August 2023 Google Search Observations

[RedBar]

Like many here my global overall traffic was down in July but looking at my metrics today very interestingly my Unique Visitors were at my 2023 average.

Is anyone else seeing this, i.e. page views per visitor were substantially less? Mine was -15%.

[Nutterum]

As I said two weeks ago, The update hit EU around the start of August, because major SERP players with million+ products and traffic got major losses compared to PBN websites. Things have normalized a bit now, but I tell you there are some trash websites still in the top spots. What is interesting in the apparel niche is that local brands are out-competing big international brands which is always lovely to see.

[BigKat]

What is interesting in the apparel niche is that local brands are out-competing big international brands which is always lovely to see.

Definitely not that way here in the USA. I searched for a dry (dri) fit shirt on desktop:

At the top is a horizontal product ad block with (8) products.
Next is Amazon (organic) with (7) images that all go to the same URL on Amazon
Next is People Also Ask box
Next is Target (organic) serp with (1) image
Next is Walmart (organic) with (7) images that all go to the same URL on Walmart
Next is a 2 x 4 product ad block - Half of the (8) product ads are for Amazon

Very similar layout applies in our industry. Small businesses don't have the deep wallets some of these subsidized online retailers have for ads so Google has no use for us. And TBH, we have no use for Google either. Google's anti-small business tactics got old years ago and has really damaged Google's reputation. What Google has done to us small businesses this year is the icing on the cake.

[RedBar]

For my global sites and UK focussed sites traffic has been down since the core update announcement, not a good start.

[Micha]

I'm not sure if it's because of the update, but I've been getting significantly more traffic from Google News since the day before yesterday (before that it was almost 0). That sometimes an article provides a lot of traffic is normal, but in the three days there were different articles.

[Fluff_Nutz]

After getting hit by the 2022 October ''spam'' update and losing 90% of my traffic and revenue. I was finally able to recover this month. August was looking like a great month. Now the G update has arrived though. SMACK. I am now down by 15-20%. However, thankfully I am still up by 45% compared to last month.

[muniz900]

@mrproxy

Hi, are you a webmaster of adult sites? If the Google update affected you you should see it in your analytics, if you've a decrease or increase in site traffic! What niche does your site cover, general #*$!?

[Broaster]

@Fluff Nutiz what niche are you in and how did you recover what did you do?

[Cyril TechWebsites]

This update was a last hope. Right now you can do nothing if your website is being demoted. After 8 months of updating, cleaning, technical improvements etc - after update NOTHING happened. These guys from Google doesn't care about anything. They are pretty sure that the things are going right. I understood this after this update. There is no sense in producing content, you are just feeding Google for free with it. It's just disgusting situation. All their bull***t is a total lie, nothing works what they are recommend. No "content is a king", it's a lie. Just depressed about these badasses.

[Micha]

@Cyril TechWebsites the update lasts 2 weeks in the time will still happen some things.

[christianz]

in the time will still happen some things

When the best websites are systematically demoted for 10 years straight, I don't think there is much sense waiting for some improvement in next week or two. Google is done.

[Micha]

Yes of course we all know that small websites will now lose ranking again and big ones will continue to rise, but within these two weeks it is still impossible to estimate what the impact will be.

[ichthyous]

Google's anti-small business tactics got old years ago and has really damaged Google's reputation. What Google has done to us small businesses this year is the icing on the cake.

Google is a corporation and its business is providing returns to shareholders and to make its executive class rich. The effect on small businesses was never a consideration, and they know full well the effect they have with each change. The reality is that Google changed drastically the minute the company went public.

In 2010 they dropped image search traffic 90%+ overnight in the first major assault on traffic. Then all the spam and algo changes, which yes were there to combat rampant spamming, but also more and more to rig the game toward ad revenue and away from organic traffic freeloaders like us.

By 2017/2018 I was already desperate to get away from depending on Google and even opened a physical location and was spending a fortune on other platforms which promised to bring traffic. Those platforms were a joke compared to Google organic search, and I closed the physical location during the pandemic. It's very hard to see any alternative without huge pockets to spread money across platforms that really only enrich Google, Meta, and Amazon.

