Google Updates and SERP Changes - December 2014

[RedBar]

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System: The following 16 messages were cut out of thread at: http://www.webmasterworld.com/google/4712477.htm [webmasterworld.com] by robert_charlton - 5:04 pm on Dec 1, 2014 (PST -8)

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I have several sites from May's Panada which received good boosts and have retained their positions but I also have a few new, unique, widget-specific sites that seem to be floundering and getting no traction whatsoever.

Since there were only two Pandas in 2013 and we've already had two this year, do we assume that it may be another few months before we see another Panda update?

[nathaniellee]

....And by 9AM its reverted back to existing lol....wow....nvm

[samwest]

This is a morbid hobby as well as pathetic trying to second guess Google or any other search engine. You are wasting your time.

You got THAT right! But for some it's like watching a train wreck or automobile crash rubbernecking. Pointless other than for the morbid curiosity. The Wild West WWW is gone. The web has become a joke and an infertile medium for most small business ventures.

Stop watching the losses and start building something new...preferably offline and not relying on Google.

[superclown2]

This is a morbid hobby as well as pathetic trying to second guess Google or any other search engine. You are wasting your time.

Some of us have made, and continue to make, a good living doing just that.

I'm still watching slow but gradual changes in my better quality sites here in the UK. SERPs in my niches are definitely improving (and no I'm not saying that because my own sites are doing OK).

[EditorialGuy]

The web has become a joke and an infertile medium for most small business ventures.

Something to keep in mind:

When barriers to entry are low, failure rates are likely to be high.

[Babadook]

Samwest understands what to do. You must stop relying on Google in every way. It's like a girlfriend you know is cheating but she cuddles into you and says, you're the only one. But the next night she's back at the other guy's place. She doesn't love you or care about you. The best thing to do is break off the relationship and go it alone. Good business practices rule the day to survive and fight another way.

[EditorialGuy]

You must stop relying on Google in every way....The best thing to do is break off the relationship and go it alone.

People say that a lot, but they can't seem to let go of this forum. :-)

[RedBar]

It's like a girlfriend you know is cheating but she cuddles into you and says, you're the only one. But the next night she's back at the other guy's place.

It also can depend upon who's paying the bills and whether one really wants a full commitment or not to the girl who is obviously playing for the best deal deal she can get:-)

You must stop relying on Google in every way.

@Babadook - I totally agree with you, I've been saying the same for years.

I could go into this much more in-depth however I just KNOW that most USA-based webmasters/etc will not comprehend the different business attitudes I confront every day.

I am not being rude to US webmasters, many of them only know one thing, drop shipping. I live in a totally different world, the real world of production/manufacturing/processing/creating/making the products that people supposedly want!

Believe me, Google hasn't even a fingertip touch on that, not a clue, global stuff is happening that they have absolutely zero awareness and never will because their all-knowing arrogance will not let them.

What do I see at the moment?

1. In the UK the High Street is well and truly back and especially so with click and collect.

2. Users now have their favourite shopping sites, period, Google not required.

3. It has to be an amazing bargain to go viral!

4. #1 is also happening, so I am told, in many European countries.

5. It's impossible to predict the future:-)

[rish3]

I am not being rude to US webmasters, many of them only know one thing, drop shipping.

I live in a totally different world, the real world of production/manufacturing

Consider that your first quote might be heavily influenced by the second :)

There are lots of webmasters doing things other than drop shipping. Spending all your time in manufacturing gives you broader exposure to drop shippers than, say, people running dating sites, or ad-driven content, or selling services, or software, or...whatever.

[RedBar]

Consider that your first quote might be heavily influenced by the second :)

Yep, I realise that and webmasters do other things other than drop shipping however do you remember the launch of the www, the information superhighway, and how it was going to transform us into a knowledge economy?

Sure, Google did start to organise this in their beginning but what have they transformed it into, just one big massive shopping trolley/cart trying to pervade every sector of the economy. Quality, evergreen informational sites booted out or demoted simply because they don't use AdWords or conform to their algorithmic ideas of what we should be seeing.

Don't get me wrong, a lot of what they have done has been good however, at the same time, Google has been far too influential and intrusive in many people's lives and converted the Tim Berners-Lee www into Google's www and also persuaded vast swathes of Americans that it is all for their own good...btw, they seem to have successfully done that in several European countries as well, including the UK.

Realistically the www sprang into being with the introduction of Windows 95, after 20+ years surely we can wean people off the manipulative Gorg?

[samwest]

somebody pulled the plug again. no traffic and coincidentally, very low spam volume. Seems more like a network issue, but I am reassured by my hosting that all is well.

[Martin Ice Web]

Redbar:

bing for informational searches
Google for ecom searches ( donīt even try to look for information )

[Some_Bloke]

samwest

I'm seeing exactly that for the last few days (both traffic and spam).

I even re-booted the server and reverted back to an old .htaccess file in case I'd blocked something by mistake.

Now I have loads of visits - from Baidu :-(

[samwest]

I see on Algoroo there was a "Penguin Double Take" update released on the 6th. The day after my search queries went UP, yet my traffic went DOWN. More FM by Google.

The remaining one or two hits I get per hour is all to the same obscure pages...like my privacy page, and the zombie visitor sits on the page for 20 mins or longer. Very throttled pattern.

