June 2023 Google Search Observations

[Broaster]

I decided not to post any articles on my niche blog for a few days and on my stat counter I get 3 to 5 visits an hour on average. its hopeless.

[edited by: not2easy at 3:52 pm (utc) on Jun 1, 2023]
[edit reason] _{New month, new thread} [/edit]

[tangor]

Sorry, but this is nonsense. That's how we got the robber barons controlling the entire US economy in the 19th and early 20th centuries until the government finally broke up their monopolies and cartels. The result? A huge expansion of economic growth in the 1950's and 1960's.

There's a big difference between regulations and MONOPOLIES. :)

[muniz900]

I'm a novice, I'm not an expert, I wanted to ask you for some info, it's normal that before the last Google update my traffic spent more time on my site, and then after the update less time remains, I've noticed these changes many times, with an update more pages are viewed per user, instead with other updates fewer pages are viewed per user, such as traffic changes, do you also notice these variations over time, are they normal? Thanks all for help me.

[Treud]

I'm a novice, I'm not an expert, I wanted to ask you for some info, it's normal that before the last Google update my traffic spent more time on my site, and then after the update less time remains, I've noticed these changes many times, with an update more pages are viewed per user, instead with other updates fewer pages are viewed per user, such as traffic changes, do you also notice these variations over time, are they normal? Thanks all for help me.

With updates, your audience may change, you can have visit with more intend to buy/look for informations, or less and maybe your website doesn’t offer what they are looking for. You can start to look what keywords your website is ranking the best and if you offer relevant informations for these KW.

Google update will anyway shuffle everything every few weeks, don’t take anything fro granted.

[RedBar]

@ichthyous

If the website isn't an important source of leads then why bother with it?

Quite simply the last three years have caused chaos for many international businesses with the plandemic followed by massive increases in international shipping rates then almost recessions created by sanctions in many Western countries ... It's no wonder the world is topsy-turvy and confusing since lots of businesses were locked-down, staff furloughed and for more than two years every single trade fair I used to attend was cancelled.

Then all we needed was G to be continually changing its algos and manipulating its SERPs to satisfy certain Govts and countries, is it any wonder the West is in a mess?

[ichthyous]

Then all we needed was G to be continually changing its algos and manipulating its SERPs to satisfy certain Govts and countries, is it any wonder the West is in a mess?

Google is continually changing its algos to maximize the company's profits, inflate ad rates and ppc, maintain its monopoly over the internet, keep its share price higher, and pay huge executive salaries. Google and the other tech companies (especially Amazon) profited substantially from the pandemic. I think that Google realizes that it is working with an outdated technology and business model that is more at risk than Amazon and Apple so that is why it is constantly experimenting with ways to boost revenue, even at the expense of killing search. Search is no longer as important to Google, the next technology is the focus and that is AI...AI has the ability to kill Google as a company so they need to be a leader or they are toast.

[RedBar]

Search is no longer as important to Google

Not only to Google but also seemingly to many users. For me G killed a lot of search interest in 2010 with its image theft and then subsequent "improvement" upgrades simply made things worse with its drive to earn ever more.

I also feel that Joe Public's search interest started to dwindle with ever-more intrusive ads plus by 2010 many people had already had 15 years of www discovery and already 3+ years of smartphone usage, quite simply The Net had become an everyday necessity tool just like water, gas and electricity.

Obviously people still use it a huge amount but do they use it anyhow like they used to? Funnily enough we were talking about this in the pub the other night and I commented that 10 years ago cameras were constantly flashing and phones were in use everywhere, these days very little where I live anyway.

[superclown2]

Search is no longer as important to Google

It's still their bread and butter though. The money they have lost on 'other bets' is mind boggling and that's exactly what AI is - and they are no longer the innovator, but are trying to catch up in a fast moving market, whilst competition gets hotter. Will they make as much from it as they think they will in a market they have no monopoly in?

Without search they would have been toast ages ago - and earnings from it have been dropping steadily. If they continue to turn their 'search engine' into a classified ad site, which they are not far off already, it won't take a lot for some upstart developers, perhaps licensing Bing's database, to chop into their market share big time.

I may have a minority view on this but I welcome the arrival of AI and it's possible use in search. Most of us are heading for hades in a handcart anyway with Google squeezing more and more money out of the work that we have put into our websites, so anything that disrupts that is fine by me.

[ichthyous]

I may have a minority view on this but I welcome the arrival of AI and it's possible use in search. Most of us are heading for hades in a handcart anyway with Google squeezing more and more money out of the work that we have put into our websites, so anything that disrupts that is fine by me.

I have a different view of AI as I see it essentially wiping out my niche and making it easier for competitors to generate crap products based partly on my own real-world IP and sell it for a cheaper price on the market. AI is going to decimate the creative fields.

I don't see any upside to search incorporating generative AI at all, and Google has already shown that it won't include links in Bard results. I do see a lot of potential upside for society at large in terms of medical discoveries, perhaps speeding up research and science considerably, computational models etc...but it will come at a huge price for a lot of people.

