Google Updates and SERP Changes - December 2019

[glakes]

This post and the following 3 posts were moved from Nov 2019 thread [webmasterworld.com...]
by not2easy at 5:42 pm (utc) on Dec 1, 2019

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Solid quantity of traffic coming from Google, but it's all rubbish. I'd likely have a better conversion rate with the same quantity of traffic using pop-unders on unrelated sites.

Bing/Yahoo are converting well and Amazon is solid as always. Just another day of Google proving their irrelevance in my ecommerce industry...


[edited by: not2easy at 5:42 pm (utc) on Dec 1, 2019]

[edited by: Robert_Charlton at 8:44 pm (utc) on Dec 2, 2019]
[edit reason] split cleanup [/edit]

[seomotionz]

December is going well in the USA and is not slowing down yet. For me, it is on pace to be the best month since November of 2017. This change is primarily due to Google’s recent algorithm updates affecting my second largest website in a positive way. Finally an update that didn’t hurt me!

@gatormark Not just in US here in India as well, atleast revenue wise. Some are saying that Google is brewing a major update since last week. But I don't think so because these elements seems to be consistent now.

[pavf6]

My Website took a big hit and traffic is at its lowest(below 100) since last 1 hour. I have never seen this much drop since June. Is everyone facing the same issue?

[hopepro]

@pavf6

I've 2 counters installed, 1 is GA, and another is Statcounter

Statcounter shows normal traffic while GA is showing below 100 visitors / hour (normally traffic at statcounter at this level should be around 350+). I guess google is up to something

[capulkit]

Google Analytics is having bug and showing wrong data for most of websites.

[MayankParmar]

They broke Analytics yet again. gg

[doc_z]

Just out of curiosity: Am I the only one seeing evidence that the November update is related to the duplicate content policy?

[pavf6]

I see few of my articles are dropped from 1st position while few are not in Index. I checked the webmaster, it shows the URL is perfectly fine and already indexed. Can anyone help here?

[hopepro]

@pavf6 The ranking has been extremely fluctuated during last and this month. The ranking you saw in Search Console is not necessarily reflects the real time position in google search. Even though google tries to facilitate us by showing search result ranking snippet at the top of search result but the true rank is still unknown at the moment.

[seomotionz]

@MayankParmar GA is showing no one is in the site. Yet, I am seeing activity.

[Cyril TechWebsites]

Guys, I'm facing with the same thing - both of my websites showing a significant drop in traffic last 2-3 hours. Is this an Analytics bug or we are facing with another move of this "cruel unlogical 8 November beast" and it's an update?

P.S. Semrush shows the FIRST day after 8 November update when my traffic according to this service stopped from falling and even shows small rising.

[edited by: Cyril_TechWebsites at 11:27 am (utc) on Dec 9, 2019]

[MayankParmar]

It's GA problems and several people have reported it here and there. Do not panic. And AdSense is having reporting issues too.

@seomotionz I have Ajax pageviews monitor and it's all normal, so it's definitely Analytics glitch.

[Martin Ice Web]

Yesterday I was searching a part for our dryer. bing was not realy helping and i thought give google a try.
I realy was surprised as i thought i was moved directly to amazon from google search.
Nearly 80% of entries had been from amazon. And this amazon pages not nearly had something in common with my search,
Changing the search keywords didn´t help. Same silly amazon pages came up.

Finaly i got what i search for on ebay within seconds... This was relay the last time i gave google a try,

[seomotionz]

@MayankParmar What kind of issues you are having with adsense?

[MayankParmar]

@seomotionz stats are stuck.

[dhananjay]

I am sailing on the same boat. Been a 50-60% drop according to GA for the last 2-4 hours. Hopefully, it's GA that is broken and not another June-like algo update.

[seomotionz]

@MayankParmar Sorry, we are not having that kind of issue. Instead of just opening adsense in a new window of your browser. Clear your browser cache and then try to browse it, or try a different browser.

[ichthyous]

I actually have seen a big decline in inquiries for the last week or so. Traffic is steady, and visibility is bouncing around on SEMrush, but not by a huge range. These days any period of 'normal' inquiries is the exception with Google, I've become used to long periods of silence this year...i.e. March and June updates that were deadly. I'm managing to bring in ally sales in about 6 months of the year now, the other half a year is dependably a write-off with Google.

