Google Updates and SERP Changes - April 2022

[goodroi]

---

System: The following message was cut out of thread at: https://www.webmasterworld.com/google/5058707.htm [webmasterworld.com] by goodroi - 5:58 am on Apr 1, 2022 (utc -5)

---

It's time for our April 2022 Google SEO discussion.

March SERPs changes appeared smaller, with no significant algorithm changes, and the fluctuations were noticed more locally by individual webmasters. Of course, Google continued to test and experiment throughout the month, with some announcements: See below.

For those of you that may have missed some of the announcements and changes, here are some of the stories from March.

Google Updates and SERP Changes - March 2022 [webmasterworld.com]

Google confirmed the Page Experience update for Desktop [webmasterworld.com] was completed in March.
Google has released a Product Review in Search Update [webmasterworld.com]
Short video on Requesting Removal of Content Under "Right To Be Forgotten" [webmasterworld.com]
Learning learning how to connect, visualize, and analyze Search Console Data using Google Data Studio [webmasterworld.com]
Google's Android Rolls Out Deletion of Last 15 Minutes of Your Search [webmasterworld.com]
Google's John Mueller confirms it doesn't use the keywords meta tag for ranking. This is old news, of course, but it goes on to indicate what contributes to ranking. [webmasterworld.com]
An interesting discussion on SEO Tools for Web Developers [webmasterworld.com]
Google says, "we’ve decreased the number of irrelevant results by over 50pct" [webmasterworld.com]
There's now more context to Structured Data issues now in Search Console [webmasterworld.com]
Google Adds "Highly Cited" Labels for News Sources [webmasterworld.com]

Enough catching up, so let's get on with the latest SERPs observations for April.

[Sgt_Kickaxe]

Branded topics, using full page iframes disguised as credit links, and even some spun content that refreshes each pageload are things you'd expect Google to nail first time when a site goes from zero to 2.5 million pageviews and over 250,000 pages in its first year... but they don't.

[Yagnesh Aegis]

Friday is a surprise day, with huge changes in SERP - too many keywords are dropped from the 1st and 2nd page to the 5th and 9th pages. Anything is rolling out?

[JasonBlaze]

My realtime analytics data is still messed up, anyone else experiencing this?

[Neohippy]

@JasonBlaze - yup! They said they fixed it (https://www.seroundtable.com/real-time-google-analytics-latency-issues-33212.html), and it did look normal for a little while this morning, but playing up again now.

[JasonBlaze]

@Neohippy, same here it was fixed in the morning, but the issue is there again. Unable to monitor traffic properly is making me doubt if my site is hit with an update.

[Neohippy]

You can usually still see the accurate number if you go to Realtime > content; the 'metric total' should show the right figure

[JasonBlaze]

I tried it, and it shows accurate sometime, and even that messes up sometime, just really confuse to as to what is going on now.

[mosxu]

Few weeks now only fake traffic

[Sgt_Kickaxe]

It's not fake, it's leftovers.

[marcus528]

I think something rolled on Friday, my traffic is down 28%..

Anyone else experiencing big increase or decrease?

[ichthyous]

Few weeks now only fake traffic

It's not fake, it's leftovers

I have noticed the same thing...yes a higher level of traffic on some days (the days when the USA / UK / CA / AU traffic isn't mysteriously dropping off a cliff)...but that higher traffic seems to be fake (based on the number of visits to one page and nothing else...and the traffic patterns) or very poor quality (very few conversions, and those that do inquire don't buy at all).

[Sgt_Kickaxe]

- English query Youtube video results with english titles where the content starts off "Hello my friends" and immediately switches to another language.

- English search results containing the odd links to different language sites

- Traffic from a city that is traditionally 98% English suddenly becoming 98% non-english for 6 hours at a time.

All related. Not fake, but not entirely useful. I doubt the advertisers like it either.

[ichthyous]

Anyone else experiencing big increase or decrease?

Not on Friday, but it sure hit me at 9am on Saturday. USA traffic down 35% today. Every other country "normal". It mostly seems to be a drop in direct traffic these days, which has been well below normal for weeks. Rank is holding steady, so must be a lot more crap on the page today

[ichthyous]

Complete insanity...not one visit from the UK today by noon. ZERO. UK typically refers about 1/3 as much traffic as USA on any day. USA traffic was down 26% by end of day yesterday...very low all day and then a big spike in the late eve.

Keep in mind, this is while my site has recovered many of the top 3 ranking spots that it lost in 2021 and has been on an upward trend in ranking for two months.

