Google broke SERP favicons and is rushing a fix

SEOGami

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Favicons have been dropping to the default globe in Google results for a bunch of sites this week. Google Search engineering confirmed it is on their side and they are pushing a fix.


A user pointed out that LinkedIn lost its icons and then Rajan Patel (Google VP of Search Engineering clarified that it was an issue at Google's end)

What broke

- Snippets showing the generic globe instead of the site icon
- Complaints spiked earlier this week across random niches
- Some properties came back already, others (LinkedIn is one example) still look broken
- Unique icons in the SERP can help a listing stand out, so a globe is not just cosmetic

What Google said

- Rajan Patel (Search engineering) called it an issue on their end
- They say they identified it and are addressing it as fast as they can
- No public timeline beyond that, and it has been close to a week

What I would check

- Incognito SERPs for brand and money queries, not just Search Console
- Desktop and mobile, because the globe can show on one and not the other
- Whether your icon file still resolves and matches what you had in the markup
- Do not rip out a working favicon setup while they are still patching their crawler or cache

Anyone still seeing the globe on money pages, or did yours snap back already?

P.S - Once again, as you can see I read and consume a lot of SEO content. I share here what I find important. Mods and other members if this sounds spammy or is too much let me know and I'll stop :)
 
this affects one of my websites for a while
but i'm not a linkedin CEO to receive express attention
 
this affects one of my websites for a while
but i'm not a linkedin CEO to receive express attention

I actually published a brand new network of sites day before yesterday. Added to GSC, the first crawl hit last night. And most of today was spent in mild panic see why Google refused to see the favicon... until I came across this.

Let's start our own Linkedin man.
 
but i'm not a linkedin CEO to receive express attention

Sounds exactly like something the CEO of LinkedIn would say on a Blackhat forum
 
Favicons have been dropping to the default globe in Google results for a bunch of sites this week. Google Search engineering confirmed it is on their side and they are pushing a fix.


A user pointed out that LinkedIn lost its icons and then Rajan Patel (Google VP of Search Engineering clarified that it was an issue at Google's end)

What broke

- Snippets showing the generic globe instead of the site icon
- Complaints spiked earlier this week across random niches
- Some properties came back already, others (LinkedIn is one example) still look broken
- Unique icons in the SERP can help a listing stand out, so a globe is not just cosmetic

What Google said

- Rajan Patel (Search engineering) called it an issue on their end
- They say they identified it and are addressing it as fast as they can
- No public timeline beyond that, and it has been close to a week

What I would check

- Incognito SERPs for brand and money queries, not just Search Console
- Desktop and mobile, because the globe can show on one and not the other
- Whether your icon file still resolves and matches what you had in the markup
- Do not rip out a working favicon setup while they are still patching their crawler or cache

Anyone still seeing the globe on money pages, or did yours snap back already?

P.S - Once again, as you can see I read and consume a lot of SEO content. I share here what I find important. Mods and other members if this sounds spammy or is too much let me know and I'll stop :)

Why are you concerned about this? They will fix it if they haven't already done...
 
Yes that was a bug and related to Google update which rollout and completed on 21st Aug 2026. This is the second time I experienced the disappearance of favicon of my website from SERP. Last time also same thing occurred with my website's favicon during a Google update. We can assume that this is related to Google update.
 
good heads up… easy to waste hours “fixing” your favicon when nothing is wrong on your side. if the file still loads fine i’d just leave it alone and wait for google to sort it
 
I’d leave the favicon setup alone if it was working before this started

If Google has already confirmed the issue is on their side then changing the favicon files or markup could just create another variable while they are fixing it

I’d check a few important searches from mobile and desktop and see if the issue is consistent across different pages

The interesting part is that the favicon actually has some practical value even though it’s not an SEO ranking factor because a recognizable icon can make your result easier to notice compared with a page showing the generic globe

I’d wait for the fix before making any changes unless the favicon is also broken when you visit the site directly
 
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