Out with the old, in with the new
Stay organized with collections
Save and categorize content based on your preferences.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
We launched a
preview of our new Webmaster Tools interface three weeks ago,
and received a lot of valuable feedback. Most of you liked the update, appreciating features such
as the one-stop dashboard, more top search query data, and the improved menu and navigation.
You offered some constructive feedback as well:
-
You missed the option to switch listing 25, 50, or 100 rows in features such as links to your
site. We did not add the option back to select how many rows you would like to see but increased
our default to 100!
-
Top search query information differed between the old and new versions. We expected this since
we went through a lot of re-engineering to improve the new top search queries backend. We
reviewed many of the issues posted on our forums, and verified that the new backend is far more
accurate and reliable.
-
Initially, the Sitemaps downloaded and indexed URL counts differed between the two versions. We
resolved this issue quickly.
-
Backlinks numbers between the old and the new user interface (UI) may differ since our new UI
shows the original anchor (not following redirects) as it's linked on the web. Let's say
example.com links to https://google.com, then https://google.com
301 redirects to https://www.google.com/:
-
In the new UI—only verified site owners of google.com will see examples.com's
backlink (because we show the original link prior to any redirects)
-
In the old UI—verified site owners of www.google.com could see example.com's backlink
-
The new site switcher lists only five sites, and some of you who manage a large number of sites
found this limiting. We appreciate the feedback and will work on addressing this limitation in a
future release.
From today, only the new user interface will be available
(https://google.com/webmasters/tools)!
You'll see that in addition to fixing many of the issues users addressed, we took some time to
launch a new feature:
Change of Address.
The Change of Address feature lets you notify Google when you are moving from one domain to
another, enabling us to update our index faster and hopefully creating a smoother transition for
your users.
Thanks to all the users that took time to give us feedback on the new user interface. To those
users using it for the first time today, we hope you enjoy it. As always,
your feedback
is appreciated.
Posted by Sagar Kamdar, Product Manager, Webmaster Tools Team
Except as otherwise noted, the content of this page is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License, and code samples are licensed under the Apache 2.0 License. For details, see the Google Developers Site Policies. Java is a registered trademark of Oracle and/or its affiliates.
[null,null,[],[[["\u003cp\u003eGoogle launched a new Webmaster Tools interface with an improved dashboard, more search query data, and better navigation.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eGoogle addressed user feedback by increasing default row listings to 100, improving search query accuracy, resolving Sitemap URL count discrepancies, and clarifying backlink display logic.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe new interface features a "Change of Address" tool to help website owners notify Google about domain changes for faster indexing and smoother user transitions.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eGoogle encourages users to continue providing feedback on the new interface for ongoing improvements.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],["The new Webmaster Tools interface, launched three weeks prior, is now the only available version. Key updates include an increased default to 100 rows for listings and a more accurate top search query backend. Differences in backlink numbers between the old and new UIs were addressed, along with resolving URL count discrepancies. A new \"Change of Address\" feature was added, allowing users to notify Google of domain moves for faster indexing. User feedback led to these changes.\n"],null,["# Out with the old, in with the new\n\nThursday, June 11, 2009\n\n\nWe launched a\n[preview of our new Webmaster Tools interface three weeks ago](/search/blog/2009/04/spring-time-design-refresh),\nand received a lot of valuable feedback. Most of you liked the update, appreciating features such\nas the one-stop dashboard, more top search query data, and the improved menu and navigation.\n\nYou offered some constructive feedback as well:\n\n- You missed the option to switch listing 25, 50, or 100 rows in features such as links to your site. We did not add the option back to select how many rows you would like to see but increased our default to 100!\n- Top search query information differed between the old and new versions. We expected this since we went through a lot of re-engineering to improve the new top search queries backend. We reviewed many of the issues posted on our forums, and verified that the new backend is far more accurate and reliable.\n- Initially, the Sitemaps downloaded and indexed URL counts differed between the two versions. We resolved this issue quickly.\n- Backlinks numbers between the old and the new user interface (UI) may differ since our new UI shows the original anchor (not following redirects) as it's linked on the web. Let's say example.com links to https://google.com, then https://google.com `301` redirects to https://www.google.com/:\n - In the new UI---only verified site owners of google.com will see examples.com's backlink (because we show the original link prior to any redirects)\n - In the old UI---verified site owners of www.google.com could see example.com's backlink\n- The new site switcher lists only five sites, and some of you who manage a large number of sites found this limiting. We appreciate the feedback and will work on addressing this limitation in a future release.\n\n\nFrom today, only the new user interface will be available\n(\u003chttps://google.com/webmasters/tools\u003e)!\nYou'll see that in addition to fixing many of the issues users addressed, we took some time to\nlaunch a new feature:\n[Change of Address](https://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?answer=83106).\nThe Change of Address feature lets you notify Google when you are moving from one domain to\nanother, enabling us to update our index faster and hopefully creating a smoother transition for\nyour users.\n\n\nThanks to all the users that took time to give us feedback on the new user interface. To those\nusers using it for the first time today, we hope you enjoy it. As always,\n[your feedback](https://support.google.com/webmasters/community)\nis appreciated.\n\nPosted by Sagar Kamdar, Product Manager, Webmaster Tools Team"]]