[javelin]

Normally I hang in the background and just read, yet coming here to say I think something is starting to shake up. I cannot help but feel that this is the beginning of what may become a multi month push from now till May or June.

It seems like the last year and a half has seen more major changes than in previous years, it could just be my perception though. It could get worse before it gets better. Some people may have to rethink their strategies.

[Sgt_Kickaxe]

Welcome to the WebmasterWorld forums, javelin.

As I type this my search console is updated thru April 9th and it's early on the 11th. I've grown to like using SC to evaluate Google traffic issues since Google would know better what my search exposure was than even their own analytics platform.

Analytics is fine for live data but if you want more accurate data sometimes it's best to wait for SC to update, especially when trying to diagnose a noticeable change. If you rely on Analytics I suggest drilling down to make sure you're looking at the individual page level data. Some sites have a page that gets 20% of traffic, for example, and that page fluctuating will look like a major site change.

disclosure: I process my own server data when I want an update NOW, I don't automaticaly have analytics on a site.

.

[BushyTop]

How are people fairing at the moment? we're seeing another patch of uncoverting traffic, however our search verticals do look better when I look through them. More diverse. Lots more product specialists getting the exposure they deserve, rather than what went previously... of just the same top 5 results for every search derivative in the industry.

[ichthyous]

I am starting the day with USA -65% and UK -79%. Search is -40%, and visits to my home page are -56%. My major landing pages down up to 65%. I'm seeing the same pattern over and over...early in the day traffic is very low and then surges in the 2nd half of the day. But in general, traffic has been weak for almost three weeks now, and that is despite recouping a lot of the SERPs I had lost from April 2021-June 2021. It's been a slow climb upward since early February, but with less traffic to show for it.

[mhansen]

early in the day traffic is very low and then surges in the 2nd half of the day.

We see this exact thing - lower traffic/conversion in the morning hours and after 12-1pm, it picks up considerably and carries into the evening hours. I'm in a USA, country-wide market that is dominated by the users local results regardless of where they are. I assume this is due to the larger number of ad-spend dollars going out earlier in the day, crowding the serps - especially on mobile devices. (Higher prevalence of map ads, more top ads with site links, bottom ads, etc)

The website will be slow and trickling with visitors early, then after lunch (EST) it ramps up and stays steady, with occasional bursts of traffic/conversions throughout the remainder.

I get the same "bursts" of traffic/conversions that others have reported seeing. For 15 minutes there's just a handful of visits and no conversions, then for the next 10 minutes, it's like someone opened a spigot of high volume, higher quality traffic that converts as intended. Rinse and repeat throughout the day and week. Almost like Google is "filling out quota" for the time period.

[BigKat]

How are people fairing at the moment? we're seeing another patch of uncoverting traffic, however our search verticals do look better when I look through them.

Might be specific to your region as I'm not seeing this in the USA. Possibly the EU is more more engaged in demanding diverse search results while our leaders here in the USA sit back and lick ice cream cones?

My experience mirrors that of ichthyous:

early in the day traffic is very low and then surges in the 2nd half of the day. But in general, traffic has been weak for almost three weeks now

For the last two weeks, converting traffic from Google has dropped substantially. Our other traffic sources are converting, despite the inflationary environment, which isolates Google for their poor traffic quality.

[ichthyous]

A massive decline this morning in USA and UK traffic...it's noon and still down 70%
[ibb.co ]

I assume this is due to the larger number of ad-spend dollars going out earlier in the day, crowding the serps - especially on mobile devices. (Higher prevalence of map ads, more top ads with site links, bottom ads, etc)

I just checked for one group of search terms I was ranking highly for for years. On mobile you have:
1 - Excerpt taken from Wikipedia explaining the topic, with images. This takes up the entire screen
2 - "People also ask" with 4 questions taking most of screen
3 - Local search results - takes entire screen
4 - A block of books related to topic - If you click it starts with google shopping ads, then amazon listings etc
5 - 1st organic link - Wikipedia again
6 - organic link...how to article
7 - organic link...how to article
8 - Block of youtube videos
9 - organic link...how to article
10 - organic link...how to article

The first organic listing that is not a 'how-to' or 'best-of article' is mine, at #14. This does shift around...in the previous search I was at #9. This topic is now dead for me in terms of traffic...it fell off a cliff starting on 3/21 and has been way down ever since. Today -77%
[ibb.co ]

I see this same thing across numerous searches now...so of course traffic and business is just gone. If anyone wanted to buy something related to the topic and not just a HOW TO article they can't find it. Any site with commercial intent is gone, and there wasn't one ad on the page for this search until well below my site. Typically the page is also loaded with ads too.

