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The new evergreen Googlebot
Tuesday, May 07, 2019
Googlebot is the crawler that visits web pages to include them within Google Search index. The
number one question we got from the community at events and social media was if we could make
Googlebot evergreen with the latest Chromium. Today, we are happy to announce that Googlebot now
runs the latest Chromium rendering engine (74 at the time of this post) when rendering pages for
Search. Moving forward, Googlebot will regularly update its rendering engine to ensure support for
latest web platform features.
What that means for you
Compared to the previous version, Googlebot now supports 1000+ new features, like:
You should check if you're transpiling or use polyfills specifically for Googlebot and if so,
evaluate if this is still necessary. There are still some limitations, so check our
troubleshooter for JavaScript-related issues
and the
video series on JavaScript SEO.
Any thoughts on this? Talk to us on
Twitter, the
webmaster forums,
or join us for the online office hours.
Posted by
Martin Splitt, friendly internet
fairy at the Webmasters Trends Analyst 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,[],[[["Googlebot has been updated to use the latest Chromium rendering engine, ensuring better support for modern web features."],["This update brings support for over 1000 new features, including ES6+ JavaScript, IntersectionObserver, and Web Components v1 APIs."],["Website owners should review their use of transpiling and polyfills specifically targeting Googlebot, as they may no longer be needed."],["For troubleshooting JavaScript-related SEO issues, consult Google's resources like the JavaScript troubleshooter and the JavaScript SEO video series."]]],["Googlebot now uses the latest Chromium rendering engine (version 74), with plans for regular updates to support new web platform features. This update brings over 1000 new features, including ES6+ JavaScript support and Web Components v1 APIs. Developers should review their use of transpiling or polyfills for Googlebot to see if they're still required. Resources for troubleshooting JavaScript issues and further learning are provided. Feedback can be shared via Twitter, webmaster forums, or online office hours.\n"]]
