Google Updates and SERP Changes - April 2018

[kewlchat]

System: The following message was cut out of thread at: https://www.webmasterworld.com/google/4889357.htm [webmasterworld.com] by robert_charlton - 5:32 pm on Apr 1, 2018 (PDT -8)


Seems after 3 years traffics picked up some, should we dare to dream?

[edited by: Robert_Charlton at 1:39 am (utc) on Apr 2, 2018]
[edit reason] Moved and reformatted message to new month [/edit]

[MayankParmar]

@Maximum Yep, really need some positivity :(

Google is doing counter attack on us from search and AdSense side -_-

[samwest]

Just when things were looking up. 24 hours ago everything went KA-BLOOEY - nothing but a trickle of foreign zombie mobile traffic and zero conversions since. NOW what? Seeing this pattern across the board on all my client sites and diverse networks. Time to check the network cables. Even email and spam is virtually gone. Must be spraying digital agent orange again.

[mosxu]

Quality of the traffic is really bad here,

Not really see why AI would not display my ads to hot buyers if I am the heighest bidder

[NeapTide]

I am seeing traffic increase across all my sites. My one site that was going up and down for past couple of months have got the traffic doubled plus for past two or three days there is huge surge of traffic from India. That one update about which Google said there was a bug in algorithm which has been fixed has really helped my highest earning site to recover and gain traffic. On the other hand AdSense RPM is half of what it used to be last year similar months. So I am standing where I was standing last year and before.

[MrSavage]

Well, from my vantage point, I see about 3 YouTube links in the SERPS where I otherwise would never have seen them. Videos on an image based search result page! There are actually 4 YouTube links in a row.

Additionally, and I believe most of us are seeing this, but the "shopping" is now superseding things like "images", etc. Shopping is becoming far more common in that second navigational link position. Even if you weren't thinking of shopping on that search, Google is doing that "suggestive sell".

Beyond that, I've never really seen "video" supersede "images", but more than ever, videos are taking over that second spot in the navigation bar. Now consider revenue streams and the Getty based changes on image search. The tail wagging the dog.

The commercialization and ownership is proceeding at excessive speed these days I'm finding.

[browndog]

I am not seeing an increase in Youtube links or shopping. I never, ever, ever see Amazon links, not sure if it's because I'm in Australia or because I NEVER buy from Amazon, and I don't plan to.

Today I"m seeing a sudden jump in traffic, Monday is usually my best day, traffic wise, but seeing higher than normal numbers. I won't get too excited though.

[pupidu]

I am following your threads for some time. I have been slapped again on April 5th. Wondering anyone else experienced that. 10 years old site is now dead. But, there is good thing: Google books are positioned very well.

ps, hi, all ; )

[keyplyr]

Hello pupidu and welcome to WebmasterWorld [webmasterworld.com]

[Maximum44]

@browndog last Sunday was Easter Sunday. If you compare it to that day or week it'll most likely show a jump as traffic a week ago was affected by a holiday.

[MayankParmar]

Ah Easter, right, and I was wondering why the pageviews is so high lol.

[sk7411]

Did your traffic Grow Parmar bhai ? Hamara to bura haal ho gayo! >:)

[MayankParmar]

@sk7411 Yep, slightly better. Didn't know that the Hindi speakers are here, nice to meet you :)

[sk7411]

Nice to e-meet you too . I am pretty sure there are loads of users like us here.

Anyways , have a good day mate.

[BushyTop]

We're seeing traffic fluctuations today....

[sk7411]

Well , It may be a site specific fluctuations , As a whole things are quite calm from past few weeks . Good for us lol!

New sites without backlinks and #*$!ty content are hitting above the roof :))

[MayankParmar]

[moz.com...]

Interesting :)

[MrSavage]

First time I've seen an answer box that is using quora. Comes complete with a slider for even more. Maybe they are selling their content (user driven/provided) to Google for these. Hard to explain it without an image. It's like a box with multiple answers, with a "top answer" and "10 votes". So things are now decided via poll for trustworthiness and authority? If quora does have an agreement for their data in this way, then I suppose only idiots give free answers to quora. Sort of like the idiots with websites who write content for wikipedia which in turn populates Google and thus drops websites off the SERPS. Lots of stupidity to pass out. It's like candy.

[EditorialGuy]

As a whole things are quite calm from past few weeks .

That's been my experience, too. A nice bump in mid-March, but no meaningful peaks or dips since then.

