Google Search Console Discover Report Flatlining - Might Be A Reporting Bug
June 08, 2025
Google Search Console Discover Report Flatlining - Might Be A Reporting Bug
Got it! Here’s a draft of a 600-word article for your website NewsNest UK, titled:
Google Search Console Discover Report Flatlining – Might Be a Reporting Bug
If you're a website owner or SEO professional who closely monitors Google Search Console (GSC), you may have noticed something strange in the Discover performance report lately: a sudden drop or complete flatlining of Discover traffic. This unexpected change, especially when site content hasn’t shifted and engagement seems normal, has raised alarms across the SEO community. But is this really a sign of a penalty or content issue—or just another reporting bug?
What Is Google Discover?
Google Discover is a personalized content feed presented to users primarily on mobile devices via the Google app or Chrome browser. It surfaces articles based on user interests, search history, and engagement patterns—often driving large amounts of traffic to publishers. Unlike regular search traffic, Discover relies heavily on how "interesting" and relevant Google thinks your content is to the individual user.
Because of its algorithmic nature, traffic from Discover can be volatile, but when it flatlines completely, that’s a red flag.
The Issue: Discover Traffic Reporting Flatlines
Over the past several weeks (as of June 2025), many publishers and SEOs have reported a sharp drop—or total disappearance—of Discover data in the GSC “Performance > Discover” section. Some are seeing zero impressions and clicks, despite maintaining a regular content schedule, and despite continued visibility on other analytics platforms.
In many of these cases, affected sites still show traffic coming from Google Discover according to tools like Google Analytics, indicating that the issue might not be with actual traffic—but rather with how it’s being reported.
Evidence of a Reporting Bug?
This wouldn’t be the first time GSC experienced data lags or bugs. In fact, Google has acknowledged reporting issues in the past, especially involving Discover. There are several reasons to believe this is a reporting error:
- Continued Traffic Elsewhere: Analytics tools still record traffic from Discover sources.
- No Manual Actions or Penalties: Affected sites typically see no new warnings or penalties in GSC.
- Widespread Impact: Reports are coming from various regions and industries, suggesting this isn’t an isolated case.
- No Content Changes: Many sites experiencing this issue have continued their usual publishing cadence, without any drop in content quality or relevance.
What Google Has Said So Far
As of now, Google has not made an official announcement regarding a bug in the Discover report. However, in the past, similar glitches have occurred, with Google confirming delays or reporting gaps only after community pressure builds. In April 2024, a similar dip happened, later confirmed to be a temporary issue with GSC’s reporting pipeline.
Given this history, there’s a good chance this could be a bug or a backend change that’s affecting visibility in the GSC UI but not actual performance.
What You Can Do
While waiting for Google to clarify the situation, here’s what you can do:
- Don’t Panic: If your other analytics tools still show Discover traffic, it’s likely not a performance issue.
- Check Other Metrics: Use Google Analytics or similar tools to verify if Discover-sourced traffic is truly down or just not reflected in GSC.
- Monitor SEO Communities: Platforms like X (Twitter), Reddit (r/TechSEO), and SEO Slack groups often catch wind of such bugs early.
- Keep Publishing: Avoid making drastic changes to your content strategy based on incomplete data.
- Submit Feedback to Google: Use the feedback tool in GSC to report the anomaly, which may help escalate the issue internally.
Final Thoughts
While a flatlining Discover report in GSC can be concerning, the current evidence leans toward a reporting glitch rather than a site-level issue. Keep an eye on your traffic through other tools, continue creating high-quality, engaging content, and stay connected with the SEO community for updates.
If this is indeed a reporting bug, it wouldn't be the first—and certainly won't be the last. Patience, data verification, and ongoing monitoring are your best tools until Google provides clarification.
Let me know if you'd like this tailored to a specific niche (like news publishers, lifestyle bloggers, etc.) or optimized further for SEO.