Small business can do that only if those platforms actually deliver results...I can say from experience that Google ads and Instagram-boosted posts certainly do not. They are a total waste of cash. I don't sell through Amazon and never will, so I can't comment there. But I can see that the internet is no longer a place where any small business can flourish. We are captured by monopolies. Internet now is just a side show where you hope to get some sales here and there but it's not steady or consistent business and hasn't been for years. The other part of this equation is the consumer...from what I see, consumption was hyped up during the pandemic and has now dropped to a level that was lower than pre-pandemic. Unlike 2022 I am getting inquiries this year...despite dropping prices the customers are mostly not buying. People are not spending freely and there is a ton of competition.

[ichthyous]

Traffic has been gangbusters this weekend...search is up 27% and direct is up 53% today at 3pm. I am dubious about such large increases, there's no way that will last. But for now the new customer inquiries are rolling in. Perhaps the post-COVID economy is stabilizing a bit, and the fear of a major recession is easing?

[francoseo]

lots of traffic today

[edited by: not2easy at 2:28 am (utc) on Aug 28, 2023]
[edit reason] splice cleanup [/edit]

[tom_010101]

Hello Forum,

first, sorry my bad englisch. I am from Germany!

I've been running the website <snip> since 2013 and, up until now, I've never really been significantly affected by the various Google core updates. However, the Core Update of 2023 has really hit hard, and it's like my website has been dead in the water for the past 3 days. Traffic has plummeted by over 50%, and when checking on Sistrix, visibility has literally been slashed in half. Now, I'm left wondering, what should I do!? :crazyeyes:

Google's general advice is, in essence, "don't panic," asserting that it's not necessarily a reflection of the website's quality. Additionally, the Google Core Update 2023 has only been rolling out for 3 days, and according to Google, it can take up to 14 days to fully implement. So, what do you all think? Could there be potential shifts in the coming days, or is that unlikely?

Honestly, I'm not exactly well-versed in SEO. I'm familiar with the basics and have applied a fair amount over the years, but right now, I'm simply at a loss regarding what, if anything, I should change. :o My website currently hosts over 30,000 blog posts and is far from being a site solely designed for search engines. The content is genuine (apart from a few press releases) and has always been unique, attracting around 40,000 daily readers. That's seemingly come to a halt now... What are your thoughts on this whole situation?
Thank you!
Tom

[edited by: engine at 6:31 am (utc) on Aug 28, 2023]
[edit reason] please see charter and WebmasterWorld TOS [/edit]

[Markedd]

@Cyril TechWebsites Stop believing things will get better on the Google search. They won't. Ever. Stop it. Now is the time to move platforms. I am sure your content can be translated in videos, so go on YouTube (be careful though because it's still Alphabet controlling it), go on TikTok, Instagram. Blast that content everywhere and put links towards your website. Google search is no more.

[Micha]

@tom_010101
Welcome and greetings also from Germany.

Unfortunately, you are like many of us. Google gives great advice, but as you must have noticed, they don't help much. In our country, especially the ÖR is favored by Google, paired with a few other big publishers.

With the current update, there will be fluctuations within these 14 days, but after that as well and it will probably be the same for us small sites as always: we lose traffic.

Personally, I think that Google itself doesn't know where to go at the moment and is focusing on keeping visitors clicking on ads. So the pages that have a lot of traffic anyway are seen as important because they are also very well known, i.e. Tagesschau, Spiegel etc.

Unfortunately, there is no patent remedy that tells you what to do about it. The only thing I can advise you is not to give up and keep doing your thing without paying so much attention to Google.

[MayankParmar]

[twitter.com...]

Still waiting for Googlers to explain what's going on here and admit their SERPS can be gamed with links and tons of articles.

[Saurabh Chahal]

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System: The following message was spliced on to this thread from: https://www.webmasterworld.com/google/5092346.htm [webmasterworld.com] by engine - 9:32 am on Aug 29, 2023 (utc +1)

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Again Google rolled out new update, did you guys see any major changes in impression, clicks & traffic?

[RedBar]

A most unusual few days for my global site after the update with the first 4 days as follows for page views:

87.5%
85.5%
84%
84.5%
and then yesterday 145% but today down again.

