Search Console Incorrectly Identifies WordPress Version and Recommends Update
-
Howdy, Moz fans,
Today I received four emails from Google Search Console recommending I update WordPress. The message reads, "Google has detected that your site is currently running WordPress 3.3.1, an older version of WordPress. Outdated or unpatched software can be vulnerable to hacking and malware exploits that harm potential visitors to your site. Therefore, we suggest you update the software on your site as soon as possible."
This is incorrect, however, since I've been on 4.3.1 for a while. 3.3.1 was never even installed since this site was created in September, 2015, so the initial WP Engine install was likely 4.3.
What's interesting is that it doesn't list the root URL as the problem source. The email states that it found that issue on a URL that is set up via WP Engine to 301 to a different site, which doesn't use WordPress. I also have other redirects set up to different pages on the second site that aren't listed in the Search Console email.
Anyone have any ideas as to what's causing this misidentification of WP versions? I am afraid that Google sees this as a vulnerability and is penalizing my site accordingly.
Thanks in advance!
-
I saw this for a client as well, who I know for sure isn't running WordPress at all. Personally, I think it's a Google mistake.
-
Thanks for that info, but I actually don't see a trace of 3.3.1 anywhere in my source code, so I'm still confused as to how it came up with that info. I do have a meta generator tag but it just contains a credit to Visual Composer.
The site is http://foam-roller.com.
-
Thanks for the response. It's interesting to me that Google doesn't penalize for vulnerabilities - you'd think it'd have some effect since it'd be in Google's best interest not to serve potentially insecure/malicious websites, just as SSL has a positive effect on rankings.
-
Peter is right, what I also wouldn't worry about is that you might get a penalty because of this. Google is very concerned about the security issues that Web sites might have and that's why they're alerting webmasters through Search Console that this is the case.
-
I also get notifications.
On first site in wp-content/uploads there was HTML file with this in header:
so checking works almost perfect. Just file was downloaded somewhere from other authors.
On second site Jooma was identified as 1.5 or less:
and this is correct. But wasn't hacked yet from creation like 5-6 years ago.
I think that this is part of their notifications about updates and pushing internet CMSes to latest versions. This isn't their first nor be last mail. Do you remember wp-timthumb notification? Do you remember Fancybox notification? Do you remember Revolution slider notification? What's equal in all cases? I know - one vulnerability and over 100k sites are at risk. And bad guys knows this and uses such vulnerability for black hat seo.
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
I have very good backlinks but not showing in search console?
hi, i have some editorial links from some sites, they are appearing in google search results even when i select verbatim, long story short-when will they show up in search console. are they indexed by google? if they are showing in search results , does that mean they will also show up in search console? i am confused.
White Hat / Black Hat SEO | | Sam09schulz0 -
Chinese search engine indexation
Hello, I have read that it is vital for a site to be indexed in Chinese search engines that it needs to be hosted in China on a server with a Chinese IP address, is this true? The site in question is a .cn site, hosted in USA currently, but served via CloudFlare (which has locations in China). Any advice on how to rank a Chinese site would be greatly appreciated, including if you know anyone who I can hire to create a Chinese sitemap file to submit to Chinese search engines (and even optimise the site). Many thanks,
White Hat / Black Hat SEO | | uworlds
Mark0 -
Penalty removing company recommendation?
We've got a manual penalty, not sitewide, that we've been trying to remove and keep getting our reconsideration request denied. We also do not have the manpower to manually check backlinks, contact domain owners, etc anymore. Does anyone have recommendations on a company to use?
White Hat / Black Hat SEO | | CFSSEO0 -
What is the difference between Positive Impact, No Impact, Negative Impact and Extremely Negative Impact in term of Google Update like panda or penguin etc.
What is the difference between Positive Impact, No Impact, Negative Impact and Extremely Negative Impact in term of Google Update like panda or penguin etc.
White Hat / Black Hat SEO | | dotlineseo0 -
Site Search external hosted pages - Penguin
Hi All, On the site www.myworkwear.co.uk we have a an externally hosted site search that also creates separately hosted pages of popular searches which rank in Google and create traffic. An example of this is listed below: Google Search: blue work trousers (appears on front page of Google) Site Champion Page: http://workwear.myworkwear.co.uk/workwear/Navy%20Blue%20Work%20Trousers Nearest Category page: http://www.myworkwear.co.uk/category/Mens-Work-Trousers-936.htm Could this be a penalisation or duplication factor? Could these be interpreted as a dodgy link factor? Thanks in advance for your help. Kind Regards, Andy Southall
White Hat / Black Hat SEO | | MarzVentures0 -
Identifying a Negative SEO Campaign
Hi A friend/clients site has recently dropped 2-3 pages (from an average #2 - #3 position on page 1 over last few months) for a primary target keyword & suspects a Neg SEO campaign hence asked me to look into it. I checked on Removeem and the KW does not generate a red (or even a pink) result. I looked at Ahrefs & MajSEO, backlinks and referring domains have dropped over the period the KW dropped hence presume i can be sure its not a neg campaign since this would show an opposite pattern (as per articles like this: http://moz.com/blog/to-catch-a-spammer-uncovering-negative-seo ) ? Also site has very few site wide backlinks. The keyword is a 3 word phrase with 2 of those words being in the domain and brand name hence presume such kw are relatively safe from neg seo campaigns anyway I would have presumed the backlink/ref-domain drop may well explain the ranking drop but site still in first field of view of page 1 for the other keyphrases which 2 out of the 3 are words are same as effected keyphrase (and also in the domain/brand name) so would have thought these would have dropped too if a neg campaign. Also many of the anchor texts in the disapeared backlinks are for one of the other partial match variant keyphrases which are still top of page 1. Anchor text is at 4.35% for the effected kw according to MajSEO Im pretty confident from the above that i can conclude no negative seo campaign has occurred, nor other type of penalty and probably just a 'wobble' at Google that may well right itself shortly Would appreciate feedback though from others that im concluding correctly just for confirmation ? Many Thanks Dan
White Hat / Black Hat SEO | | Dan-Lawrence1 -
Is it worth getting links from .blogspot.com and .wordpress.com?
Our niche ecommerce site has only one thing going for it: We have numerous opportunities on a weekly basis to get reviews from "mom bloggers". We need links - our domain authority is depressing. My concern is that these "mom bloggers" tend to have blogs that end with .blogspot.com or .wordpress.com. How do I screen for "reviewers" that are worth getting links from and how can I make the most of the community we have available to us?
White Hat / Black Hat SEO | | Wilkerson1 -
Blogspot or Wordpress.com Redirect?
I have multiple domains with the same registrar. Is there an SEO benefit to create complimentary blogs on blogspot, wordpress.com or other "free" blog sites and forward these domains with the purpose of backlinking to the main site?
White Hat / Black Hat SEO | | reeljerc0