[samwest]

#1 listings in USA SERPS yet the only visit I get on a 20 year old evergreen content site is one guy from Africa. This is insanity.

[seomotionz]

@samwest Feel Thankful that you are getting one atleast. Some might say that they are not even getting any real visit.

[southernguy]

Brutal here as well, traffic is consistent but a lot of it is bots and none of the real traffic seems to be targetted any more, most of my conversions seem to come from either socials, Bing or DDG. I understand its close to the holidays and all but past years were never this bad and there were conversions.

[RedBar]

I'm seeing bizarre results in both the International and National SERPs.

In the US SERPs the company that scraped one of my sites a couple of years ago has suddenly vanished for ALL searches which they have been dominating for ages now only to be replaced by another branded USA scraper!

All my global sites seem to have disappeared from the G.com USA SERPs.

In the UK a site which has always done well when using keyword1/2/3 + County has disappered, so far this month with 30% already gone, it has yet to reach 10% of its normal traffic.

When I check other Google.tlds I am seeing similar, well-known sites have completely disappeared, not just downgraded, gone completely from the top 100.

For some countries there seems to be much more localisation, some good, some downright terrible, what is evident is that websites are almost pointless now for attracting new business enquiries ... After recent business trips on the European mainland I do have proof of this and will post it here soon

[EditorialGuy]

After 20 years of development and testing, the algorithm should be functioning so well by now that only an occasional minor adjustment is needed.

You could make the same argument about operating systems, word processors, spreadsheets, cell phones, you name it. Most people wouldn't be convinced.

[glakes]

You could make the same argument about operating systems, word processors, spreadsheets, cell phones, you name it. Most people wouldn't be convinced.

Normally operating systems, cell phones, etc. are improved with new features that benefit and appeal to consumers. From where I sit, Google has moved in the opposite direction with:

(a) Less choice with domain crowded SERPs and fewer organic listings per page
(b) Fewer options that compete with Google owned properties (ie. Vimeo all but disappeared for favored YouTube)

One would think all of Google's "quality" updates would be witnessed with not just more traffic, but more page views per visitor and a higher conversion rate. I see higher traffic, but fewer page views and far fewer conversions. Anyone that has been operating their website for 5+ years should have a good foundation to answer the following question:

Are you better off with Google now then you were five years ago?

My guess is that Adsense publishers are far better off then those of us in ecommerce. At least from spotty reports, Google seems inclined to drop their users on an organic listed page where they may generate a buck from that user clicking an Adsense ad. In ecommerce, it appears Google does not want to let anyone leave Google. Even bidding very high on paid ads is not enough. Google must really want the data collected from Shopping Actions, where Google accepts the payment (and personal info of the shopper) and forwards the order off to the merchant much in the same way Amazon does. Shopping Actions is just another Google data harvesting tool...

[jmorgan]

Based on past analytics trends, most should expect a gradual, continuous dip in traffic from here on as we head towards the Christmas/NY period.

[RareBit]

@jmorgan - I see that on one of my sites (interiors), the other picks up over Christmas (smart home) so guess its niche dependent

[RedBar]

My guess is that Adsense publishers are far better off then those of us in ecommerce.

A very bad guess for many AdSense publishers, in fact I completely removed AdSense from all my sites in April this year.

Bear in mind I was with AdSense from day one and was a five figure monthly earner, towards the end I was getting the minimum payout every two months, basically $100!

Google has failed many of us all in its pursuit of earnings, for many it is no longer the route to market and it has not been for several years.

But, of course, everyone's market varies enormously therefore my opinions and advice may be totally inapplicable to one's own marketing efforts.

[seomotionz]

@RedBar I guessing you sell direct ads now?

[mosxu]

Apparently if AI’s brain computer interface is not connected you will get no converting traffic. Lol.

[DecDub]

I have a science website for children operating over 7 years. All articles written by a science teacher and top quality. Traffic was continuing to increase right up to November and now 30 to 40% drop. I see websites with terrible content hitting top spots. Very disheartening after years of hard work

[hopepro]

@DecDub I understand your frustration totally. I have been the same.

Just to report you all that I've got a slight better ranking and traffic starting from last night. Keywords search started to make sense, rubbish sites are gradually being wiped away. Again, this can totally change anytime even right after submitting this post.