After nearly a decade of loyal service, Google has decided that it’s time to take Google Webmaster Tools (WMT) out the back of the potting shed and put it out of its misery…

But, unlike watching a re-run of Old Yeller on TCM, no tears need to be shed, as WMT is not so much being put down, as given a new collar and having its fur brushed prior to the big dog show!

According to Google, Webmaster Tools was originally intended as a high-end way for ‘Webmasters’ to communicate with Google (and Google with them) about issues with their website. However – let’s be honest here – the term ‘Webmaster’ is very 2005. And back in the 2005 the web was a completely different animal with My Space being the number one website on the net (yikes!).

These days of course the online digital landscape is not managed by ‘Webmasters’ but by small business owners, web designers, SEO experts, computer programmers, digital producers, et al. So it doesn’t come as a shock to discover that Google have today announced that they are going to rebrand Google Webmaster Tools as Google Search Console.

In their own words:

“We’re looking forward to an exciting future with Google Search Console, and hope to see users of all types—including webmasters—drop by and use our service to diagnose and improve the visibility of their content in search. We’ll be rolling out the updated branding across the product over the coming weeks, so stay tuned.”