Google Updates and SERP Changes - May 2016

[Robert Charlton]

Continuing from:
Google Updates and SERP Changes - April 2016
https://www.webmasterworld.com/google/4798794.htm [webmasterworld.com]


Mod's note: In the April thread, Simon_H did an excellent job of saying something that needed to be said about off-topic discussion in the Google Updates and SERP Changes thread....

Irrespective of the rights and wrongs of Google's business ethics, moaning about it on here is counter-productive. When SER covered zombie traffic recently, there was a backlash of the type "it's just another conspiracy theory from the idiots at WebmasterWorld". That's very difficult to argue against.

If you believe that there's no hope because Google hates you, then there's no point posting on here about it. If you believe that there is hope, then try posting unemotional details of what you're seeing and we can collectively try to work out what is going on.

We try to keep the Updates thread primarily about ranking and traffic changes. The point of the thread is that by comparing changes, we can sometimes see patterns with Google that are not otherwise clear, and give those topics dedicated discussions when a pattern is observed.

[renatovieira]

Now yes, I see for the first time my main keywords lose to low quality websites in my niche. (Organic Search)

Analyzing these low quality sites, they have more backlink force than my site.

This can only be the "penguim".

Now I believe the penguim is rolling, and I think that already do a few weeks.

[Spiekerooger]

Tools reported a big ranking spike on thursday (May 5th, GMT) for all watched projects. Back to normal on friday (May 6th, GMT). Hiccup or bigger tests going on?

[renatovieira]

#Spiekerooger - The rankranger tool seems pretty hot today.

I've never seen such a high activity like today.

[Selen]

I don't understand how a 10-page website with a few mediocre articles on a dedicated domain at ExpiredWidgets.com outranks a 15 year old website which generally focuses on Widgets BUT has 50 expert articles related to Expired Widgets (in addition to 400 articles related to Non-Expired Widgets). Spammers take advantage of it by registering a keyword domain, ordering a few 5-dollar articles on Fiverr and outranking websites with much better and more useful content.

[highlander888]

I think Google's approach is now

a) "if you are established with expert knowledge" then you should be paying them to appear.

b) If you are a spammer then you'll be taken care of the next time Penguin runs

c) Otherwise display ebay, Amazon or Wikipedia

Sorry couldn't resist chipping that in!

[samwest]

When SER covered zombie traffic recently, there was a backlash of the type "it's just another conspiracy theory from the idiots at WebmasterWorld". That's very difficult to argue against.

Anyone who thinks varying traffic quality, throttling and biased algorithmic exclusion is a conspiracy theory has not been doing this for very long. To clarify, zombie traffic does NOT mean real brain eating Zombies...it's just an observation and a described action of said traffic. If someone can offer a cause that has better teeth...please feel free.

My observation: last week...worst week of the year (zero day yesterday...the Kentucky derby used to be a good day for the site) and seeing a definite dip in search queries. This is likely seasonal related more than "zombies"...but pushing partner ad sites higher means better revenue for G, so....

[glakes]

I don't understand how a 10-page website with a few mediocre articles on a dedicated domain at ExpiredWidgets.com outranks a 15 year old website which generally focuses on Widgets BUT has 50 expert articles related to Expired Widgets (in addition to 400 articles related to Non-Expired Widgets).

It's simple, spammers won't pay to be ranked towards the top because that cuts into their profits and is not their business model. You, on the other hand, are more likely to pay into Adwords to be ranked towards the top because you operate a legitimate website. That's why you are not on top - you are not paying Google. Yes, the system is corrupt, but without any checks and balances Google can do as they wish.

[Selen]

glakes, very interesting theory and it makes sense. Could it be that spammers have now become friends to achieve certain goals?

[EditorialGuy]

a) "if you are established with expert knowledge" then you should be paying them to appear.

No bill from Google yet.

[hasek747]

Guys, please... let's not derail again.

[Simon_H]

@Selen Apart from containing hundreds of articles, what does your site actually do? How is it monetized?

[highlander888]

"No bill from Google yet."

Oh its coming.. Just a matter of time..

[samwest]

"No bill from Google yet."

They don't send a bill, they just take away what you already had. It's like Robin Hood, steal from the rich and give to the spammers.
My site used to make six figures a year. Now it's been stripped to pizza money.

No amount of "new. compelling content" is helping. In fact, it's probably diluting more than anything.
Formerly at #1 - #3 on page 1, now all queries are neatly placed at #1 on page 2. Page 1 is full of ad riddled pages and thin "showboat" content...like "87 images of stuff you won't believe" type articles. Authority and useful content means very little there days. Mindless page flipping of photos we've all seen a million times seems to be the new compelling content.

Observation time: Search queries continue to drop by the day...lots of mobile...very little desktop. No conversions.

