Google Florida Update 2 March 12, 2019

[BushyTop]

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System: The following 23 messages were cut out of thread at: https://www.webmasterworld.com/google/4937425.htm [webmasterworld.com] by brett_tabke - 8:43 am on Mar 13, 2019 (cst -6)

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Seeing some changes this morning. Anyone else. UK.

[browndog]

I'm still on the up after this update and I will once again say I never participate in link-building.

One thing somebody said a few posts ago was posting external links on page. I do this all the time because IMO it adds credibility. If I am going to quote a fact or statistic, I want to back that up with actual research. When I see sites quote facts without actually crediting a source, they lose credibility. There is nothing wrong with crediting the source of a fact or statistic. If I lose a few readers, I'm okay with that.

[StoneSolid]

@Milchan

Transparency makes it easier for people to cheat the system - could be argued though that that would be the systems fault though if it can be cheated (which it is and it is basically easier for google to keep people guessing rather than deal with that issue)

I agree, transparency makes it easier to cheat - 100% true.
However, it is like that with everything in life. People cheat on taxes but we still have economics colleges and schools. It MUST be transparent and well known, that is how we can spot the cheaters and report them (if nothing else).

Google uses all our content to monetize their own products. The way I see it, they owe us some explanations.

Also, their manual teams need to be more efficient.
When I report 100% spam scrap website filled with my content, I want it reviewed and resolved on the same day, and they definitely have the resources to hire 100 000 reviewers / spam fighters if needed.
Yet, they don't.




@jmorgan

I do agree that luck plays a big part. Some people just "luck" onto the right niche at the right time.

I didn't mean luck in that way, stumbling on a profitable niche.

Simplified example:
I mean luck regarding how you run and create your site. Example being, all your updates contain 1000 words, 5 pictures, 3 heading tags and you always use 2 tags on your posts.
Gee whiz, you just so happen to have a magical recipe that google prefers and you get the ranking.

And someone else in the same niche writes 1500 words but uses just 1 picture and google drops him down because your content "is better".

THAT kind of luck :)


@browndog

One thing somebody said a few posts ago was posting external links on page. I do this all the time because IMO it adds credibility. If I am going to quote a fact or statistic, I want to back that up with actual research. When I see sites quote facts without actually crediting a source, they lose credibility. There is nothing wrong with crediting the source of a fact or statistic. If I lose a few readers, I'm okay with that.

I said it before and I still stand by it.
You are an exception and kudos to your method. However, as I said, most webmasters tend to avoid it, if it isn't a part of their scheme all together (sold posts, their own secondary site, affiliate program, whatever).

[Milchan]

today seems even worse for me - not just if it is just a combo of the 25th march adjustment + Friday being a lower day or not or if there has been another tweak.Hope things settle again next week

[sk7411]

today seems even worse for me - not just if it is just a combo of the 25th march adjustment + Friday being a lower day or not or if there has been another tweak.Hope things settle again next week

Can confirm ! I m sure the semrush would be in all red tomorrow.

[blackswan79]

I'm not sure if its related, but did you guys check web.dev in the last days?

I decided to check it today and I discovered that google says that my articles don't have meta description (they have). I really don't know where is the problem. Maybe they change the rules how they read meta descriptions?

I had a score of 100 in SEO and suddently, without changing anything, I have 64.

Somebody with the same problem?

[nomis5]

You are an exception and kudos to your method. However, as I said, most webmasters tend to avoid it, if it isn't a part of their scheme all together (sold posts, their own secondary site, affiliate program, whatever).

The poster is not an exception as far as i am concerned. I do exactly the same.

What do I loose by by providing quality outbound links where they are warranted? Users then trust my site that I will link outwards where there is more detailed information. Works very well for me and I think there many others who do the same.

[Cyril TechWebsites]

Seeing the same thing - traffic keeps decreasing. No red Semrush, any tool showing changes. Tweaks? Or algo just keeps killing without need of update? :)

[RedBar]

traffic keeps decreasing

How much is this all to do with the overwhelming quantity of ads above the fold?

It's a joke these days, their SERPs presentation is way, way worse than before the EU slap a few years back, then again how many people are actually using search engines these days? Sure, the PVs may say one thing however the businesses I am involved with are all indicating another.

For retail shopping no one needs to go to Google/et al when they prefer Amazon/EBay/wherever and as for local business stuff Facebook definitely rules the roost where I live, Wikipedia seems to be the de facto choice for regular factual information and then, then there are the rest of us with sites providing whatever shopping and subjects about things people cannot find anywhere else.

My SERPs rankings are seemingly the same yet traffic is undoubtedly down and as for Google indexing new pages, well, that is almost a waste of time these days, Bing is far superior.

All together I see G's SERPs as being fairly pointless and as a business driver, unless one has a bottomless pit for an AdWords spend, it simply doesn't cut the mustard, should I say it, G is out-of-date?

[Selen]

I've already been over this before: it's as if "trust" goes above "keywords".

I also feel that's exactly what happened after this March update. A small paragraph, a sentence, or even a related keyword is enough for a "trusted site" to rank high, even though I, as a searcher, look for the whole or a significant part of the content to discuss my searched keywords.

[Milchan]

absolutely terrible since March 25th for me , low traffic and even worse conversions wise. Just when things looked like they were improving slightly for me and I might be able to break into making a profit once again google realized its mistake and decided to take it all away again. My only hope is that it will re-adjust over a 7 day period like it did after the core update earlier in the month. So frustrating living like this though.

[tangor]

The more that small fry give up the ghost, the sweeter then reward for g's bean counter accounting/reporting requirements, and the more value (fewer billboards) to push to the big pocket advertisers.

