At the end of May, towards the first weeks of June 2025, Google has deindexed a massive number of webpages across the internet. One of the sites I am working on has also been hit with this widespread issue. Let’s talk about what’s really happening behind the scenes.
What is Happening?
Several individuals have enquired whether Google has been indexing fewer pages on websites since late May, and the reports are flooding in from SEO professionals worldwide. This isn’t an isolated incident affecting just a handful of sites – we’re looking at what appears to be one of the most significant deindexing events in recent years.
Is Google working on something behind the scenes to improve their search index that would explain this mass deindexing? The timing suggests this could be related to several factors. And no, I am not facing this alone. Most pages are being deindexed across various niches and industries. So if you are an SEO person, you might want to check on Search Console right now and see what’s happening to your properties.
What’s particularly interesting is that on the flip side, the deindexing has not significantly affected impressions and clicks for many sites. This tells us something crucial: Google is specifically targeting and deindexing sites it deems low quality or irrelevant. This aligns perfectly with Google’s E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) standards, which have become increasingly important in 2025.
The pattern suggests Google is being more selective about what deserves to be in its index, rather than simply crawling and indexing everything it finds. This is a quality-over-quantity approach that has been building momentum since the major algorithm updates of 2024.
For the affected pages, most of them will be found under ‘crawled – currently not indexed’ and ‘discovered – currently not indexed’.
What to Do: The Recovery Plan
If your site is affected, here are the possible issues causing the deindexing based on what I have gathered from analysing multiple affected sites and from sources across the internet:
1. Keyword Stuffing (Especially on Service Pages)
Google has become incredibly sophisticated at detecting unnatural keyword usage. Service pages that read like they were written for robots rather than humans are getting hit hard. The old practice of cramming keywords into every paragraph is not just ineffective – it’s now actively harmful.
2. Your Content is Out of Date
Some of my deindexed pages haven’t been updated in almost 2 years. Google wants fresh, relevant content that serves current user needs. If your content hasn’t been refreshed, updated, or expanded to reflect current information and trends, it’s likely to be deprioritised or completely removed from the index.
3. Content Overlap and Thin Content
Pages that don’t offer unique value or have significant overlap with other content on your site are prime targets. Google doesn’t want to waste crawl budget on duplicate or near-duplicate content that doesn’t serve users.
4. Internal Linking Issues
Poor internal linking structure can signal to Google that pages aren’t important to your site’s overall topic authority. Pages that are orphaned or poorly connected to your site’s main content themes are more likely to be deindexed.
The Recovery Process
For starters, check on these issues systematically, fix them properly, and then resubmit your pages for indexing again. I did exactly that across multiple sites – on one site, Google picked it back up in a few hours, and on another, it took several days. The key difference was the extent of the quality improvements made.
Critical point: You shouldn’t be resubmitting without doing the comprehensive fixes first. You need to rebuild topical authority, and Google should be finding your pages from links in other pages within your site. This gives your content both authority and proper context within your site’s overall theme.
The Way Forward: What This Means for SEO
If you are in SEO, this should be a serious wake-up call about all the changes Google is implementing to improve the search index, especially considering all the buzz around AI overviews potentially hurting traditional SEO.
The AI Connection
Google’s document calls it a useful tool, but one that can be abused when referring to generative AI content. Google wants real value for users. Not fluff. Not copied facts. and not ‘articles’ that don’t provide genuine insights.
Other credible speculations suggest that Google is strategically deindexing these low-quality pages so that it can train its AI models on higher-quality data as zero-click SEO continues gaining traction. This makes sense from a business perspective – why would Google want to feed poor-quality content into systems that will be representing search results to users?
Quality Over Quantity Era
Google’s ranking systems aim to reward original, high-quality content that demonstrates qualities of what we call E-E-A-T: expertise, experience, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness. This recent deindexing event reinforces that Google is serious about these quality guidelines.
The message is clear: the era of mass-produced, low-effort content is over. Google is actively cleaning house, and only content that genuinely serves users will survive in the index. This isn’t just about avoiding penalties – it’s about earning the right to be discoverable in search results.
Preparing for the Future
Moving forward, focus on creating content that demonstrates:
- Real experience with the topics you’re covering
- Genuine expertise that goes beyond surface-level information
- Authoritativeness backed by credible sources and proven track record
- Trustworthiness through accurate, up-to-date, and user-focused content
The sites that recover fastest from this deindexing event will be those that embrace these principles rather than trying to game the system.
Final Thoughts
We’re still waiting for Google’s official confirmation on the matter, but the patterns are clear. This deindexing event represents a significant shift in how Google approaches content quality and index management.
For businesses and content creators, this is an opportunity to refocus on what truly matters: creating valuable, authoritative content that serves real user needs. The short-term pain of deindexing could lead to long-term gains for those willing to invest in genuine quality.
On a side note, if you’re looking for an SEO expert to help navigate these changes and recover from deindexing issues, Proworks SEO is the one-stop place for you. We offer comprehensive SEO services at affordable prices, with a focus on sustainable, quality-driven strategies.
And if you are just getting started with SEO, check out my insights page – you might learn something useful about adapting to Google’s evolving standards.
Leave a Reply