I do agree 100% that Google needs major competition and disruption, but there is no assurance that that will do any of us here any good, will it? The most likely outcome is that we produce more mega-billionaires and not anything accruing to the benefit of small businesses at all.

[superclown2]

I have a different view of AI as I see it essentially wiping out my niche and making it easier for competitors to generate crap products based partly on my own real-world IP and sell it for a cheaper price on the market. AI is going to decimate the creative fields.

Sadly you may well be right. Copyright protection is something that Google drove a coach and horses through nearly 20 years ago and it has got worse ever since. Hopefully the various conferences on limiting AI will address this, if not lawyers will make a fortune.

In the meanwhile all my images are blocked from search engines, as well as the Google Classified Ads Company, via robots.txt. That doesn't help with those they've already captured though.

I do agree 100% that Google needs major competition and disruption, but there is no assurance that that will do any of us here any good, will it?

Google has been turning the screw tighter on publishers for years now. They will continue to drive them out of business until stopped. At least AI is a force that might do that.

[Martin Ice Web]

Worst weekend ever. Today is -58%. Zero sales from google so far. +55% sales from amazon
All our main categories have been wiped out and have been replaced by ads.

[Rlilly]

A listing of mine in position 4 in organics links ends up being in the 27 position in the SERPS (thats almost on page 3) by the time you pass by sponsored images ads, sponsored links, a couple of organic listings, scroll passed questions, more images and ads, then keyword suggestions, then a few videos links, more rows of images, then you get my awesome link no 4 in the organics (never gets clicked on anymore)

[BigKat]

A listing of mine in position 4 in organics links ends up being in the 27 position in the SERPS (thats almost on page 3) by the time you pass by sponsored images ads, sponsored links, a couple of organic listings, scroll passed questions, more images and ads, then keyword suggestions, then a few videos links, more rows of images, then you get my awesome link no 4 in the organics (never gets clicked on anymore)

Ranking #1 doesn't do much better than #4 from what I see in our ranks because of the spammed ads. Google organic has been pretty much dead for us going on 4 months now, though we are seeing a slow (very slow) rise in sales coming from other search engines and sources. Too slow for comfort, but options are limited as we ride out the shift in where shoppers go when they can't find what they want/need on Amazon or Google, which is mostly Amazon ads.

[superclown2]

A listing of mine in position 4 in organics links ends up being in the 27 position in the SERPS (thats almost on page 3) by the time you pass by sponsored images ads, sponsored links, a couple of organic listings, scroll passed questions, more images and ads, then keyword suggestions, then a few videos links, more rows of images, then you get my awesome link no 4 in the organics (never gets clicked on anymore)

I was at an SEO conference a few years ago where the consensus of opinion was that Google would eventually completely destroy publishers in this way because of their need to increase earnings year after year (which they are faltering at) unless they were controlled. The American government won't do that for years at least, because of Google's 'lobbying' efforts, and they are the only ones who are really capable of reigning them in.

Did you ever watch The Little Shop Of Horrors? At least Google demands feeding with ad money and nothing more organic. The result is similar though.

Interestingly, my earning from Bing over the last week have started to become noticeable; if only they would realise how much business they lose by hiding ads in such a naive way.

[Dooku]

Ranking #1 doesn't do much better than #4 from what I see in our ranks because of the spammed ads

This is the reason that email campaigns are on the rise again......and I predict this will become MUCH more in the near future.
If your business/website allows for, or is useful for email marketing, then start offering "value" in return for email addresses ASAP!
Those email addresses are MUCH more valuable than google search!

[ichthyous]

Sadly you may well be right. Copyright protection is something that Google drove a coach and horses through nearly 20 years ago and it has got worse ever since. Hopefully the various conferences on limiting AI will address this, if not lawyers will make a fortune.

Google has been my best friend in this regard. They amplified the ability for people to find and steal my images around the world. I set up a legal recovery system that goes after them in the USA, UK, Canada, Australia and continental Europe. I am now adding Dubai. The result has been a return in copyright infringement recovery that is well in the six figures most years. It's all in how you play it. You must actually take the time to register your works with the copyright office in DC, or whatever authority in your country. It's a lot of work, but nothing in life is free.

In the meanwhile all my images are blocked from search engines, as well as the Google Classified Ads Company, via robots.txt. That doesn't help with those they've already captured though.

You are depriving yourself of any future revenue from infringements and from any possible AI suits. My entire site has been scraped and included in the major AI datasets. I have been busy documenting that. The lawsuits are already flying and OpenAi, Google and the rest are going to be buried alive in suits. The Supreme Court of the United States has already affirmed that the BS excuse of Fair Use doesn't cut it in the recent case Warhol Foundation vs. Goldsmith. None of these companies will be shielded by Fair Use moving forward. One thing the SCOTUS got right.

[BigKat]

I was at an SEO conference a few years ago where the consensus of opinion was that Google would eventually completely destroy publishers in this way because of their need to increase earnings year after year (which they are faltering at) unless they were controlled. The American government won't do that for years at least, because of Google's 'lobbying' efforts, and they are the only ones who are really capable of reigning them in.

