Google Updates and SERP Changes - March 2020

[Shepherd]

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System: The following 5 messages were cut out of thread at: https://www.webmasterworld.com/google/4982115.htm [webmasterworld.com] by goodroi - 12:19 pm on Mar 1, 2020 (utc -5)

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If you're in ecommerce this twitter thread is a good read, albeit a bit scary.

[twitter.com...]

[RareBit]

There is definitely an update going on! I am bouncing all over the place at the moment and usually manage to avoid the 'Google shuffle' during an update

[RareBit]

Maybe G are trying to give us something to do:)

[glakes]

Maybe G are trying to give us something to do:

$2 trillion in economic stimulus expected to be voted on and pass the Senate today. Google likely wants to raise the walls of their walled garden to capture as much of this money as possible. If the coronavirus does not kill off small businesses, Google awaits to consume the host.

One thing Google could do, if they gave a damn about small businesses, is demote Amazon and eliminate all of the Amazon crowded SERPS. As it is now, many in-stock items shipped by Amazon have an estimated delivery date of 30+ days. So instead of force feeding Amazon product pages down user's throats, to the point of gagging, why not elevate domestic small businesses instead? Granted, it does not play into Amazon's and Google's oligopoly business model but is an opportunity for Google to support small businesses when a massive multi-national corporation (Amazon) is failing consumers and falling flat on their faces.

[mosxu]

They are all one thing,

[RareBit]

Well, we have just had the dreaded call to shut-up shop! Hopefully its not for to long...and hopefully I still have decent rankings when this is all over! (There will no campaigns to drive traffic and site interaction will be pretty much zero)

[Rndm]

I agree. People's behavior can effect the SERPS as much as SERPS effect people's behavior. Context is everything.

[RedBar]

Wow, I know this is unsurprising however a friend whose site I look after has a small fresh organic meat / bakery delivery business that covers our region, his PVs are soaring, up 700% v average today, and paid-for online orders substantially increasing day-by-day.

I have absolutely no idea at what point he'll have to say "no thank you, all sold"!

[mosxu]

Today seen a lot reports on cpc decreasing...

[glakes]

Today seen a lot reports on cpc decreasing...

I see total paid impressions dropping but not the actual cost per click. Google at times drops/reduces ads and shopping blocks during updates, which may be spurring the reports.

My total traffic is about 30% less than I would expect today. However, more states are under mandatory stay at home orders. For me, that's less workers browsing my site from or for work. This makes it hard to determine if my 30% drop is algo or virus related. Probably a combination of the two.

[universenet]

It is interesting why not many spam bots, this is seasonal? or maybe I just found it and on other servers things are same?

[BushyTop]

Seeing massive hike in bounce rate... I mean huge! Anyone else seeing that? Covid-19?

[michaeldhayes]

Traffic patterns have been completely out of ordinary since COVID. Yesterday saw sites up 35%, 20% and 10% respectively, but today is flat week over week.

I would also suspect that with San Fran being shut down, the roll outs of core updates are likely on pause. At least I would hope, rolling out an update during a Pandemic would be in highly poor taste.

SERP volatility indexes are showing high temps (Mozcast, SEMRush Sensor), but I'm wondering if this is the algo response to recent events (the need for fresh results for trend searches, for example, or obvious volatility in the news sector) and not a core-style algo update.

[glakes]

@BushyTop

There's some sort of update going on. Check your positions and SERP trackers for confirmation. It does not appear to be a big update(yet), but most certainly could be the reason why your bounce rate has risen today.

@michaeldhayes

I would also suspect that with San Fran being shut down, the roll outs of core updates are likely on pause.

Not necessarily. I could see Googler's all chatting using Google Hangouts. Being a leading tech company, my guess is many departments within Google can fully function even without being in the Plex. The only things they may lack are access to the free 24/7 buffet, massages and other perks.

At least I would hope, rolling out an update during a Pandemic would be in highly poor taste.

If the update were to help users, it would be great. Unfortunately most of the time these updates seem targeted to help Google's profits.

