Google pushing localised SERPs, harder for international sites

[RedBar]

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System: The following 4 messages were cut out of thread at: https://www.webmasterworld.com/google/4889357.htm [webmasterworld.com] by goodroi - 2:39 pm on Mar 8, 2018 (utc -5)

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My industry - Global specialised construction products

The last few months I have witnessed Google's localised SERPs more and more come into effect which has resulted in a massive reduction in traffic and especially so from the USA. It is not only my business which has been affected, all the major players in my industry have also been affected with huge reductions in traffic.

I have just spent the last couple of hours checking Google.com, the US version NOT the one served to me by UK, and to say the least it is alarming. Checking the top 10 most popular widget products in the USA one company is dominating the SERPs for every search, plus the usual Pinterest, Homeluf, Houzz, Home Depot etc, with a few recognised US trade suppliers.

Out of all of these results there are very, very few "foreign" or "original brand producer" results in both the regular and image searches, maybe an average of 2 in the top 20 results and ALL on the second page.

Quite simply Google has 90+% removed all non-USA results in the top 10.

This is obviously a very clear manipulation of the SERPs in favour of US sites and unless a searcher knows how to use Google to search non-USA countries, then they are going to find it nearly impossible to do so.

Ok, I accept that I only supply in bulk, as in Full Container Loads, however by manipulating the results like this Google is denying bulk buyers from locating much more relevant supply sites plus Joe Public is being denied access to much more genuine product information.

Does anyone else care about this act of deliberate disinformation?

[ionguy]

@redbar confirm; i lost traffic from us; just checked; wth is going oon !?

[MayankParmar]

Traffic dropped by 40%. Anyone else?

[RedBar]

wth is going oon !?

We're a non-USA business, principaly Asia, ME and Europe, and even though we do have customers in the USA I've been monitoring the localisation push by Google for the last few months and, quite simply, for my widget sector in the regular SERPs they have removed or heavily demoted non-USA businesses' websites.

These are not just mine. I am talking industry wide and bearing in mind the USA for my widgets are 90+% imported, then there is a serious manipulation happening. I am currently at my widget trade's largest global exhibition in China and I can assure you one of the big topics here is, WTH is going on?

It is very doubtful that Google will reverse this situation therefore most of us feel that the main beneficiaries of this will be various government sponsored specific and general trade portals and the likes of Alibaba etc. After all, IF the world's supposedly biggest search engine does not, can not or will not deliver relevant results, then global trade buyers will have no alternative to search elsewhere.

[whyohwhy]

I am UK based and run a site to do with the movie industry and since the start of the year have noticed about a 30% drop in traffic from the US. I also have noticed that my site is usually at least a further 10 places down the listings when searching on .com as if I was in America.

[RedBar]

And all we needed was an algo update, supposedly 9th March 2018, to be ejected even further into oblvion!

[iamlost]

Google is always 'shifting', sometimes it's just testing and sometimes it a wholesale course change such a that from a desktop index to a mobile preferred index. One that has been a long term two steps forward one back type of process is an increasing preference for localisation.

Localisation is not only showing the various 'packs' for extremely local but the use of cctlds to constrain more broadly. My sites, evergreen niche informational, are as affected by what RedBar describes as his B2B eCom one. What provides me some wider insight, perhaps, is that I am present on the web with sites in four languages and a fair number of cctlds as well as .com.

A decade ago .com would more often than not be returned in Google cctld search results in preference to the cctld equivalent. Starting about 5 or 6 years ago I saw this beginning to shift such that if one were in a certain geo-locale the appropriate cctld site version increasingly dominated. Now even if one searches via google.com from outside the USA the default appears to be to redirect the query to the appropriate google.cctld and show that set of locally constrained results.

This holds true even from Canada although the .ca results do show more US .com results than do the other .cctlds. While I haven't done a proper test it appears from general browsing that US .com sites that offer shipping to Canada and/or offer to switch one to their .ca site can show in google.ca results. The reverse is far less common. Fortunately, I still get the traffic, it's just arriving at a different tld/cctld than previous.

Based on the above I would test some possibilities:
Note: while I don't use GWT or Console or whatever it's called now the ability to tell G the geo-locale(s) you want to target may be critically useful.
* write US targeted specific content using American English and measurements.
* if appriate name US customers and/or include US testimonials (real ones with names and addresses).
* acquire a US legal address and phone number (perhaps a customer would be willing, some law offices offer such, plus there are commercial mail receiving agencies (CMRA) aka mail drops).
* use a US based CDN for US delivery.
* create a US specific site copy on .com if you are currently on .co.uk for instance.
* etc.
Basically you need to show/tell Google that the US is (also) your market even though your site is in the UK. Get them to loosen the geo-constraint. Or else create a US version to operate within that specific bounds.

Unfortunately, Google seems firmly on the path to increased personalisation, which means localisation will also increase. Even within the US query results can vary slightly to significantly depending on locale, time of day, etc. Global reach is increasingly difficult in search. Especially for SME. And likely to become more so given the trend lines I've been watching the past decade.

[RedBar]

Starting about 5 or 6 years ago I saw this beginning to shift such that if one were in a certain geo-locale the appropriate cctld site version increasingly dominated.

Now this is strange since I used to have my sites in 10+ languages under various cc.tlds and have experienced the opposite to yourself with more and more results, until localisation, returning .com sites in both the regular and image SERPs.

In fact I am seeing in many cc.tlds with English language searches US sites dominating for my widgets even though they are not the original producer/source supply.

Granted when searching in a cc.tld in a specific foreign language Google usually does serve results from that country HOWEVER in my widget industry many of the products, even though they are from Brazil, China, India, Spain, Turkey, etc, are given English names for marketing purposes, it is only when using my sites one can find out the original product name.

Based on the above I would test some possibilities:

Whilst in China last week several of us were considering your possibilities, plus a few more creative ones, however surely it is ridiculous that we should even have to consider this?

Unfortunately, Google seems firmly on the path to increased personalisation, which means localisation will also increase.

I tend to agree and it would seem be the sensible thing to do which also therefore begs the question "Does Google need a different business index" for people searching local/national/international business supplies/producers and dedicated to a minimum netbook/10" tablet?

My sites work beautfully on any device but to understand the products and images, realistically they need to be viewed on a larger screen ... hey my Lumia smartphone diplays stuff perfectly with its Continuum Display Dock on a 27" HD monitor ... but most people do not take viewing to this level, or do they?

My feeling is, insofar as my widget trade is concerned, that Google is going to lose my global trade's interest and that a major widget portal, the main two are Chinese and Indian, will try and clear-up their current messy efforts and thereby offer their own dedicated widget version of Ebay/Amazon/Alibaba.

Google has some serious thinking to do if it is going to preclude major sections of industry from its searches.