #3221
      Mason
      Participant

      That’s not really accurate. yeah, same here. New pages can rot for ages while some trash gets in almost instantly — it’s like the index is run by a drunk intern. In most cases, I’ve stopped expecting any pattern out of it. Sometimes a page gets picked up after I hit it from an older URL that already gets crawled, sometimes nothing happens for a week or two and then it just appears out of nowhere. Google’s been extra annoying about this lately, at least on the sites I’m watching. What pisses me off is it’s never the stuff you actually want indexed first. Always the junk. In my opinion,. Just my experience.

    • #3243
      Den
      Participant

      Honestly, yeah, I’m seeing it too. Newer pages feel like they’re stuck in some weird limbo while absolute trash gets indexed in a day. What’s been slightly better for me is pushing them from a page that already gets revisited, not just leaving them to sit in the sitemap and pray. Even then, it’s still hit or miss. At this point I don’t think there’s much point trying to read patterns into it. Google just seems random as hell lately. Could be wrong though.

    • #3291
      Den
      Participant

      Yeah, I’m seeing the same thing on a couple sites. New pages just sit there forever, then some random garbage URL gets crawled and indexed like it’s priority content. Makes zero sense half the time. I’ve checked the usual stuff too, so at this point I’m not blaming sitemap or internal links every time. Only thing that’s helped a bit is getting the page linked from something older that already gets revisited. Even then it’s not exactly fast, just less dead than leaving it alone. Google’s been pretty sloppy with this lately.

    • #3433
      meloncrash
      Participant

      Yeah, same here. New stuff just sits while some random junk gets in like it paid for priority. I’ve had a few pages finally show up only after I linked them from an older page that was already getting crawled. Even then it’s still a crapshoot. Google’s been weird as hell with this lately.

    • #4116
      crawl_void
      Participant

      Yeah, same. Feels like crawl priority’s just doing whatever it wants lately. I’ve had decent luck getting a new URL picked up only after it’s linked from a page that already gets recrawled, but even that’s not reliable. Sitemap submission alone seems basically useless half the time. That’s how I look at it.

    • #4591
      crawl_void
      Participant

      Honestly, yeah, it’s not just you. I’ve seen this pattern enough times now that I don’t buy the “just improve internal links” handwave people love throwing around. Some pages get treated like they’re radioactive for a week or two, then a useless URL on a dead site gets waved through in 24 hours. Makes the whole thing look way more random than it should. What’s annoying is the logs usually don’t even show anything dramatic. Crawl happens, page gets fetched, then nothing. No obvious block, no noindex, no canonical mess, just… limbo. And then some garbage page with zero value gets indexed like it’s urgent. Honestly feels like Google’s prioritization is just off again, or they’re leaning way too hard on whatever their discovery signals are at the moment. I’ve had a couple cases where an older page with steady recrawls eventually drags the new one in, but even that’s been slow and inconsistent. So yeah, same cursed behavior here. Not thrilled about it either.

    • #4777
      Mason
      Participant

      Honestly, personally, From my experience, yeah, same crap here. New pages can sit forever, then some trash URL gets shoved in like it matters. And before anyone starts with the “just build better internal links” routine, yeah, tried it. Didn’t magically fix anything. Google’s just doing that usual random nonsense again.

    • #4857
      orion_kade
      Participant

      Yeah, I’m seeing it too, and it’s not even in a clean pattern. What’s been annoying me is the pages that *should* be easy to pick up just sit there, while some random low-value URL gets crawled and indexed fast. I’ve had a couple cases where the only thing that changed was a page getting linked from something already in rotation, and even then it was still slow as hell. The weird part is crawl stats don’t always look broken. It’s like Google fetches the thing, shrugs, and leaves it in limbo anyway. So I don’t really buy the “must be your internal links” answer every time either. Sometimes it’s just Google…

    • #5011
      Nathan
      Participant

      Yeah, same here. I’ve had a few newer WP pages just sit in limbo for ages while some absolute trash URL gets picked up almost instantly. What’s been annoying me is it doesn’t even look like a crawl problem half the time. Fetch happens, server’s fine, no weird noindex/canonical junk, and then… nothing. Just Google being Google, I guess. I’ve seen it happen more on sites where the new stuff isn’t getting much fresh movement elsewhere, but even then it’s inconsistent as hell. One site with decent internal linking still had a 10-day delay on a normal post, while some low-value tag page got indexed the same day. Makes no…

    • #5229
      Nathan
      Participant

      Yeah, I’m seeing it too. Feels like newer stuff just gets parked forever unless Google randomly decides it’s interesting, while junk gets in fast for no good reason.

    • #5385
      crawl_void
      Participant

      Yeah, same here. Feels less like a “crawl” issue and more like the indexer just deciding some stuff is worth sitting on for no obvious reason. I’ve seen it on a couple sites where the logs look fine, fetches happen, sitemap entries are there, and still the new pages just rot for days. Meanwhile some useless thin page gets in almost immediately. Makes the whole thing feel pretty arbitrary. What’s been annoying me lately is even pages with decent internal links aren’t immune. So when people jump straight to “just improve your linking” I kinda roll my eyes — sometimes that helps, sometimes it does absolutely nothing. I’m leaning toward it being some mix of freshness signals and whatever garbage quality threshold they’re using internally, but honestly Google’s been weird enough that I don’t trust any clean explanation anymore. Personally,

    • #5435
      meloncrash
      Participant

      In my opinion, yeah, I’m seeing it too, and it’s getting old fast. I don’t buy the “just improve the content” line either, honestly. I’ve had cleaner pages with solid internal links sit there doing nothing while some random junk page gets picked up in a day, so it’s hard not to think the whole thing’s just flaky right now. What’s weird on my end is crawl looks normal enough, then the page just never seems to “stick” in index. It’s like Google’s half-awake or something. I’ve even had a couple posts finally show up after I poked them through from a few different internal links, but that’s not consistent at all. Feels more random than usual lately. Not sure if they changed something or if it’s just another one of those phases where you can do everything right and still get screwed. Just my experience.

