# Google Search at I/O 2018

> [!IMPORTANT]
> It's been a while since we published this blog post. Some of the information may be outdated (for example, some images may be missing, and some links may not work anymore).

Thursday, June 07, 2018


With the eleventh annual [Google I/O](https://events.google.com/io/)
wrapped up, it's a great time to reflect on some of the highlights.

## What we did at I/O


The event was a wonderful way to meet many great people from various communities across the globe,
exchange ideas, and gather feedback. Besides many great
[web sessions](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FglWLLA4g-s),
[codelabs](https://codelabs.developers.google.com/codelabs/structured-data/index.html?index=../../index#0),
and office hours, we shared a few things with the community in two
sessions specific to Search:

- [Deliver search-friendly JavaScript-powered websites](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFwUbgvpdaQ) with John Mueller and Tom Greenaway
- [Build a successful web presence with Google Search](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NO-sdBzb1Hc) with Mariya Moeva and John Mueller

![Mariya Moeva and John Mueller on stage at Google I/O](https://developers.google.com/static/search/blog/images/import/4b520b62416053c25b3a5d8978ecc7b7.png)


The sessions included the launch of JavaScript error reporting in the
[Mobile Friendly Test tool](https://search.google.com/test/mobile-friendly),
dynamic rendering (we will discuss this in more detail in a future post), and an explanation of
how CMS can use the Indexing and Search Console APIs to provide users with insights. For example,
Wix lets their users
[submit their home page to the index](https://youtu.be/FBG3-pwMFxU?t=1m22s)
and see it in Search results instantly, and Squarespace created a
[Google Search keywords report](https://support.squarespace.com/hc/en-us/articles/360001014647)
to help webmasters understand what prospective users search for.


During the event, we also presented the
[new Search Console](https://search.google.com/search-console) in the
Sandbox area for people to try and were happy to get a lot of positive feedback, from people being
excited about the
[AMP Status report](https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/7450883)
to others exploring how to improve their content for Search.

## Hands-on codelabs, case studies and more


We presented the
[Structured Data Codelab](https://codelabs.developers.google.com/codelabs/structured-data/index.html?index=../../index#0)
that walks you through adding and
[testing structured data](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/advanced/structured-data).
We were really happy to see that it ended up being one of the top 20 codelabs by completions at
I/O. If you want to learn more about the benefits of using Structured Data, check out our
[case studies](https://developers.google.com/search/case-studies).
![Hallway discussions at Google I/O](https://developers.google.com/static/search/blog/images/import/f30c5258e9540cc58e99add6cb232c61.png)


During the in-person office hours we saw a lot of interest around HTTPS,
[mobile-first indexing](https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2018/03/rolling-out-mobile-first-indexing), AMP,
and many other topics. The in-person Office Hours were a wonderful addition to our monthly
[Webmaster Office Hours hangout](https://developers.google.com/search/events/join-office-hours).
The questions and comments will help us adjust our documentation and tools by making them clearer
and easier to use for everyone.

## Highlights and key takeaways


We also repeated a few key points that web developers should have an eye on when building
websites, such as:

- Indexing and rendering don't happen at the same time. We may defer the rendering to a later point in time.
- Make sure the content you want in Search has metadata, correct HTTP statuses, and the intended canonical tag.
- Hash-based routing (URLs with `#`) should be deprecated in favour of the JavaScript History API in Single Page Apps.
- Links should have an `href` attribute pointing to a URL, so Googlebot can follow the links properly.


Make sure to
[watch this talk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFwUbgvpdaQ) for
more on indexing, dynamic rendering and troubleshooting your site. If you wanna learn more about
things to do as a CMS developer or theme author or Structured Data,
[watch this talk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NO-sdBzb1Hc).


We were excited to meet some of you at I/O as well as the
[global I/O extended events](https://events.google.com/io/extended/)
and share the latest developments in Search. To stay in touch, join the
[Webmaster Forum](https://support.google.com/webmasters/community/)
or follow us on
[Twitter](https://twitter.com/googlesearchc),
[Google+](https://plus.google.com/+googlewebmasters), and
[YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/@GoogleSearchCentral).

Posted by [Martin Splitt](https://developers.google.com/search/blog/authors/martin-splitt), Webmaster Trends Analyst