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]

Sites with keyword stuffing are ranking better :)

[Martin Ice Web]

@citphoto, i think that this updated disregards all "quality factors" and is completely brand and link related.

Sometimes i think that google looks at amazon reseller marketplace and pushes the most "selling" resellers with their shops regardless how bad they are.

[sk7411]

Well, i can’t understand why you guys are complaining ?(Sarcasm)

Technically and logically keyword stuffings were long unrewarded pages. The latest update was all about it , Right, rewarding the under-rewarded spam sites . ? Why blame Google 😅

[MayankParmar]

Is it okay with Google guidelines to put the keywords bottom of the articles with H3 "Incoming related search"?

[sk7411]

Is it okay with Google guidelines to put the keywords bottom of the articles with H3 "Incoming related search"?

Seen those on many sites , but i do not think they add any value to users browsing those particular pages ; however, for a broken search engine like google , it considers those h3 a vital and integral part of the page and probably ranks them higher .

Google has become totally weird for me with their latest update .

[samwest]

Within a month, I've seen some other very interesting SERP changes, namely a lot less Amazon listings in areas I used to frequent, and here's the likely reason why... It seems Amazon is wholesale removing many products, in certain areas, I'll wager a guess that it's in responses to gov pressures and threats. Once they remove a product, you just get their rare SORRY page with a random puppy dog photo. The result of this change? I had to go to a Mom & Pop website to buy! Now THAT's a crazy reverse paradigm shift. Who woulda ever thunk that Amazon would shrink in any vertical?

Seems that Zuckerburg who is under the congressional microscope today will be the sacrificial lamb and an example for the big monopolies to watch their P's and Q's and back off a bit. Funny stuff.The day of reckoning we all dream about may have finally come. Coincidentally traffic and conversions have again rebounded to more natural looking patterns. Not gonna hold my breath again tho...

[heisje]

The day of reckoning we all dream about may have finally come.

1.- Keep dreaming.
2.- Don't hold your breath.

.

[samwest]

@heisje - [youtu.be...]
:D lol

[samwest]

Not to go OT, but those senator's don't know diddly squat. Z is easily talking over their heads. Next get G up there to explain the video ad scam. I started a video this morning, walked away for 5 hours and videos just kept rolling with no one there to watch. Meanwhile, G is getting rich for delivering ads to thin air...and some poor sucka is paying. Nobody on the hill understands how any of this really works. So yes heis, you are right.

[mosxu]

@sam

I can’t stop laughing, thin air you are saying...

Everybody knows how this works but there is no one looking into it

[Travis]

Next get G up there to explain the video ad scam. I started a video this morning, walked away for 5 hours and videos just kept rolling with no one there to watch. Meanwhile, G is getting rich for delivering ads to thin air...and some poor sucka is paying

I thought that nearly all ads were CPC, or CPA, ... if advertisers decide to buy Youtube ads and pay for CPM, this is their choice, and they know what it means ... Also, what about TV Channels? Do they detect if you are in front of the screen when they bill the advertisers? Or street ads, are they billed when someone really looks at them for more than one second ?

[samwest]

Youtube ads are metered on watch time, not clicks. TV ads are a totally different advertising model.

[seoskunk]

I have to say I find Youtube to be an outstanding site and an example of what Google can do when they put their mind to it. As for rip off ads tbh I think they barely make a profit from Youtube as it is. My experience is they actually offer good value. Especially compared to TV advertising (do people still watch that thing)......

Youtube in search: I think many people will always prefer articles simply because sound is normally required for a information piece on Youtube and that's not always possible, however if Google are going to display a universal search then you can't ignore sites like Youtube and Vimeo, maybe in this regard they have been unrewarded sites. Youtube is free to upload on so maybe instead of whining about video in Serps instead create an accompanying video for your article - that's my plan anyways....

[SnowMan68]

@seoskunk

I agree with everything you said.