[aristotle]

What does "double take" mean in this context?

[samwest]

If I'd have to go by the results, I'd say they took away twice the traffic as usual. This month started great, included a record day and today left with a handful of visits all day. Just when I thought I was back in, they keep pulling me out. It's the anti-costanza thing.

[RedBar]

bing for informational searches
Google for ecom searches ( donīt even try to look for information )

I use Bing for everything plus I know where I'm going for ecom, thinking about it I can't remember the last time I searched for anything ecom related AND actually purchased something...hmmm.

[EditorialGuy]

bing for informational searches
Google for ecom searches ( donīt even try to look for information )

I use Google for informational searches all the time, usually with decent results. (I still see some commercial and promotional results mixed into SERPs where they don't belong, but nothing like a year ago.)

I can't remember the last time I searched for anything ecom related AND actually purchased something.

I've done it several times in the last month. And, like most users, I tend to rely on known, trusted vendors unless I'm looking for something obscure. (If Google wants to show me results for Amazon, Macys, and the like in a search for underwear or toasters, that's fine. IMHO, people who want to succeed in e-commerce with organic search traffic should be focusing on niches where passion and subject expertise matter, such as dog coats for dachshunds or vintage car parts.)

[Martin Ice Web]

I use Bing for everything plus I know where I'm going for ecom, thinking about it I can't remember the last time I searched for anything ecom related AND actually purchased something...hmmm.

That is quiet the Problem for al lof us ecoms. Shopping streams have been enabled in the last years. Googles Panda/penguin did strenght this effect by only showing brands.

Nevertheless i do Shopping in Internet and do some searches but i never look only for the cheapest and i did never use Google Shopping.

By Google having only 30% of entries Shopping searches and the self promoting of their services they do and the mass of only Shops that only use csv-files from manufacturers, it is no surprise that we see a decline in visitors. And i guess that Google will continue to loose entrie shoppers to Amazon.

[RedBar]

That is quiet the Problem for al lof us ecoms.

Yep, many, many people do not look any further than their favourite online store since their experiences of the last few years have probably taught them that there may not actually be much difference in price or selection and especially so at the lower price end of the market.

I see parcels being delivered every day to my band of women and noticeably they are usually from the same online stores. Is this the same for most, I have no idea, however considering they've been used to the Net for 20+ years they're experienced enough to know there are alternatives.

[Jez123]

I am seeing some quite major churn in my UK SERPS. A bit of a shake up seemingly. I hope it doesn't stick as some phrases I have long done very well with have dropped quite badly.

[Martin Ice Web]

@Jez123, i can confirm tyour Observation. I guess it is due to Christmas Shopping. Google needs to make some money....

I like to add that this is the biggest drop in traffic and conversion we saw since 5 month now. It is like every time. You just got to a Point where it runs on a normal Level and google kills it again.

[reseller]

@Jez123, i can confirm tyour Observation. I guess it is due to Christmas Shopping.

Or what we see today could be the beginning of a Panda data refresh ;-)

[LuckyLiz]

the information superhighway

Wow... it's been a long time since I heard that phrase used!

[glakes]

Site has been fine the last 1+ month while Google was tweaking things. Today Google USA traffic is just horrible.

[Itanium]

I'm a little baffled on the ongoing changes. I said it a few weeks ago and I have to repeat myself: My main competitors rankings skyrocketed after the last Penguin update. Granted, he has really good backlinks, but as do I (though not as many).

The thing that really bothers me: He just surpassed one of my sub-pages with a particular keyword (he has taken the top spot from me), altough I have many (20+) (natural) links pointing to that page, while he has only 2 (two) hard keyword guest-post (!) links.

This makes no sense at all.

Seems like the brand factor is doing wonders for him, even on sub-pages he has no or little direct links to.

[samwest]

The last "double take" update was a complete reset for my traffic. I was showing a nice, slow upward trend that lasted a whole week. Now it's right back to onesy, twosey traffic. In a week it will be more like a 4 average, a week later it will be a 6 average, then they'll drop the hammer again and reset traffic back to zero. These serps are a joke.

[RedBar]

Almost no traffic for me today, it's almost as if my Xmas traffic levels have kicked-in two weeks before the event...does this mean nothing is going to get back to "near normal" for another 23 days at least (5th January 2015 onwards) and even then it usually takes another week to get back into full swing?

What, nearly a full month of piddly-assed traffic? Hmmmm....for some of us this Net thing has died meanwhile my realworld business is doing better than ever.

[samwest]

Makes you wonder where it all went! in my case that answer is easy...in 2010 we ranked on 15k terms / mo. Now it's down to 500 /mo if I'm lucky. Makes a big difference. Those 14.5k long tail terms now go straight to G monetized interests.
Ranking very few "sweet spot" listings. Down to a few dozen #1 positions, but #1 does not always mean more traffic. I'd rather have the 2 or 3 spot.

[Robert Charlton]

samwest - I agree about the 2 or 3 spot. I myself tend to scan the top results first, and select on the combination of displayed title and description... very important. Generally, that ends up being 2 or 3.

[crobb305]

A few days ago, I noticed a surge in traffic from google.co.in, and sure enough, my rankings have made a large recovery on that particular country index. I just thought it was interesting. My traffic has been undergoing a slow upward trend for the past couple of months.