There's a reason why things are getting desperate: So you give up and quit. (sigh)

[Mentat]

I looked at the reports curves on Search Console and I had a deja vu: PANDA
Each week is grinding bamboo and my traffic is getting a little bit lower.

[blackswan79]

I found the reason behind this update (or at least one of them).


I was analyzing ahrefs very carefully to the keywords that I've lost:

each day I lost a keyword is exactly the day that Google add a featured snippet to the top results for that keyword.

They are doing it step by step. They did it on March 2, March 12, March 22 and March 27.

[sql500]

Hello webmasterworld admins!

Is there any reason, why this topic has been hidden and is only available for memebrs ?

For sure, many visitors/webmasters who are not registered to this forum will benefit from this topic.

Thank you.

[universenet]

Google seems doing new structure in his data centers...
and because is too much data for all websites need time for manage all
I have about half million pages on google indexed but still waiting for 12 million indexing ..and 4 million pages is in indexing process

[tangor]

@universenet ...

Welcome to Webmasterworld!

With those kinds of statistics, it will take g quite a bit of time to crawl it all. You might be seeing the results of this update for months in the future. :)

[universenet]

yes..google have millions of servers but can not catch all net fast with new algorityhm... is too many websites data ...need weeks and months... I think some smalñ websites what lost traffic will have that back with time... just no panic

[zigish]

Hello everyone. My website has taken a hammering since Feb 27th and still hasn't recovered. I was in the top ten for most of my keywords up until that point. I'm lucky if I can make it to page 5. Some days it's disappeared altogether. The site is fast, mobile friendly, original content, I've done everything I can according to Google's guidelines......it was working for a long time.

I know there are others in the same boat as me. Thought I'd join up here to get some advice as I'm at a complete loss as to what to do now. My business will suffer soon if can't figure out why Google now hates me!

[jmorgan]

Does it seem like things (the rankings) are settling down now to everyone?

[Milchan]

Does it seem like things (the rankings) are settling down now to everyone?

Strange thing for me is that rankings never really seem to change that much with these updates but traffic drops and sales drop significantly. That said things seems to have settled a bit today so far and I will see if it continues or not.

[JesterMagic]

@jmorgan - I would have to say no. SERPS still bouncing around a bit in our niche.

[RedBar]

Is there any reason, why this topic has been hidden and is only available for memebrs ?

I asked that the other day with no response, I assumed it was only me having the issue!

[swright]

Strange thing for me is that rankings never really seem to change that much with these updates but traffic drops and sales drop significantly. That said things seems to have settled a bit today so far and I will see if it continues or not.

That's probably because Google ramps up its shopping ads when it does those updates - that's at least the case with the updates since the end of February. Look at Mozcast's serp features or Semrush sensor by niche. Case in point: in the Shopping niche, Semrush shows that 11% of results on Mar 11 had shopping ads on desktop, then a jump to 32% on the next day when the update was rolled out. For some queries Google looks more and more like an ecommerce site.

[Upstate8987]

Same here. SERPs still bouncing around for my site, mostly decrease in rankings.

Dropping 4-5 spots across wide variety of terms I used to rank #1-5 for in SERPs.

Google is rewarding much newer sites in my niche (my domain is over 10 years old with domain authority of 88).

[Milchan]

That's probably because Google ramps up its shopping ads when it does those updates

not that many ads in my niche though , for a few things but over not really- quite often none at all shown

[swright]

not that many ads in my niche though , for a few things but over not really- quite often none at all shown

Maybe some other SERP features then. I have a similar issue - some queries for which I still have the same rank, at least according to GSC, but a drop in clicks. I have no other explanation except that there's more stuff at the top of the page that siphons off traffic.

[jost]

I have 38 websites that were not affected by this update.

I had 2 that lost 50% and 70% of their organic google traffic.

Both of these sites are FORUM based.

Seems google hates forums.
My forum sites get whacked a little more every year.

Anyone else?

[tangor]

UGC has been on the outs for some time. How much of that is due to changes in privacy laws around the world (think GDPR) is not yet known. But we do have evidence that g has not been embracing of UGC ... with the exception of high value sites like Webmasterworld.

[Selen]

I personally prefer diverse opinions by 10 anonymous posters than one "expert" (whose bio or credentials have been adjusted to appear legitimate). "Reviews" are also 100% UGC and probably the most valuable content for Amazon or other sites.

Btw - yesterday, I visited some top ranking page when I did a legal/financial query. The author bio was short but revealing: the content was written by a 'graduate student of English language.' No mention of financial profession, background, or education. Maybe it was on top because the bio was actually truthful; that could be good news.

[RedBar]

Bear in mind all my sites are squeaky-clean corporate, even my usually bomb-proof .co.uk sites have now taken traffic hits of at least -10+%, most of my own widget trade sites, some 25 years old, have been hit by an average of -33% and to cap it all a couple of 20+ year old sites have had -50% hits.

What is very noticeable on my international sites is the huge reduction in USA traffic, many of my hitherto untouched sites have been well and truly demoted or even removed completely from the G.com SERPs.

Meanwhile I am seeing poor USA sites promoted across many G.tlds at the expense of national companies with excellent sites no matter the chosen local language.

Whichever way I look at it this is a complete fubar by G however will they change it?

I very much doubt it since they have never, I don't remember, corrected a major foul-up like this before and so long as their ad revenue continues to rise then they will not because they will have achieved their objective!

And one last thing, stop worrying what "may be" wrong with your website(s), it's probably, absolutely nothing, quite simply you are not able to brown nose G well enough:-)