Google Broad Core Update May 2022

Google Announces Update

[Brett_Tabke]

Core Update.

https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2022/05/may-2022-core-update

[javelin]

This weekend is shaping up to be a strong weekend which I am not accustomed to. Normally traffic trails off a bit from Friday afternoon through Saturday and picks up again after midday Sunday. Today is looking like what I would expect to see anytime within the midweek.

[christianz]

What about people who posted in the thread that they lost traffic - are you also running AdSense?

My site that got hit hard in the English language SERPs is AdSense site. So in my particular case Google didn't spare it because it was AdSense site (with very high profit share for them, compared to anything else).

For my biggest site (so far almost unaffected by this core) first half of today was quite weak, second half was substantially better. Next week will be decisive - it can go either way.

[RedBar]

Saturday was right at the bottom end of a weekend average at 56.7% and after 14 hours of my G Sunday so far it is abnormally low plus looking at it on a weekly basis I am down 30%. I need to check again however it would appear the reduction is in my most popular keyword products having been demoted in the US SERPs.

[renatovieira]

About SERP's and AdSense:

I don't know if I'm talking a lot of bull****, but it could be possible.

Since april my AdSense CPC has been dropping. And now the may update has happened. And my CPC dropped even more.

However, my impressions are massive. I've never had as many daily pageviews and active users on my site as I do now.

Did G lower the CPC in advance to release this latest update and keep it low until the update ends?

I ask this because if the CPC was normal (on average as it always was), my earnings would be in the 6 digits, in short, I would be rich.

Many websites would benefit from high clicks. It is my case.

Coincidences don't exist in the G world, I just have to wait...

[ViktorN]

News website in the finance niche: Didn't notice much of a change last week (when this core update was announced), but since Friday the site is down 30% in traffic.
However, SERP didn't get affected almost at all, still marinating high ranking for hot keywords, what makes me suspect the sharp drop is entitled to Google News and/or news articles mainly.
Over the past two years all the core updates were neutral or positive for us, however, this time it seems to be very bad until now.

[ichthyous]

My traffic has been blitzed...every day usa traffic starts at -50% to -70% from the norm. Canada is at zero most days and UK is significantly down, as is most traffic from Western Europe. Only Australia, E Europe and developing world is up...plenty of India, Paki, Bangladesh, Indonesia and Africa.

I do think that people might just not be searching as much this summer for what I sell due to economic anxiety, the drop in the markets, and the war. But that doesn't explain such huge drops. I had a better few months while it lasted but back down to 2021 levels or worse.

I do not run adsense on my site so that's not a factor

[RedBar]

@renatovieira
I removed AdSense due to both a much lower CTR and EPC on my dedicated widget B2B site, of those B2B sites remaining in my widget industry none carry AdWords any more. Sure widget retailers in many countries still advertise using AdWords however G's antics made sure that traditional sources of information in my widget industry would not profit from their scheme.

[javelin]

Semrush sensor is pegging out at a 9.0 today in volatility. Last time it was near this high was Thurs the 26th of May when the update began. The next nearest was June 1 at 8.1.

My traffic has fallen off for Sunday which is abnormal and no doubt part of the deck shuffling taking place out there. I am down by about 50% so whatever they are doing its going strong. Before today, the days where traffic did slip it was between 10 to 20%.

So we have the rest of this week to ride it out really and then the following week the dust settles. Hopefully we will know more about where things land by the weekend.

[christianz]

Seeing some significant changes for Sunday too, in tune with Semrush sensor.

[RedBar]

This should be crunch week with the roll-out completition therefore the next few days should be very siginificant for those affected.

My last few days have been much quieter than usual with Sunday -50% v a normal weekend day however so far this morning my traffic volume is looking normal. its sources, its searches etc. I was very surprised.

The switch was flipped about 23.00 UK time for me last night.

[pawas]

My website traffic is rollercoasting since the update, but is down overall -20%. All featured snippets are gone for entire site. The website is still ranking at #1 spot for most of those queries.

[RedBar]

I'm back to the roller coaster in the past 3+ hours therefore must assume it's still continuing?

[saladtosser]

Has Danny S said much about this update? I know he was away on holiday when it rolled out but any word from him?

[Markedd]

@saladtosser Well, we don't want to disturb mister Sullivan during his conveniently placed holiday break. Then again, he has proven to be useless time and time again. There is no communication between Google and its subjects for a while now.

[engine]

> Has Danny S said much about this update

Very little, and that's quite usual.

