Google Not indexing videos

[andrew19]

Hi

I published pages with videos in April 2022 and the videos were being indexed as shown by the Google Search Console.

Then in November 2022, I published 3 new web pages with videos and Google is not finding the video to index them.

I have updated some of the original video pages and the videos are now not being indexed.

I have contacted support but don't have a resolution.

The videos were set with autoplay disabled but I have changed it so they now automatically play.

Using Google Search Console I have tested the pages and the screen images show that it has found the video but it could not be opened.

Something has changed that did allow the video to be opened but is now stopping it from being opened.

Has anyone else seen this?

Does anyone know a resolution?

Thanks

Andrew

[andrew19]

Hi All

At the end of last year, Google again updated its Video algorithms which has again caused issues with indexing videos! 

I almost got to the point where all my videos were indexed but I am now back to square 1 with only 5 of my videos indexed, 12 not indexed and 2 videos not discovered.

Of the 12 videos not indexed, they are all using the same page template and video file format and settings.

I have heard Google expects videos to be hosted on YouTube has anyone seen this and has anyone fixed it?

Thanks

Andrew

[andrew19]

Hi

I believe something has changed either in HubSpot or with Google!

As I now have 17 of my 19 videos being indexed, with just one reporting an error.

Critically 3 videos I created in October last year have now been discovered and indexed.

The question is how, as I didn't make any changes!

What I can confirm is I have these settings on the videos 

{% video_player "embed_player" overrideable=False, type='scriptV4', hide_playlist=True, viral_sharing=False, embed_button=False, autoplay=False, hidden_controls=False 

I have highlighted the 2 settings that I think are important in achieving success, but they are from my observations. To set the type field to 'scriptV4', you will probably need to edit the code, as this is not the HubSpot default when you add a video.

Has anyone else seen any changes? 

Thanks

Andrew

[JOSullivan8]

Hi Andrew,

Did you ever get a resolution? I published a blog post recently with a video and the transcript. I submitted the page to Google for indexing. The page was indexed by the video was not indexed. Upon further investigation, I noticed Googlebot was blocked from indexing the video API link (see image). 

This begs the question, are videos using the Hubspot embed feature automatically blocked? 

[dsavage]

This is happening on my site as well. 

Same thing. GoogleBot is blocked by robots.txt 

[andrew19]

Hi @JOSullivan8 

I have a suspicion that it is something that HubSoot has done, as my original video pages that were indexed successfully were when HubSpot used Vidyard to hold videos, it then upgraded to the current method of managing videos.

All my video pages that are not indexed have been published since this update, I have raised this with support but was informed there was no problem! 

Clearly there is a problem, I will be interested to hear their response to the issue you have identified.

Thank you for sharing your experience and please keep me informed if you find a resolution.

Thanks 

Andrew

[andrew19]

Hi @JOSullivan8 

Following your note I have run some further tests on my pages to see if I also could see the blocking of Google by robots.txt, but I can see this comment on both indexed and none indexed videos. I can see that on successful video-indexed pages, you can see the video image and videos discovered but on failing pages, the thumbnail image is not displayed as it has been blocked.

Based on all my tests, HubSpots current advanced method of storing videos is causing the problem and is blocking something Google needs access to.

Thanks

Andrew

[JOSullivan8]

Hi @andrew19 Thanks for testing and sharing your observations.

I would like the video to appear in the SERPs. Perhaps, we should just host the videos on YouTube and embed them but this makes hubspot's video feature redundant. 

[andrew19]

Hi @JOSullivan8 

I have looked at using YouTube but that significantly increased the network traffic on my Webpage. So it wasn't the answer for me.

But I do think it is something in the HubSpot video code!

Please see my latest update as I am seeing progress are you?

Thanks 

Andrew

[JOSullivan8]

Hi @andrew19,

Yes, the video on my site is now indexed. It looks like Google picked it up on June 8th. 

Thanks for the followup here.

Regards

Jamie

[MrJustinGivens]

@andrew19 are you using HubSpot video embed or another platform?

[andrew19]

Hi @MrJustinGivens

I am using HubSpot embed videos.

Initially, they were set to autoplay False but I am currently testing set to True as Google has stated it doesn't want any user actions required to play the video.

Thanks

Andrew

[drewspotshubs]

Hey Andrew, 

I am having a similar issue. Did the autoplay setting help with yours?

[andrew19]

Hey @drewspotshubs 

Simple answer No.

I think it did fix an issue with a video Google had discovered and then reported issues with. But it has not fixed the issue with my other videos.

My sitemap has detailed 19 videos only 12 have been indexed, and a further 2 have errors but 5 have not been discovered.  

I have tried several suggestions made by HubSpot support but to no avail.

I am now waiting for further inspiration to resolve the problem!