Google Updates and SERP Changes - March 2020

[Shepherd]

---

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)

---

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

[twitter.com...]

[hopepro]

Noticed SERP adjusted huge on the following terms

mask, alcohol gel, meds for covid, chemical protective suit, etc...

Shopping sites are going down for these terms, more news and health care org sites replace positions

[lostshootingstar]

I just received an interesting email from CloudFlare that says the following:

... we are tracking Internet usage patterns globally. As more people work from home, peak traffic in impacted regions has increased, on average, approximately 10%. In Italy, which has imposed a nationwide quarantine, peak Internet traffic is up 30%. Traffic patterns have also shifted so peak traffic is occurring earlier in the day in impacted regions.

I can say for certain that extra 10% to 30% of internet users are NOT coming to our website, hah!

[NickMNS]

Well, my guess would be that internet traffic would rise generally as people have nothing better to do. @Lostshootingstar posts shows Cloudflare seems to be substantiating this claim. As to the rank trackers, many confirmed updates have rolled without impacting the trackers, and the trackers have gone crazy when nothing rolled out, so even in the best time these trackers provide spurious information, not to mention delayed information.

But as I said in my previous post:

...it is definitely difficult to infer anything given the Covid19 uncertainty.

[swright]

Traffic may be expected to jump in such circumstances, but not to all websites, many of which may experience a fall. My guess is news sites, social media sites, forums, medical websites, sites selling essential supplies, food, or sites providing relevant info etc. would get increased traffic. Websites reviewing the 10 best cat grooming widgets - not so much, and they may be experience a drop. People who are concerned about a disease or insecure about their jobs or income situation are not going to spend more time reading about how to buy nonessential stuff.

[Cralamarre]

Normally when a Google update is in progress, some websites surge while others fall. But this week, it seems like a general downward trend.

[samwest]

My site offers a benefit to those staying at home, yet zero conversions and barely any traffic today. Everyone must be out hoarding toilet paper.

[NickMNS]

@swright and @cralamarre good points. If I compare my traffic to Saturday, instead of same day last week it seems fit the pattern, so it is possible. I am getting a bit of Covid-19 traffic, I appear to be ranking for a very loosely related search term.

[Cralamarre]

Just checked my GA stats for the day. Google, Bing, Yahoo and direct traffic were all down 10-15% from the same day last week.

[Athedian]

Holy crap...I have never seen a conversion rate so bad before. Almost at 0% for today. It's so bad overall that I don't even know what to do anymore. Google is just doing one update after another, and it's just getting worse, and worse, and worse.

[v008370]

My traffic dropped 20% in the uk beginning of the week and now the usa has followed suit. My ranking positions are pretty solid and I've eveb had randon spikes in impressions but 15 t0 20% fewer clicks.

Webmaster tools is misreporting too.

Strange times.

[ChokenBako]

Can confirm massive traffic drop on my side too. About 20% less visitors compared to last week. Rankings seem stable, but who knows whats going on in the background....

[MarvinG]

Yesterday a drop of 25 - 30% in traffic compared to Thursday of last week. Rankings did not change, but way less traffic. Don't know what's going on...

[v008370]

I should note that I'm in the health niche, but an area of health that people are only bothered about if there's no threat of a deadly virus hanging over their heads.

It's all about priorities I suppose!

[markseo]

Very low conversions this week. Could be a change in traffic quality due to Google constant tweaks to the algorithm, but it's also reasonable to assume that after the economic earthquake this week maybe people are simply holding onto their cash in fear of what's round the corner.

[RedBar]

I can say for certain that extra 10% to 30% of internet users are NOT coming to our website, hah!

Nor mine, like many others our traffic is well down.

I also run a trade widget directory site that lists most national and international widget fairs, so far for the next couple of months fairs have been postponed in Algeria, China, Italy, UK, Oman, Turkey, Qatar, Australia and Canada ... and as I type this more fairs are being postponed ... back to updating!

[samwest]

Google will feed first. They care not of your survival. This clearly evident by recent shuffling in my niche. If they see profits slipping, they will no doubt adapt for max exposure to their interests.

[samwest]

Google will feed first. They care not of your survival. This clearly evident by recent shuffling in my niche. If they see profits slipping, they will no doubt adapt SERPS for max exposure to their interests.

[JesterMagic]

Traffic was lower slightly for me last week and now this week we are down 20% almost compared to 2 weeks ago. Keywords have not moved much so I am assuming this is Coronavirus related...

At least I hope it is as this past month I did do some minor structured data changes and a few other things related to SEO (to make things better). I hope the drops in traffic are not because of this.

With what my niche deals with I can see them being affected by Coronavirus .

[glakes]

My total traffic is up about 10%, but conversions have crashed across the board and in the marketplaces we sell at. People simply have clamped down on spending on our type of products.

[StupidIntelligent]

I do not believe Google is doing an update. Even if it looks that way. I think Coronavirus is making its magic.

[Cralamarre]

If you check other traffic sources, not just Google, you should see a drop across all of them. Of course, Google is usually the top source so it will show the biggest drop. But if you check Bing and others, they will most likely be down as well. It's the coronavirus. Or more specifically, the panic around the virus.

[SteveWrz]

Yesterday a drop of 25 - 30% in traffic compared to Thursday of last week. Rankings did not change, but way less traffic. Don't know what's going on...

Exactly what I am seeing. Down 25%, no major ranking shift. Today is equally as low.

[EditorialGuy]

Our traffic has continued to tank since February 23, when Italy's coronavirus crisis made the headlines. Yesterday, our user count was down about 71 percent compared to the same day right before the drop. (We have an editorial travel-planning site, and I don't expect things to improve any time soon.)

[SEOWarrior]

I can observe ranking fluctuations for many of my keywords. seems like any google algorithm update. semRUSH sensor dosnt show any changes. I just want to know is there any google algorithm update around 10 March 2020?

[edited by: goodroi at 4:27 pm (utc) on Mar 13, 2020]
[edit reason] thread formatting [/edit]

[swright]

There could have been an update, but we've been in a "constant update" mode for months now anyway, so that's not saying much. I usually see +/- fluctuations in my rankings every week, but these drops are way out of the ordinary. GSC reports drops in impressions for KWs that I can see are still ranked at the top from multiple sources of data. Yahoo and Bing show the same drop week-over-week as Google - around 20%.

[Cralamarre]

Today my overall traffic is down to what it was two years ago, after years of constant growth. Direct traffic has been hit the hardest, but all traffic sources are down.

[RedBar]

Want extra traffic? Try a bit of marketing incentive:

A certain p 0 r n site is offering free premium memberships to Italians:-)

[mcnotony]

it's a simple fact that Google will want a cut of every transaction that takes place via its search engine. That will be the ambition.

[RedBar]

via its search engine

Oh, G is still a search engine?

And there was silly me thinking it was an ad placement system!

[mosxu]

AI does not want to spend my money even on garbage. Last two days an absolute disgrace.