Preliminary data

Google does not finish counting a day straight away. For the last two or three days, Search Console shows numbers that are still incomplete. They look lower than the truth, and they get corrected upward as Google catches up. That is not a drop in your traffic.

How the chart shows it

• The last few days are drawn as a dotted line instead of a solid one.
• A hatched area sits behind them, with the word Preliminary at the top right.
• The key above the chart has a hatched square labeled Preliminary.

What to do

• Do not worry about a dip at the far right edge. Check again in a couple of days.
• Be careful when you compare a range that ends on these days. Their totals are included in your number cards and tables as they stand, so recent ranges can look a little lower than they will end up.
• On a weekly or monthly chart the last point (the current, unfinished week or month) is treated as unfinished because it contains at least one unfinished day. The line leading to it is dotted. The hatch is barely visible there, but the “Preliminary” label and key entry still appear.
• The 7-day average includes the unfinished days, so its right-hand end can bend down a little.

Where else you see it. The sites page only uses final days, so its 28-day figures stop a few days before today. See Your sites page.

Plans. The same on Free and Pro.