We made a big push for long form written content about 15 months ago. We had some low level videos in about 10% of the posts. It was crazy how much people loved these damn videos, even though they were bad IMO. The goal was always to get to a point where we could hire a full-time videographer and upgrade the equipment.

We recently hired a videographer full time and our production level is significantly better. Upgrading the equipment and studio were a big help as well. If you want to build trust, add video to your written content. People want to see you and feel like they know you before they decide to do business with you. Truth is, most consumers have made up their mind well before they actually picked up the phone to buy your products or hire you for your services. They have to see and hear you to really move the needle. That is the game changer.

Video isn't going anywhere, so we need to embrace that fact.

[glakes]

I have to say I find Youtube to be an outstanding site and an example of what Google can do when they put their mind to it.

I'm not sure Google deserves much credit for YouTube as it was not an innovation of theirs but an acquisition. Had Google not purchased YouTube and slapped ads on it, imagine where it would be today. If nothing else, I'm sure YouTube would not be so heavily promoted in Google's SERPS. To be honest, I can't remember the last time I saw a Vimeo video in Google's SERPS.

[samwest]

Not to prolong this but if G makes 32B /qtr and of that 27.2B is from search derived ads and of that 11% (2.992B) is from YouTube (source [nyp.st...] I'd hardly call that barely making a profit. Point of all this being, advertisers would love to get maximum eyes on and ROI. With these relatively meager profits (lol, wish I could say that's meager), I can see why they auto start videos to churn & burn ads. Otherwise, yes, I agree that videos in the SERPS are useful and put you well over your non video producing competition. But still, I'd rather videos not auto start endlessly unless you opt-in to that feature. Also makes it impossible to replay your video as by now, it's 6 flicks ago...particularly if you get distracted and try to come back. That's just my take, others are welcome to vary.

[seoskunk]

I'm not sure Google deserves much credit for YouTube as it was not an innovation of theirs but an acquisition.

Interesting Youtube was a new site under a year old when they acquired it and they have vastly improved it making it the number 2 search in the world. They also beat down the legal challenges to the site that threatened its very existence. Google do get things wrong but Youtube and Google Maps are examples of excellence from Google. Vimeo well they shouldn't charge users - simple.

Not to prolong this but if G makes 32B /qtr and of that 27.2B is from search derived ads and of that 11% (2.992B) is from YouTube

Youtube accounts for 4B a year turnover, its a revenue share website with content creators, I think it's nearly at break even point. Google earns profit elsewhere, for instance Search and Android. If you don't like autoplay on Youtube Sam just switch it off - if you don't know how Google it....

[glakes]

Interesting Youtube was a new site under a year old when they acquired it and they have vastly improved it making it the number 2 search in the world.

Google should get credit for the improvements made to YouTube under their ownership. As far as its popularity goes, we don't have to look very far to see why. Many webmasters complain about the number of YouTube videos in Google's SERPS. This has been the case for years. When you're the dominant search engine, it's not hard to elevate any site's popularity. The popularity (prominence in Google Search) of industry specific websites can also be found in other sites that Google has a financial interest in.

Vimeo well they shouldn't charge users - simple.

Videos can be viewed at no cost and charging publishers should have no impact on whether they are shown in Google's SERPS. There are some good videos on Vimeo, but if one searches in Google it would appear that there is only one online video site (YouTube). But the issue of charging for a service is a big one to many businesses, and Vimeo does not have the luxury of giving stuff away for free as a big multi-national corporation can. Google can afford to give away things for free because other areas of their company can subsidize it. Retailers are complaining about the same thing with Amazon, where Amazon's cloud business is believed to subsidize the Amazon marketplace.

[BushyTop]

It is still the Easter break over here and I know that can effect things for us from a traffic stand point to yesterday and today versus monday and tuesday is literally night and day. I know that we have talked about these sort of patterns before, but does anyone actually know what it is. Again, I've heard people say this before, but it is literally like a switch thats either on or off.

