Google Updates and SERP Changes - July 2020

[ichthyous]

The following 2 messages were cut out of the June 2020 thread at: https://www.webmasterworld.com/google/4997607.htm [webmasterworld.com] by robert_charlton - 5:45 pm on Jul 1, 2020 (PDT -8)

Either that, or my website, is getting a lot of fake bot traffic.

Don't underestimate how much bot traffic and scraping is going on. I spent June creating firewall rules in cloudflare to keep them off my server and yes my traffic reported in GA did drop because of it. Cloudflare doesn't even catch a lot of it. I blocked scans of my server for all kinds of files and URL combinations that don't exist. I don't need the endless bots sucking up my resources. And I still had a brute force attack from China two days ago that CF did not prevent.

I'm wondering if the lower bounce rate and longer time spent on the page from real traffic will benefit me in any way... Doubt it!

[edited by: Robert_Charlton at 1:57 am (utc) on Jul 2, 2020]
[edit reason] split thread to new month [/edit]

[Athedian]

Still a loss of traffic and for the first time - complete death to the conversions. 0 conversion for this morning, which was never seen before.

[ichthyous]

I noticed traffic spikes for a few moments followed by total traffic stagnation, analyzed by G Real Time. It seems that the G opens and closes the tap for different periods.

@renatovieira I've been posting this here for a couple of months. I am seeing the same thing...traffic surges by the hour, then slows down dramatically. A totally unnatural pattern which could only be traffic manipulation by Google.

[ratraceescapeartist]

I saw a stop to the keyword bleeding for about 2 days and even started gaining back a couple of KWs according to semrush but then I noticed today google pushed out yet again another update and my traffic again dropped even further. My perfectly legit content that answers user's queries based on what I am typing into search is now being outranked from content several years old that isn't even related to the topic. Nice job there Google.

Also like you guys have mentioned, I too have noticed that whenever I have a couple of hours where the traffic levels seem to be somewhat normal and I'm getting a decent amount of visitors, suddenly an hour or so later, traffic would suddenly abruptly die down. I would go from 15-20 users to 1-2 users for the next hour.

My only guess to why this is occurring is because google is throttling the traffic on purpose.

Slimy scumbags.

[Athedian]

The throttling scheme is extremely obvious for the last three days or so. 15-20+ users in real time then all of a sudden 3-6 users or less for a bit, then going back up to 15-20+ users. There's no way such consistency is "organic".

[ratraceescapeartist]

This is why I am quickly trying to wean off of relying on google and switching over to email marketing.

Unfortunately, I don't have much experience with email marketing and it will take a bit of time before I get the hang of things, but at least once I do, I'll control that traffic source for good and never be held hostage again by google.

I'm also going to double down on Youtube to drive more traffic to the site as well.

[ichthyous]

The throttling scheme is extremely obvious for the last three days or so.

@Athedian....it's been going on for a lot longer than three days. But it's becoming so blatant now. I started noticing it because my traffic is now higher on the off hours when it used to be lower. In my own time zone the traffic goes dead at the peak hours from 10am-5pm or so when you are likely to have the most conversions. So all I can deduce is that during the prime hours Google is sending that traffic elsewhere ensuring that they cause maximum damage to your business.

[edited by: ichthyous at 2:14 pm (utc) on Jul 9, 2020]

[ichthyous]

This is why I am quickly trying to wean off of relying on google and switching over to email marketing.

I've been trying to wean my business off of depending on Google since early 2019, with very little success. Other platforms are very costly and do not produce results. Social media does not work to sell higher dollar value items and it is also controlled by Facebook...so it's pay to play just like Google. You will never be able to build an organic following on Facebook or Instagram now, nobody sees your posts unless you pay. Youtube will follow, Google will crack down and monetize it. I also have been working on my email lists, but that doesn't compensate for losing large quantities of organic search traffic over the last few years.

[StupidIntelligent]

If social platforms could replace Google, this thread wouldn't exist.

[JesterMagic]

I'm also going to double down on Youtube to drive more traffic to the site as well.

You realize Youtube is Google they manipulate listings just as much as with the search engine and the Play store.

Still I would still count Youtube as a separate traffic source since they don't display any other results besides those from Youtube when you search. (besides ads).

[glakes]

complete death to the conversions. 0 conversion for this morning, which was never seen before.