[MrSavage]

Wow, just a quick update. One particular search, two of these new looking/functioning answer slider boxes, in #2 and #5 spots on page 1. Different sites, including stack overflow. Again I wonder about the contributors to answering questions on that site and whether providing that as free content was part of the understanding. If traffic is down consider one or two of these boxes might be affecting people coming to your site. This type of situation really does put a lot of power or influence on an even smaller group of sites. Accuracy is based on votes from random people and is highlighted in these boxes.

[aristotle]

Just skip your eyes past those "answer boxes". They might be okay for simple specific questions, but for complex issues they're worthless. Or in some cases they're even worse than worthless since they sometimes provide incorrect and/or one-sided views.

[MayankParmar]

Those answer boxes are bearable on desktop but it really pushes down the content on mobile.

[sk7411]

Those Answer Boxes are my Guardian Angels , I heavily rely on them , they answer The String theories and the beginning of universe and Life on this Earth and other planets. Don't know why people call them Bad!

It's AI gone Terribly wrong ! Just because 100s of websites tell the same thing doesn't mean it's an answer or truth , However it becomes an answer box/knowledge panel for Google God! .

[MrSavage]

Did you guys miss the memo? These are not typical answer boxes! These are NEW. I'm saying that today on one search, the 2 appeared on desktop page 1, which ultimately are showing 3 answers each, taking up 2 spots for organic results. On top of that, each box has 3 answers showing, with a slider to access likely 6 or more answers. So in theory, if the first 6 on the page don't work, then user will use the slider and thus increases their chances on not having to go to any of the other organic sites listed on page 1. So this isn't about 3 answers, it's actually about 12 to 18 on page 1 results. I mean the defenders are always going to say not to have simple answers on a site, but last time I checked, most people don't write with one answer in mind per page. The point being, encroachment continues at a feverish pace. Organics, or SERPS as this thread pertains to, is shrinking daily. You can complain about traffic loss but to suggest it's about what you are doing with your content? Give your head a shake. The sky isn't falling, but the WWW continues to shrink. Same difference.

[samwest]

One area of actual improvement in the Google index has been in proper attribution of image owners. Used to be all my images appeared in the image index, but they were scraped versions being stolen by Indonesian spam sites. The other day if found 98% of my images all referenced my site. It's about time.

[browndog]

I'm not seeing what MrSavage is, thankfully. It sounds like a very worrying concept.

I do wonder if Google will eventually cannibalise the internet and put 99% of us out of business. What is the point if putting in all this work if Google publish it all on their page and we don't get the traffic?

In 2012, I had around 20,000 visitors a day, now I have between 8,000 and 9,000. I have added a considerable amount of new content in that time,as well as followed 'most' of Google's suggestions, but am still way behind. I certainly do blame quite a percentage of that traffic loss on the answer boxes. I don't blame them in their entirety, of course more sites in my niche are around now, and of course people using other places, such as Youtube.

I do it now because I enjoy it and still make a little bit of money, but I don't view what I do as my main source of income anymore.

[MrSavage]

All I'm observing search page wise these days is more and more content which erodes that concept of trying to figure out what I'm doing wrong that I can fix in order to regain traffic/rankings. The idea of "fixing" or "troubleshooting" is less and less relevant. I know some people are in denial about this, but I also can appreciate that people are offering SEO services and focus on SEO solution style content for an audience that cares about such things. Shrinking audience, no doubt about it. Hard to hear, but it's really truthful.

[Martin Ice Web]

So this last update 05/04 seems to disregard all google guidelines or "make compelling sites" statements from google.
Our niche is full of shops with copied manufacturer descriptions. Sometimes 4-5 pages from the same site ( with the same content + same URL ) in a row.
Sites with no extra content, pictures or further information or EAT rule the serps.
Shops with different domain name but complete same content.

Something is realy wrong with google.

But to be honest. I myself would never use google for shopping. Best way is to look at ebay or amazon and then go to the online shops of the resellers. google bypassed.

[glakes]

But to be honest. I myself would never use google for shopping. Best way is to look at ebay or amazon and then go to the online shops of the resellers. google bypassed.

Most people handle product searches in the same way, leaving just 15% starting a product search on a search engine. Those that do in Google are greeted with Amazon crowded SERPS anyway. What is sad is that over half the sellers on Amazon are based in China, and eBay can't be far behind them. At least on eBay they disclose the origin in a more transparent way whereas Amazon conceals those details.

[Martin Ice Web]

@glakes,

yes i think poeple are used to see amazon in google. But the serps beside amazon entries are pure rubbish. Ever been to page 2 or 3 of serps?
This week a big german news portal stated that bing results are better than google results and that there are more search engine alternatives than one would think.

[citphoto]

Well, with this latest update my competitor with keywords in white font and just keyword stuffed blog posts is back at #1. I am talking keywords not even in a sentence, folks.