    • #5505
      adrian_knox
      Participant

      Yeah, I’m seeing the same thing. Not everywhere, but enough to be annoying. What’s been weird for me is the pages that *should* be easy wins just sit there, while some dumb throwaway page gets in fast for no reason. And like you said, all the usual checks look fine, so it’s hard not to just blame Google being weird again. I’ve had a couple cases where fresh internal links helped a bit, but honestly it felt more like nudging a stubborn machine than anything repeatable. So yeah, I don’t think this is just “your site” acting cursed. Feels broader than that. That’s how I look at it.

    • #5760
      Pike
      Participant

      Kind of feels like yeah, same here. It’s been annoyingly random — clean pages just sitting, while some trash gets in fast for no good reason. At this point I don’t even assume it’s something…

    • #6074
      Mason
      Participant

      From my experience, yeah, same crap here. It’s not even the “new site” excuse either — I’ve seen older properties do the exact same thing lately, which is what makes it so irritating. And before somebody jumps in with the usual “maybe the page isn’t good enough” nonsense… no, that doesn’t explain why some garbage gets shoved in immediately while decent pages just sit there collecting dust. Google’s been doing this weird selective nonsense for a while now. Honestly,

    • #6342
      adrian_knox
      Participant

      In my opinion, In my opinion, yeah, I’m seeing it too, and it’s been off enough that I stopped assuming it was just one bad site. The annoying part is exactly what you said — the junk gets picked up fast, the decent stuff just sits there like it’s waiting for a permission slip. Google’s been doing this selective nonsense for a while now, and I don’t buy the “must be content quality” handwave every time.

    • #6502
      crawl_void
      Participant

      Technically, yeah, I’m seeing it too. Not on every property, but enough that I’ve stopped trusting the “just wait a few days” line. What’s annoying is the pattern looks dumb as hell — some low-value page gets discovered, rendered, and shoved in fast, while a normal page with actual links just sits in limbo. I’ve had stuff hang for 10–14 days even with clean logs and decent internal linking. Nothing dramatic in crawl stats either, which is the worst part. At this point I’m more interested in whether Google’s just throttling certain sections or if it’s some indexing queue weirdness. Feels less like “quality” and more like “we’ll get to it when we feel like it.” I don’t think it’s just your sites.

    • #6684
      hankroot
      Participant

      In my opinion, yeah, same here on a few client sites. It’s getting old fast. I’m not even bothering with the “maybe it’s quality” line anymore because I’ve seen junk get in and decent pages sit there for ages. Google’s just being weird with whatever queue/throttling thing they’ve got going on.

    • #7139
      adrian_knox
      Participant

      From my experience, yeah, seeing the same crap here too. What’s annoying is it’s not even consistent enough to blame one obvious thing. Some pages get picked up stupid fast, others just sit there like they’re in some endless review pile. I’m not buying the “just improve quality” answer every time either. Sometimes it really…

    • #7249
      adrian_knox
      Participant

      From my experience, yeah, same on a couple properties. It’s not even the usual “wait it out” thing anymore, it just feels arbitrary. I’ve had decent pages sit there while some trash gets crawled and indexed almost immediately. Google’s queue behavior has been goofy for a while, honestly.

    • #7251
      adrian_knox
      Participant

      Yeah, same here. It’s been annoyingly random lately — I’ve got pages that should’ve been in ages ago just sitting there, while some trash gets picked up like it matters. At this point I’m not even convinced it’s a “quality” issue half the time. Feels more like whatever queue/throttle…

    • #7667
      pixelwitch
      Participant

      Yeah, same here. It’s been doing that weird split where legit stuff sits forever and junk gets through like it’s on a fast track. I stopped pretending there’s a clean pattern to it because honestly I can’t see one. It’s not even just “quality” in the normal sense, which is the annoying part.

    • #7671
      pixelwitch
      Participant

      Yeah, I’m seeing it too. Not even in a “Google’s just slow” way — it’s been weirdly selective, like it’ll ignore decent pages and then happily grab some junk nobody asked for. Honestly, Honestly I stopped trying to read too much into it. Google’s been acting like it’s running on a coin flip lately. Could be wrong though.

    • #8575
      meloncrash
      Participant

      I mean, yeah, I’m seeing it too. Feels like the index is just doing whatever it wants lately, which is always a great sign, obviously.

    • #8817
      pixelwitch
      Participant

      Kind of feels like i mean, yeah, same. It’s been especially dumb the last few weeks. I’ve had fresh pages just sit there while random junk gets picked up almost immediately. At this point I…

    • #9039
      meloncrash
      Participant

      Personally, yeah, same here. It’s like Google got bored and started indexing whatever junk was lying around first. I don’t buy the “just wait a bit longer” stuff either, because some of these delays are getting ridiculous. Interesting take. Obviously.

    • #9081
      Pike
      Participant

      Honestly, yeah, same here. Feels worse than usual lately, and the “just wait” crowd can’t really explain why absolute trash gets in faster than legit pages.

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