This is likely the reason why Google is bringing in free shopping listings to search. Google's traffic quality is the bottom of the barrel as compared to other search engines. I liken Google's traffic to bot-like behavior. Who knows, maybe most of it is fake because many visitors from Google sure don't behave as they do like traffic from other search engines/sources. Who really wants to pay for, or can afford, non-converting crap traffic like this?

For years Google neglected addressing the needs of those that sell products. Now that the pandemic has taken out their advertising cash cow - entertainment, traveling, and lodging, consumer goods are now in season. The problem is it is too little and too late. The fact that Google is giving away free product listings would indicate Google knows how bad their traffic converts. Some consumers may browse for products and product info on Google, but many don't pull out their wallet until they are on Amazon, Walmart, etc.

Bottom line is you are not alone Athedian. As they say, misery loves company....

[ratraceescapeartist]

How do I quote people on here? I don't see an option to do that. Maybe it's disabled for new members?

@ ichthyous

On Social media it is surely pay to play unless you have a decent following already. The only two platforms that I know you can still get a decent amount of traffic is Pinterest and youtube for free but your content needs to be top notch.

I have over 6k subs on my youtube channel that I never utilized in the past, so I will try to migrate as much of them to my email list as possible.

I have already had a few people ask me about creating a digital product to sell so I am working on that as well.

Once I have that done, I can start marketing it to my email list and never have to rely on affiliate offers ever again either.

[ratraceescapeartist]

@ JesterMagic

Yes I'm well aware of that but I already have a decent amount of followers already on my channel that I haven't yet utilized to try and get onto my site and email list.

But still, I also consider youtube a separate traffic source. Youtube has been known to limit a channel's exposure if it doesn't fit in with its narrative such as political type of topics, so right now I am trying to transition as much of that traffic away from google as possible. If I can somehow get at least a few thousand loyal email list subs that are highly engaged then that is more than plenty to keep my afloat in the future.

[samwest]

trickle traffic and zombie...again...looks like I'm not the only one. The manipulation IS incredibly obvious.

[Dooku]

A@Glakes, Adwords has been a collecting free money game for G since quite some time now.......most people just pay "google tax". Yes, I DO know you can make a profit using adwords. However when I compare it with how it was a few years back, the effort it takes is just NOT worth it any more. You REALLY need to know your way around in adwords and do a LOT of testing. This is NOT for the causal or even the intermediate user to try and make a profit. I have seen so MANY adwords accounts so badly configured and losing money it's not funny any more.

And what remains of the "organic traffic" as SamWest mentioned is just really crap. On some websites it doesn't take more than 5 visitors of non-G traffic to get a conversion.......with G traffic it's at least 20 times that amount. I am now estimating 90% isn't even human visitors. I have a realtime chat option on two websites and did a very "non-scientific" test :-) Which was to actively harass the visitors by asking if they needed any help BEFORE the normal realtime chat software trigger popped up depending on some rules. With non-G traffic I get at least an answer from the visitor like "no thanks", or "just browsing for now"....and similar. From the G traffic visitors I ALMOST NEVER get ANY response at all. Coincidence?
I am really looking forward to the next quarterly results from G :-)

[ichthyous]

On Social media it is surely pay to play unless you have a decent following already.

I have a decent following in both facebook and instagram...Facebook flipped the switch and my 7,000 followers on my FB business page stopped seeing my posts overnight. I refuse to pay FB to show my posts to my own followers so I abandoned the FB page. It's not quite as bad with instagram yet, but getting worse. My followers are seeing my posts much less than they used to. Granted, I am not on there all day like many are, and that's really what it takes to find success on social. At my price point social media isn't worth spending lots of time on.

[ichthyous]

@samwest You're not. I yesterday I had 1/3 of the clicks I had on July 4th. It's dropped through the floor again.

[RedBar]

Fingers crossed, all sites flying with my own global B2Bs receiving solid enquiries from many countries ... don't stop!

The hotel / pub is back to normal even without live music.

[ratraceescapeartist]

@ichthyous

Create a facebook group page and that way you are in control of what everyone sees when they join the group rather than a page which is easily manipulated by facebook. You can also try pinning a post that leads to your email opt in landing page, so that way you can funnel all the traffic over to your email list.

After this whole fiasco with Google, I refuse to give them a cent from me and will be boycotting all of their products, not that I had much interest in their #*$!ty overpriced products to begin with.

[samwest]

@red - not seeing the same in my pub niche...flat, when it shouldn't be. their hands, in our pockets...again.