I had thought Google would eventually use organic results for filler, but I never expected them to show irrelevant ads in lieu of relevant organic results. Seems I underestimated Google's greed and lack of concern for answering their user's queries. I wouldn't count on the American Government doing anything to get in Google's way. With all the grant money Google got from the USA Government in their early years, for mass surveillance, the USA Government has no incentive to reign Google in and instead appears intent on staying out of the way so Google can continue to expand.

This is the reason that email campaigns are on the rise again......and I predict this will become MUCH more in the near future.

I hope you're correct. Anything that erodes Amazon and Google's influence in ecommerce is a plus for consumers and those of us that operate smaller stores.

[ichthyous]

Once again, a huge increase in traffic all day Sunday and Monday. Eight new high-budget customer inquiries were submitted from my website and also phone calls in less than 18 hours from across the USA, Europe and Dubai. That's after two weeks of almost no inquiries at all. If this pattern holds, it will be over by tomorrow and then 10-14 more days of complete silence. Anyone else seeing a huge increase of real traffic in the last 48 hours or so?

[ronron]

^ I was going to say this before, but every update you have ichthyous mirrors my own exactly. My site is a content based blog however. So yes, Sunday and Monday a jump in traffic from Google after a long 10 days or so where it was suppressed. The 10 days or so was also the longest stretch in a while where Google did not turn the taps back on. Usually, the throttled traffic had a daily rhythm to it.

[Treud]

Same here, I see inquiries again and some conversion. Traffic is increasing a bit (not yet cover the loss from last month but I’ll take it).

I have exactly the same pattern as you ichthyous, I had a 2 weeks complete silence, nothing, no email, no conversion attempt (abandon cart). Totally dead. And since 1st of June starts to comeback little by little.

[Mestrick]

Today again the fluctuation is very high, every refresh is changing the SERP rankings. No next page links bug also coming often. My websites are dancing 1st page, 2nd page no proper traffic today

[RubicCubed]

every update you have ichthyous mirrors my own exactly.

I feel Google tries to rotate some buyer traffic to keep us interested. The problem is for those small niches there is little buyer traffic, and with all the ads few or no sales from Google has become the norm whether we are in the rotation or not. If being in the rotation for one day on and two weeks off is enough to pay the bills is the concern for some of us with typical overhead (warehouses, utilities, employees and the like). I'm grateful our sales are doing ok and coming from other places besides Google.

[mosxu]

Today only bots

[renatovieira]

Huge drop today... :/

[RedBar]

@Dooku

Those email addresses are MUCH more valuable than google search!

Absolutely, I started collecting bona fide trade email addresses in 1995 and have done so to this day abiding by all best practice rules. I usually only email about once a month with an unsubscribe rate lower than dying email addresses!

One word of advice about eshots, do not send massive image files without the subscribers approval. This year I have seen an explosion of 20-50MB image attachments with no unsuscribe link which has annoyed me to the extent that I have had to complain loudly when they send 2-3 week.

[ichthyous]

If being in the rotation for one day on and two weeks off is enough to pay the bills is the concern for some of us with typical overhead (warehouses, utilities, employees and the like). I'm grateful our sales are doing ok and coming from other places besides Google.

It's not, for any of us I think. This last burst on Sunday and Monday just reinforces how many people are actually looking for my products but can't find them for weeks at a stretch...even when I am ranking at the top, which I am. I should be making sales left, right and center, but weeks of silence at a time. Unfortunately, I have not been able to find alternatives that work as well as Google, and I have been trying a lot of alternatives since 2018.

[yollo03]

I believe the past upgrade that cause a drop in traffic for some members here (including myself) was reversed (which explains the recent traffic surge including myself) and now 'an improved' version of the update that was reversed is being rolled out.

The algorithms decide who will earn and who will not.

[anubitez]

Does anyone notice these threads now require you to sign in ;) well for the one's with Google Search Observations in the name.

guess Webmastersworld does not want to upset John M with the fact nearly all webmasters have given up and getting ripped while Google continues to rip our content ;)

unless i am mistaken.

[RubicCubed]

It's not, for any of us I think. This last burst on Sunday and Monday just reinforces how many people are actually looking for my products but can't find them for weeks at a stretch...even when I am ranking at the top, which I am.

Unfortunately it also reinforces just how tight of a grip Google has over shoppers looking for what you sell. It also highlights how Google's excessive ads make organic results near worthless, which is what the traffic data (lack of Google traffic) tells me too. I'm thinking the burst of traffic some may see occurs when Google removes these excessive ads briefly to push some change in layout or ranks. Because it has been this way for us for so many months, I don't see Google removing the excessive ads. If anything, Google is likely to push their money harvesting ad layouts globally once there is no additional revenue left to extract from the USA.

[ErrlyBird]

I'm in a niche where ads are not a thing. I'm still seeing the same as all of you. It's not just ads preventing traffic, although I am sure it plays a huge role, my niche is just as stirred up and no ads clouding the pool.

[mosxu]

Personalisation is the issue not even ads are displayed based on the bid, quality score and so on!

Regardless how high the bid ads do no show to searchers ready to use the credit card by clicking 3-4 ads!

It is like a penalty to our advertising account!