I'm wondering if this is the algo response to recent events (the need for fresh results for trend searches, for example, or obvious volatility in the news sector) and not a core-style algo update.

I believe most of these SERP trackers limit the impact of volatile categories on the overall volatility scores they display. Whatever is going on does not seem to be a massive core update, but certainly something. Besides SERP volatility, I'm seeing fewer paid ads displayed which often happens during updates.

[mosxu]

More news today:
“Advertising Industry In Freefall”
Algos will need a bailout probably

[j_plenti]

And here I am still waiting for a good analysis on the last update....

[RedBar]

a friend whose site I look after has a small fresh organic meat / bakery delivery business

I've just done a quick analysis of PVs, traffic sources etc:

1- 16th March PVs normal
17 - 23rd March +504%
24th March +2,321%

Honestly, even though the website clearly states it, the biggest problem he has had is the volume of phone calls and emails wanting to place ordrers way out of his delivery area and we're not talking an extra 20-30 miles, 300-400 miles has been the norm!

Sure he can do it though are they prepared to pay so much extra for the fuel etc. since he does his own delivery vehicles because courier services for his products are "quirky" :-)

I'm just checking to see if we can make it any clearer without it looking gross!

[Abaros]

More news today:
“Advertising Industry In Freefall”
Algos will need a bailout probably

I've been following up on "Top ads on SERPs" these days.

[semrush.com...]

Possibly some organic traffic increases are due to the brutal drop in ads on top.

The coronavirus has penalized Google and they can't afford to lose any revenue.

[samwest]

Algos will need a bailout probably

Algo has the ability to bail itself out me thinks.

[mosxu]

I am still getting traffic but mainly zombies, some competitors dropped out from ads all together but it seems quota of buyer traffic stays the same in both peace and war time.

[samsseo]

I'm seeing results that previously appeared in the right panel, now showing in the featured snippet at the top of the page. Anyone else seeing this?

[RedBar]

Anyone else seeing this?

I've been seeing various "trials" this past week or so with the Knowledge Box especially appearing / disappearing / moving.

[glakes]

I've been seeing various "trials" this past week or so with the Knowledge Box

I'm seeing a lot of wasted space with the local pack listing businesses that are not open to the public because of stay at home orders or are completely closed.

I'm actually surprised Google did not temporarily remove the local pack, and replace it with ads, for some regional queries. Maybe that will happen tomorrow...

[BushyTop]

Yeah @samsseo I think the changes last week were what they are aiming for... and the changes tht we have seen in the last 48 hours are tweaks before they re-add it back in...

[RedBar]

Here's a question.

How can we be having "updates" when its cache is so out-of-date?

I just found one of my top-ranking pages which has been 301d with a 28th January 2020 cache date ... No wonder its SERPs is such a mess and inaccurate ... Yet the spam and domain crowding still persists, pathetic.

[universenet]

Here's a question.

How can we be having "updates" when its cache is so out-of-date?

Redbar
Google do not crawling and updating websites much in last time, it is not interesting job
Google is focused on other more important things
Sad but true

[Rageboi]

Since yesterday, I cannot inspect a URL in the search console. Every time I try to do this, I get a "Something is wrong" error. Is it just me who's seeing this error?

[RedBar]

Google do not crawling and updating websites much in last time,

And guess what? I'm now seeing "updates" based upon new cache dates in my widget sector!

Anyone else?

[lostshootingstar]

Google appears to be having a massive meltdown right now... Hangouts, analytics, gmail, even search, all showing 500 and 502 errors.

[UpOnOne]

I have been seeing that as well. Even 500 errors trying to visit links from Gmail.

[glakes]

Google appears to be having a massive meltdown right now... Hangouts, analytics, gmail, even search, all showing 500 and 502 errors.

Paid ads are draining budgets and not delivering conversions as expected. Google's AI is designed to protect profits and not much else. If AI had some actual intelligence, it would have corrected the problems itself or at a minimum sounded the alarm.

Organic traffic today is lower than expected, and I hope it's related to Google's malfunctions...