The small minority that dispute this are either very lucky or mental. The pattern is so abundantly clear. I find it so frustrating trying to explain this to people outside my field. It's impossible.

Monday - below average busy
Tuesday - Seriously dead
Wednesday - Mental Busy (to the point where I'd go as far as to say its was one of the busiest days n our site this year)
Thursday - very busy again, but down on yesterday.

Referal traffic all consistent. Pricing the same. no spikes in branded traffic either. Only differences are organic and conversions.....

[Martin Ice Web]

I would like to start a content.
Who finds the serp with the most amazon crowding.
I can start with 7 and 5 out of 7are unrelated.

i don´t understand why goomazon does not add a tab amazon with only amazon serps? This would be user friendly. But 5 wrong pages in a row? Come on goomazon.....

[Kelowna]

I think another change/update is brewing, we have been unable to manually submit new pages (and get them indexed) since the 9th. In the past they have shut this down while they are "working" out an update. We have hundreds of sites, and use different ip's but nothing new getting added using the Gorgs tools... We will see soon if this is the case once again.

[sk7411]

we have been unable to manually submit new pages

Indexed new pages yesterday , it was quite fast and normal . I am pretty sure they have not touched their algorithm manually from quite some time after Easter.

[Kelowna]

Indexed new pages yesterday , it was quite fast and normal

hmmm... interesting, thanks for the info. If that the case then something else needs looking at. Just tried it now and nothing!

[NickMNS]

@Kelowna I suspect what you are experiencing has more to do with Google's recent announcements regarding the use of the submit to index tool. See this thread from late March:
[webmasterworld.com...]

[browndog]

I love YouTube for info on how to change my car remote battery, but prefer to read content over watch it. I follow a blog and the owner posts videos and articles. Because it’s quite detailed I find reading easier. She often says something profound and I can re-Read her words two or three times to really absorb it. Hard to do that with video.

But we are all different. I know my young teenage kids wouldn’t dream of reading information. My son is always saying random facts and when I ask him how he knows, he says YouTube.

So people submit new content? I just write and wait for it to be indexed. I’m always surprised at how fast it’s picked up.

[Kelowna]

@browndog Comments like yours are the reason I only pop in here once every few months and then have to leave...
Google Updates and SERP Changes Thread reduced to = I love YouTube for info on blah, blah, blah...

No moderators here anymore?

[Shaddows]

@BushyTop

We had a stunning Monday, were well above trend on Tuesday, but have had significantly below-expectation days Wednesday and Thursday.

So exactly the opposite to you. Odd.

[samwest]

@Kelowna - The omnipresence of Youtube in the SERPs is a major factor in SERP changes and updates. Maybe stop in more often. There are always thrilling traffic and conversion reports to enjoy. My only addition is that for the first year in nearly a decade, I am seeing an upswing at a time of year that has traditionally been the opposite trend. No apparent reasons...other than my recent non monetized Youtube videos are front and center.

[mosxu]

I always said to myself the only way you can beat these evil zombies is by making yr site insanely fast.

So most pages are loading under half a second and average site under one second. Result a 20% increase in genuine traffic with mobile first update.

It may be that AI does not even know how to measure speed but they will send all the quality traffic to fast loading sites.

It may also be that bots are making slow requests to your site for negative SEO and AI will think your site is slow but deep inside they know you are not slow if you load under one second.

[Martin Ice Web]

I can not confirm this

in our nicht a big brand reseller has a vry slow loading page.
The main page loading with only content and all the other stuff like navigation, carousell a.s.o. loading by javascript.
You see the page and it builds up new for nearly 2-3 seconds. I don´t know if google just sees the "javascript free page".
Germans know the brand with the Name gebinning with a big blue C.

You might think that this would not work with google nowadays but it is a big brand so they get through with it.

Ranking system from google is:
1. put brands in front
2. show less alternatives
3. make poeple click on adds
4. tell webmasters content, side speed counts
5. lough about the stupid webmasters believe point no 4