[vphoner]

The last couple of months (since late Nov/Dec) has been a constant slide. But I noticed that my mobile menu plugin (from a major plugin with millions of installs) was missing. So no menu in mobile possibly for months. Everyone should check that their mobile menu is working if they use plugins. I could not get it back up, so I got another plugin (for wordpress). Could a missing navigation menu account for a slide in the Serps or reduced traffic? Not sure how long this has been missing since I rarely check the site on mobile. I am a desktop and tablet user, rarely use the phone for anything unless I am out and about.

[Markedd]

@vphoner Unless it had any effect on the Mobile Usability or the Core Vitals (which you can check), I doubt it has anything to do with the current update.

[vphoner]

@Markedd+ Thanks....Its been a very sad couple of months. Traffic was already low back in November, but now down 90% from that lower level. Seems like they only want the magazine and large company sites with inferior content. Sad transformation of the internet. The innovators will leave and only spammy sites will remain. Older 10+ year sites are getting no respect.

[antigravity]

From what I'm seeing, these broad core updates are Google continuing to dial up domain-level trust and authority...which really just boils down to links.

[ichthyous]

Traffic has skyrocketed today...the first strong day since the 25th. Search is up 43% today, direct traffic also up...English language traffic up ex Canada. Let's see if it lasts or if it's just a blip...

[Alex_1729]

I'm seeing a slight increase in organic traffic as well, but it only started happening in the last 2 to 3 hours. Still could be anything.

[RedBar]

I've just been checking my SERPs again and they're strange, I'm either ranking well or simply not there in the first 100 whereas those missing pages used to do extremely well. I have to assume it's still churning away and not yet finished.

[javelin]

I have to assume it's still churning away and not yet finished.

Semrush desktop cooled a little but the mobile serps were nearly all still above the red line today. So yeah its all still shuffling pretty hard. Im at average for the day with little change.

[RedBar]

Monday was down 33% across nearly all sites for me and a quick comparison analysis of June 1-6 v Jan 1 to May 31 shows:

Page Views -35.4%
Unique Visitors -24.2%
First Time Visitors -22.8%
Returning Visitors 32.2%

For me June is traditionally a good month since many bulk buyers are topping-up stocks for late Summer and ensuring they have the right balance going into Autumn / Winter, my widgets are not impulse purchases.

If traffic continues at this level then I've been hit by "something" and apart from a few big money keyword losses its very difficult to see precisely what unless a worldwide disinterest in my widgets so happened to co-incide with G's update!

[shadowlight]

Seems like they only want the magazine and large company sites with inferior content. Sad transformation of the internet. The innovators will leave and only spammy sites will remain. Older 10+ year sites are getting no respect.

Maybe they want the organics not only less visible but full of thin inferior content too, this would help them with their main goal and that is getting clicks on ADS.

Its all about increasing their revenue these days and getting users to both search for and click on what G wants them too.

[JesterMagic]

>> Seems like they only want the magazine and large company sites with inferior content.

This has been going on for years now. This combined with their search widgets designed to keep visitors on Google properties has pushed our traffic slowly down year after year. Google wants to squeeze organics for profit to increase share price.

The biggest mistake was to allow Google to grow so big. With no real competition, their dominance of the main apps preinstalled on Android (and their payoff to Apple for search), and control of the Play Store have created this vortex that most users do not realize they are in. Lawmakers are to slow and do not understand how tech works and we are probably years away from getting an attempt at least to solve this problem.

Obviously Google is not the only tech company that takes advantage of their users and the inaptness of lawmakers. Apple and Facebook need to be looked at as well.

[ichthyous]

I'm still seeing a huge surge in traffic today, and an increase in ranking for more high volume terms. I certainly hope it lasts, but I suspect it's just another temporary pop as the update rolls out


@Jester Apple is cooking FB by blocking ads on Safari. Not sure, but that could also be affecting Google. Now reports that Apple is coming up with it's own search engine...if true then it looks like one tech giant will do a lot more than the government has, or probably ever will do

[mosxu]

Very silly traffic today not sure who to blame?

[renatovieira]

@ichthyous - Over here too. I see solid numbers, quality traffic up 25% after the last update.

Of course, this won't last long.

My AdSense remains extremely low. I'm sure that when G finishes this update, adsense will go back to normal...

[RedBar]

Fingers crossed, for me something happened about 13.00 UK time, my traffic suddenly returned and looks normal, we shall see for how long!