Our hotel veue on Sunday had its highest day of 2023 at 300% which was also its second-highest ever in 20 years. Monday was 157% however today, so far, is dead.

We'll see what the rest of this week and into next brings!

[RedBar]

Absolutely dead for all sites, global site was 79.5% yesterday, our hotel venue was 54.2% and so far today after 10+ hours it's at 3.3% ... Yes, three point three percent ... More in-depth required!

[Fluff_Nutz]

Noticing some fluctuations today. Past few days have been either +10% or -11%. Not too big. Small changes. However, today I am currently experiencing a -30% to -50% drop.
In comparison, I'm still +20% to +105% over last month. However, looking back to 2022 I am down by -50% to 70%.. So much for recovering.

[Treud]

I see a little improvement and receive better traffic (quality), I don't rely on mass for the ads, but I feel the targeted audience is better. Less impressions, like -30%, but the CTR doubled as well the inquiries. So for now it's good.

[Martin Ice Web]

The last 3 days traffic has been ok und slightly up. But today it is down to 50% again. And needles to say traffic is rubbish, no engagement, no inquiries, no sales from google traffic.
And i never noticed it but yesterday: the most popular sites donīt care about google guidelines. They care about customers. E.g. booking.com has a a fatal loading speed, SEO and best practise or conrad is even worse.
On my best knowledge i would now say that SEO (sitespeed, best practice) is not realy a ranking factor.
And as i think of it, first impression is the ranking factor number one for customers. While hunting for better performance a.s.o. we just killed the look, the style and the identity.
SEO isnīt bad but if google decides to say the font is to small. And? Now what? But it looks better. And that is what the customers sees. They donīt say: OH! Nice this site observs the google guidelines.

[Fluff_Nutz]

Traffic is once again dead at the start of the day. Exactly like yesterday. But even further down compared to the previous day. It's like the site is being strangled more and more during the early hours and into the start of the afternoon. With each passing day.
Thankfully the site did pick up during the afternoon yesterday but due to the morning 'strangulation' it ended up being -14%. Love G updates!

[mhansen]

Traffic is once again dead at the start of the day. Exactly like yesterday. But even further down compared to the previous day. It's like the site is being strangled more and more during the early hours and into the start of the afternoon.

I experience a very similar trend on a site that competes heavily with both local and national queries in the lead gen market. Slow traffic in the morning hours (6-11am) and picking up significantly from lunchtime to 9PM at night. It's my belief that this is the result of ads in the serps, with placement being heaviest earlier in the day to assure Google can spend through an advertisers daily ad budget. More ads, more spacing in ads based on screen size, etc.

I have a 1440p monitor with a vertical resolution of 1440px and ads take up the entire viewable screen with wider spacing between ad blocks, more ads with site links, etc. When I switch to my laptop with only a 1080p vertical resolution, the same ads take up the entire screen with smaller spacing, fewer ads with site links etc.

[Micha]

Since yesterday, it has been dribbling along comfortably. Once again invisible in Google News and also lost a lot of visibility otherwise. What is new, however, is that Google traffic is only sporadic from around 10pm and the trickle starts again at 9am.

[BigKat]

ads take up the entire viewable screen

Same for us but there is no easing of the ads any time of day, evening or night. Google has been absolutely dead for months with Google displaying what's most profitable for them instead of what's most relevant to the user. At least knowing #1 positions in Google produce very little traffic when they're buried under ads, and being unable to rank above a full screen of ads, we aren't wasting any effort/money with Google.

[ichthyous]

I don't get it, my site is getting very large traffic bumps every day since this update. Search is up 18-30%. I think in my case it has a lot to do with seasonality and perhaps the fear of recession is waning, but the number of new inquiries is also much higher.

[RedBar]

Traffic is once again dead at the start of the day.

Likewise, all over the place, hardly any consistency whatsoever, I have some local UK sites that have been dead since the core update which is a first for them yet their rankings seem to be unchanged ... For the moment I'm putting it down to end of summer plus schools returning next week ... I'm going to check on previous years since I don't remember this happening before.

[System]

New month, new thread open now: [webmasterworld.com...]

[edited by: not2easy at 6:48 pm (utc) on Sep 1, 2023]
[edit reason] New month, new thread [/edit]