March 2008 Google SERP Changes

[FromRocky]

< continued from [webmasterworld.com...] >

I have noticed that the numbers of indexed URLs from the sitemaps of my main site have been steadily reduced in the last two days. The reduction rate is about 5% per day. This drop takes place in all sub-directories and also shows on the results of a site command search. However, it seems that the fully indexed pages are not affected. Does anyone experience this?

[eljacko]

Just noticed something very strange on Google. I just done a search for my site under a search term and spotted it at 20. 30 seconds later done the same search and it was no where to be found.

Anyone else getting this?

[soxos]

Are you searching using the Google tool bar and then the main google page? Just might be worth being sure you are using the same search, i've done it myself before.

[tedster]

30 seconds later done the same search and it was no where to be found.

This can happen when your search gets routed to a different data center. More information here:

How Do I Know Which Google Center I am Looking At [webmasterworld.com]

[eljacko]

I think it's the same thin tedster, but which shall I take as a tru reading?

[tedster]

Today, there is no single "true" reading. Google results come in a wide variety due to geo-location, data center variation, browser specific testing, and probably a host of other things. Some searches are shuffled around more than others are, but they're all truly Google results.

[eljacko]

tried the other dc's and found it nowhere for that term. Will give it a try tomorrow and see if it comes back again.

Can it be the page?

[HuskyPup]

Compared to average my traffic is down about 1/3 today. Pages that have ranked #1 since the inception of Google are bouncing about all over the first 3 pages and the #1 results seem to change every time I look.

Pathetic and ridiculous, this is no way to run a business let alone a search engine!

[Lovejoy]

Hi HuskyPup,

I'm seeing the same thing here as well, and I have no idea what they are doing. Right now The #1 site for my main keywords is a big image map type page, has no incoming links, five pages, no meta description or meta keywords.......

Lovejoy

[Lovejoy]

Now I'm really confused, first my site disappears, and now I can't login to adsense, it keeps returning me to the login page asking me to sign up for an account! Even though I've had one for almost three years now.I I have not received any notification of a cancellation of my account, or any email at all from Google. This is getting weirder and weirder..........

[venti]

Traffic started going on Saturday (about 25%).

[eljacko]

I had a look last night at the keyword I was showing for and then disappeared within 30 seconds later and surprise surprise it was back.
Looked at it again this morning and it was gone again!

What is wrong because the page ranks well for other terms linked to the page and has a fresh PR added to it?

[marketingmagic]

Do you guys think that with the GEO location changes at Google we'd be safe to remove the no index no crawl in our .ca version of our site as our Canadian rankings have tanked after the latest changes.

We have one site, but have two versions .ca and .com, shipping and prices are different on the two sites, but the rest of the site is the same as the .com.

Would pulling the no index no crawl and the ban to all robots in the robots.txt for the .ca have the potential to hurt us?

[HuskyPup]

marketingmagic - I would recommend only one piece of advice right now - do NOTHING!

When G's in this state of flux you'll never know what you did if you resolve your problems. Let it settle first and then make adjustments.

My rankings are still bouncing about, some have returned to #1, some are down at #30...I reckon they had too much chocolate of Easter with a blood sugar rush...that or someone's been playing with the mad March hare again!

That's a UK expression if anyone's wondering:-)

[potentialgeek]

Anyone else seeing YouTube results pushed higher in SERPs? I'm seeing them higher in the results than ever before. In one instance, right behind me in third place.

Third! Come on!

Has Google thought this through? If I lose traffic from the new in-your-face YouTube positioning, I lose Adsense revenue, and so does Google.

Does Google really expect to make more money from YouTube ads on a non-optimized page than the ads on my optimized site?

If Google's SERP Team is different from its AdSense Team, serious problems could result after these aggressive, poorly planned tests.

Does the left hand know what the right is doing? Is the YT Team under pressure to turn a profit after the $1b investment?

p/g

[HuskyPup]

Does the left hand know what the right is doing?

I've questioned that for quite some time now and the answer is obviously NO!

[reseller]

potentialgeek

If Google's SERP Team is different from its AdSense Team

To my best knowledge Google Search Quality Team is entirely different of the AdSense Team.

[Hissingsid]

So powerful but so secretive!

Surely this sort of stuff is far too important to be self regulated in this way.

Cheers

Sid

[reseller]

At the moment few DCs has started showing little different serps than the rest of DCs for some of my testing key words. Please take a look at this one and test some of your key words ;)

[72.14.207.104...]

[Lovejoy]

That one appears to be behind, my site is cached for the 17th onit, but cached for the 20th on the others.

Lovejoy

[HuskyPup]

Please take a look at this one and test some of your key words ;)

Hahahaha...definitely different again and one of my key phrases is 16th for my .mobi site:-)))

And that key phrase appears only twice, the titlebar and on the page, absolutely nothing else anywhere!

Thankfully only one ebay type site is in the top 20 now.

[HuskyPup]

my site is cached for the 17th onit, but cached for the 20th on the others

My .mobi is showing the 25th but several others the 18th!

[reseller]

The site I watch is cached 25th on the said DC:

[72.14.207.104...]

[potentialgeek]

Yesterday, Google gave one page within my site top placement for a search phrase. Today, it is giving the home page top placement with no secondary indented result for the other page it yesterday thought was the best result.

O-kay.

p/g

[almir]

in last 7 days I have been going from 1st to 5th - 10th page for all my keywords 3 times.
One day on 1st page where I have been last 2 years, than fall down for day or two.and again, and again

Dos anyone see these kind of fluctuations, too ?

[tedster]

p/g - I've seen the same phenomenon several times recently: an internal page ranks at first and is soon completely replaced by the domain root. This seems to be a "tell" of some kind about changes in relevance scoring, but what it tells us is not yet clear to me. For quite a while I'e struggled with it, frustrated that Google sends people to a page that is a click a way from what I see as the best result.

At the same time, in some situations where the site does have an indented result, I now see internal "best" page ranked above the domain root. Thist was something I struggled to make happen in several cases but I eventually gave up on. And now several month later, Google did it without my help ;)

[reseller]

potentialgeek

Have you noticed a drop or a boost in Google traffic to your site as a result of what you have mentioned?

[reseller]

The reshuffling continue on the data centers. Things change all the time. A site I watch is keeping in-and-out top 10 position. Now its there... Now its not there... Now its there... Now its not there :)

People must have been noticing boost or drop in Google traffic all the time!

[Robert Charlton]

In one sector I watch, I've noticed a bigger than normal shuffle in results over the past few days, almost a return to serps of early March. Inner site pages that had been in the top ten and had cycled gradually down to the second or third serps page have now returned to page one, and the cycling seems to be starting again.

I'm also seeing the domain root ranking above much more appropriate inner pages. I'm also seeing domain roots showing up as a second result on sites where previously they hadn't ranked at all.

[tedster]

I'm thinking about query revision data - it's been a recent focus at Google. If a common, shorter search is followed quickly by a revised and longer query, the URL that is chosen from the revised search results may be picking up some brownie points toward the shorter query term.

[a_chameleon]

Inner site pages that had been in the top ten and had cycled gradually
down to the second or third serps page have now returned to page one

I'm seeing something similar - and I'm also seeing pages that are
more "content-rich" (read: more text-heavy) are now rising fast.

I have one site that was consistently below No. 5 for it's primary phrase
(its almost 95% text) now outranking pages from sites with far better PR.

.