[Updated] Google Alerts (RSS feed) not working issue escalated to Search team

New updates are being added at the bottom of this story…….

Original story (published on October 19, 2021) follows:

Google Alerts, the content change detection and notification service, is a valuable tool to receive updates on what is being discussed on a specific topic. However, Google Alerts has some problems and is not working for some users.

Google support forums have been filled with multiple reports related to the malfunction of the service. The situation seems to have started in the last week.

Google Alerts allows users to set certain specific search terms. When these terms are found by the service in web pages, newspaper articles, blogs, or scientific research, the user receives a notification by mail.

But now, multiple reports indicate that notifications have stopped. Users are not receiving alerts about the search terms set, which is a major drawback.

Anyway, it seems that Google is already aware. In one of the user reports in the support forums, a Google product expert replied that the whole matter has already been escalated to Google Search team for further investigation.

Unfortunately, it seems Google isn’t solving the issue as quickly as users would like. The issue was escalated 4 days ago, however, the Google Alerts service is still not working (1, 2, 3, 4, 5).

Despite the escalation, we haven’t come across any official statement from the company (1, 2, 3, 4). Therefore, as of today, it is not known how long this problematic error will take to be fixed.

Alerts is a very useful service to keep us abreast of what is being discussed on a specific topic. This can be configured according to our needs to obtain the most relevant information.

People in charge of a business can get key details to help improve it. They will know when their company name is mentioned on websites or customers comment about them. It also allows them to keep an eye on their competitors.

News page webmasters can also use Google Alerts. The service will notify them when a topic of interest they are following receives updates. In the same way, it also helps them know what people think about their website.

For the moment, we can only wait for Google to offer updates on the situation, hopefully, sooner than later.

04:55 pm (IST): A Google Community manager has confirmed that the issue with Alerts should now be resolved.

Thank you so much for your feedback. The Google Alerts issue is now resolved. (Source)

11:42 pm (IST): According to fresh reports (1, 2, 3, 4, 5), Google Alerts are currently not working for a section of users.

Fortunately, a product expert has acknowledged this issue has said that it has been escalated to the team for investigation.

06:20 pm (IST): Even though the Google team claims that the issue has been resolved, the latest reports (1,2,3) suggest that some users are still not getting the alerts.

Article by Jean Leon

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