[highlander888]

Same for me, I employed 8 staff and had a six figure income from Adsense, now traffic is a trickle and all the staff are long gone. I even have to work part time to make ends meet personally..When I'm not doing SEO or web Design

[samwest]

In webmaster tools, has anyone else noticed that Search Traffic > Search Analytics is 6 days behind? Usually delayed a day or two, but 6? Something rolling through? Mozcast has been hotter than normal for the past several days.

[Simon_H]

@samwest Yes, seeing the same. Was going to mention that too.

[SEOcomfort]

@samwest showing the same in my webmaster tools as well. Something is definitely being pushed out. My traffic so far today is up about 30% for a Monday morning and organic conversions have doubled.

[ionguy]

@samwest getting the same - additionaly i'm getting some update line at apr 27 anyone else?

[Wijnand schouten]

Yes, 27 april update.

>>
April 27, 2016
We refined our standards for calculating clicks and impressions. As a result, you may see a change in the click, impression, and CTR values in the Search Analytics report. A significant part of this change will affect website properties with associated mobile app properties. Specifically, it involves accounting for clicks and impressions only to the associated application property rather than to the website.
>>

[Bones]

..."additionaly i'm getting some update line at apr 27 anyone else?"

Yes. If you hover over the update line, there should be a 'Learn More' link that explains:

"April 27, 2016

We refined our standards for calculating clicks and impressions. As a result, you may see a change in the click, impression, and CTR values in the Search Analytics report. A significant part of this change will affect website properties with associated mobile app properties. Specifically, it involves accounting for clicks and impressions only to the associated application property rather than to the website."

[RedBar]

i'm getting some update line at apr 27 anyone else?

I've already commented about 27th April in the AdSense section, my already meagre earnings have been sent into a tailspin with both the click volume, therefore CTR, and EPC losing all semblance of normality.

[Babadook]

As many have stated before, I see no change in the search results from any other time. Oh there may be a switch here and there, but mostly the same. There's obviously been some big rollout over the last couple of weeks. And what's also funny is algoroo.com stop functioning about a month ago, and I always thought that their pulse on search engine change was better. What happened to them? I've never really seen 2 weeks like this. It would be nice to get updated information on a regular basis through Webmaster tools, but it too is not functioning correctly. There is one other thing that I see that is characteristic when this type of online problem is happening, I get almost no spam emails, nobody calling on the phone even for customer issues, and of course low conversions.

[jrs79]

On May 1st and 2nd my spam email spiked extremely high. I usually see this when there are algo updates, but it seemed much higher than it normally is during these algo tweaks. Crawl stats all looked very normal. Organic traffic was a little higher than normal (+10%) on the 2nd and 3rd, but nothing out of the ordinary.

[Lake]

Have double the normal traffic for a Monday. Scary.

[SEOcomfort]

So yesterday was a fantastic day for my site across both paid and organic, more for organic. Traffic was slightly up for a Monday (~5%) but conversions literally jumped over 100%. I doubt it will stick but whatever Google is testing or pushing out, it definitely helped me yesterday. Today is looking a little slower but Tuesday's are normally slower in the morning and pick up in the afternoon.

[Jez123]

I'm seeing what looks like a roll back to about 2 to 3 weeks ago on my SERPs. As per just about every week for who knows how long - something seems to be happening. And then nothing happens, seemingly. Or not much.

[Shepherd]

Seeing some, maybe testing, changes in the serps display. For me the listings (ads and organics) on the first 2 pages are wider than normal. 3rd page and on they go back to the more narrow results.

Desktop results.

[samwest]

Going on two weeks of "zombie" traffic. Slow page transition and page sitters are a classic "zombie" effect. I suspect it is caused (not by actual zombies) but rather millennial mobile users who didn't find enough pictures on the page, then leave the page open as they skip to the next page in search of less reading. Oh how I miss desktop buyers.

Seriously though, zombie traffic for the most part is simply mobile traffic. I'm watching tablet and mobile visitors right now and they just don't move around the site like desktop visitors. They pop in, then leave the window open when they exit. I suspect these same people leave the fridge open after drinking directly out of the milk container, don't do a courtesy flush (or replace the empty roll) and leave the (and their) barn door open. Too bad those open pages don't count toward page engagement time.

Adwords is not helping at all...except for improving Google bottom line. No ROI whatsoever.

[NickMNS]

@samwest LOL

[mrengine]

Adwords is not helping at all...except for improving Google bottom line. No ROI whatsoever.

You are correct in your assessment of Adwords - it is producing worthless results. The same goes for free search. Despite ranking well, the visitor quality from Google is astonishingly poor. Bing and Yahoo are consistently outperforming Google in total daily sales (free and paid) even though they only send 1/10 of the traffic Google does and at a fraction of the daily spend in Adwords. I've minimized losses in Google by reducing Adwords spending to just shopping campaigns and am expanding my coverage in Bing and Yahoo because the results are much better. With a lack of buyer traffic coming from Google, they are just not worth the time anymore.