I am really looking forward to the next quarterly results from G :-)

me too dooku...me too...I'm predicting 50 billion...and they'll gloat about it.

[Athedian]

So all I can deduce is that during the prime hours Google is sending that traffic elsewhere ensuring that they cause maximum damage to your business.

@ichthyous - I have a feeling because of a loss of revenue due to COVID-19, Google is directing all "good and relevant traffic" to sites that they deemed will generate the most $$$, and leave only a small trickle of traffic to the rest.

How do I quote people on here? I don't see an option to do that. Maybe it's disabled for new members?

@ratraceescapeartist - use

[quote][/quote]

or use regular post reply and don't use quick reply to see the options.

[ratraceescapeartist]

@ratraceescapeartist - use

or use regular post reply and don't use quick reply to see the options.

@Athedian Isn't there an option to quote with a specific person's name attached to it as well? It just seems to be quoting the text but not the user.

[Athedian]

@ratraceescapeartist - Don't think so, at least I haven't found it yet lol.

And traffic continues to get worse. Funny enough, last year the conversions were perfect, both PPC and organic, with nice traffic sources coming to the site(s). Now it's like beating a dead horse.

[glakes]

@Dooku

when I compare it with how it was a few years back, the effort it takes is just NOT worth it any more. You REALLY need to know your way around in adwords and do a LOT of testing.

Couldn't agree more. Google's ads, along with most ad platforms, have become so "feature rich" they make advertisers poor. Being a small manufacturer myself, most of my day is focused on manufacturing goods. I don't have the time to do a deep learning of ad platforms nor do I have the budget to outsource the task. Outsourcing has its flaws as well since many companies charge a percentage of your total spend, which is another incentive for them to waste more of the advertisers money so they may earn more. Regardless, all the features and settings have one big plus for Google. It makes some advertisers think their poor advertising results may be due to them not having their account/ad campaigns configured correctly. But I do believe many advertisers are starting to see Google's ads for what they are - a huge toilet to flush money down regardless of any ad campaign feature/setting Google offers.

On some websites it doesn't take more than 5 visitors of non-G traffic to get a conversion.......with G traffic it's at least 20 times that amount. I am now estimating 90% isn't even human visitors.

All sounds correct to me. I think Google does a bad job at filtering bots intentionally so that it appears Google is sending a boat load of traffic when much of it is actually garbage coming from rooted PCs. Still, Google can and does send some human traffic that will convert. But the "real" traffic Google has is highly manipulated by them. For example, I had a burst of orders come in around the 9PM hour last night. I NEVER see bursts of orders at that hour - normally around lunch time. Most people don't decide to pull out their wallet and purchase industrial type products right before bed.

[RedBar]

not seeing the same in my pub niche.

@sw - To be honest I can't see traffic staying at these levels since the live music page was #2 and now it's dropped to #8 after the about page!

In the realworld the hotel and pub are both doing very well, accommodation full, restaurants doing well and bars normal at the moment however I am in an area of extremely low Covid therefore many locals etc are not as worried as in other areas.

[southernguy]

I am seeing the same thing with traffic patterns one minute I see a surge in traffic the next minute nothing, lots of bot traffic. The one niche I was doing ok in for months has now fallen into on-off traffic patterns.

For different search terms, I see nothing but google books, Pinterest, Amazon, and scraper sites, it seems the only time I see relevant search results from Google is when searching for a popular brand name product. Other than that its just garbage.

[samwest]

@rb I'm in Wisconsin...arguably the beer drinkers capital of the world. Bars and resturaunts are at half capacity. Drinking at home should be booming and it was...then Google figured it out and repacked the SERPs accordingly. Now back to pre COVID lows with all of googles hands, er tentacles, in our pockets. They apparently have our number...and have for ten years now.

[frostitomik]

Wisconsin...arguably the beer drinkers capital of the world.

Wisconsin being beer capital of the world? Have you actually heard of, well, Europe? :-D

[Kash1111]

Wow, traffic throttling and extreme case of pinterest pins all over the serps for our niche.

[widgetized]

Yeah, I can confirm traffic throttling since Monday. From my observations, the only active and converting traffic I got on my website this week, has been a small group of returning customers.

As additional proof, I'm running a storewide Summer Sale since late June, it's a storewide sale that was attracting many new customers and abruptly stopped working.

[KaseyM]

Anyone's analytics from yesterday busted?