[shadowlight]

For the last two weeks, converting traffic from Google has dropped substantially.

Yes been the same for me. No change in rank just poor traffic that doesn't convert since around the beginning of April.

[kidemliabi]

Hello to everyone,
For a year google has very serious spam problems. Spam sites are constantly increasing in Google search.
They can reach millions of hits in 1 week. Oh my god, this is incredible.
Am I the only one seeing these spam sites? They are in the top 10 of millions of searches. These sites are redirecting ads. <snip>
Has anyone seen sites similar to this? I really want to congratulate those who made it :)

[edited by: not2easy at 10:16 pm (utc) on Apr 13, 2022]
[edit reason] No specific sites please (See Tos/Charter) [/edit]

[javelin]

This information may help some here who focus more on commercial conversions. It may also help relate to a shift I believe I have seen take place in Google.

Note: My focus is as a writer. I own a business which is unrelated to my sites which provides income. My work on the web is focused on writing as it is what I love to do.

Since January I have seen an increase of near 300% keyword density, most are variations of head keywords reaching into long tail variants.
Positions within the density have improved and traffic has steadily increased. Number one positions improve each week, subsequent positions have done the same.

The only linking I have done are with those that I share or collaborate with. I have never sought out any kind of intentional "linking" to attempt improving statistics.

From what I can see, it appears some time ago that Google may have begun breaking off commercial keywords from informational. It appears they want to commercialize via ads or other means those pages. Informational pages seem to have been boosted from where I am sitting.

I know each industry will be different with its own unique challenges. Nevertheless this is my experience.

[ichthyous]

From what I can see, it appears some time ago that Google may have begun breaking off commercial keywords from informational. It appears they want to commercialize via ads or other means those pages. Informational pages seem to have been boosted from where I am sitting.

That is exactly right, but it's not new at all. Google implemented this change starting in early April 2021, then it really shifted with the June update. I lost most of my top performing terms at that time. The top ranking sites all shifted to "how to" articles and anything with commercial intent went bye bye. They are just hoping to force any site which is not obviously informational to pay. It doesn't help that almost all of the search terms I ranked on were local or could be interpreted to have commercial or informational intent. Google switched it to 100% informational, which is obviously not what everyone wants as I had plenty of business before and it all vanished. Does anyone really need five or six how to articles in a row?

[javelin]

@ichthyous I never have minded improvements to quality, that is fine. The rules to the game should be the same for everyone. Once established improving the playing field does not mean changing the rules creating exceptions in order to obtain monetary gain.

It is interesting though that they cannot hit their target accurately. I see others that are being hit which are information only but the algo is treating them otherwise. When using keywords to create the basis for this, at least it seems initially this is the case, many complications arise impacting those outside the target area.

People should be clued in here that their AI is really infantile. It is still heavily keyword dependent lacking understanding of the semantics. Google is trying to go somewhere they technologically cannot achieve... not yet anyway.

There is no doubt that they broke their search engine. This is why I said before that we should expect to see more aggressive updates to the core and other peripheral components. More horror is to come this summer in that regard.

This is what it would be like if Linux had reassignment surgery transforming into the monstrosity of Windows. Horrible.

[KaseyM]

I simply cannot believe how much spam is in the results right now.

Just saw one of those streaming illegal sites popup in Google News. Quite incredible.

[Sgt_Kickaxe]

Kasey, I saw an alarming headline in Google News this week, it brought about instant deja-vu feelings. I clicked to read more and it was an article written 12 years ago that the site just made an edit to. It got new article treatment from Google.

Check the dates of what you read I guess.

[christianz]

I simply cannot believe how much spam is in the results right now.

There is no doubt that they broke their search engine. This is why I said before that we should expect to see more aggressive updates to the core and other peripheral components. More horror is to come this summer in that regard.

Yes. They went heavily in a direction that turned out to be dead end. If they fill the top positions with blue checkmark sites and googlesapm, this total absence of ranking intelligence is somewhat masked for large portion of the average user.

[Dooku]

There is no doubt that they broke their search engine.

Is it just me or has Startpage really improved in the last months? Bing is cr@p as always regarding serp results, but Startpage really surprised me, especially as I am located in the EU. Now I keep comparing results from Sartpage with G for regular searches just to see if Startpage misses some results. But it appears that I very rarely now need G to do regular searches (unless specifically for SEO combined with seo tools).