November 2023 Google Search Observations

[RedBar]

Global site Monday and Tuesday USA traffic -40%

So far today, Wednesday, 40% of my traffic is from the Russian Federation, not bots.

[edited by: not2easy at 12:49 pm (utc) on Nov 1, 2023]
[edit reason] split cleanup - New month, new thread [/edit]

[christianz]

Huge drop today, after a big increase yesterday.

Yes, today is a lot weaker than yesterday.

[Micha]

I'll join in: Today it's very weak again...

[edited by: Micha at 9:09 pm (utc) on Nov 4, 2023]

[ami3810]

Our websites are going through a disaster. Traffic is as close to 0 as it gets. Websites that got a boost from the October Update crashed really badly with this November Update.

Funny enough, one of our websites dropped for a page that was original content today but (!) a website scrapping content now ranks for it. It is not even a larger publisher that took the content. It is a scrapper. A scrapping website is outranking us. Google is doing great.

[Treud]

after a few days, my traffic is now "stable" at -10%, but no conversion at all and no inquiry. My biggest supplier also saying it's rather low business.
My impression remains the same, but my CTR tanked. Maybe another Box results changed (after removing all the product's rich snippets), they probably only want items from GoogleShopping to standout and obviously the paid ones.

[Micha]

When I look at the current data from Xovi today, Google is simply winding up my site. Visibility has dropped even further, almost all the top 10 keywords have been lost, etc. (my direct competitor's site is doing the same). I'm particularly annoyed that copies of our articles are ranking well.

Other sites that I monitor have also suffered massive losses. My conclusion that Google no longer sees any point in niche sites/blogs and is weeding them out unfortunately remains.

[Conro]

It's really true, there's no limit to the worst. In addition to the constant Google updates, a negative SEO attack has been added to my website, targeting one of my articles with hundreds of thousands of links. Of course, Google didn't recognize the attack and took away 30% of my traffic overnight. What a sadness, I only wish that whoever did this may die very slowly with the most painful cancer ever.

[christianz]

Big drop for my main site today. All of the Nov 3 gains are reverted. My not-so-great smaller sites (competing for same keywords) that were down are now up. It looks like a "reversal" but in reality I think its just the nature of the rollout. As I expected:

Unfortunately, most likely part of this boost may be related to temporary shuffling and technicalities in the way this new update is being rolled out.

[RedBar]

Extremely low traffic levels, Saturday at 52.5% and si far today coming up to 16 hours of my Googleday 27%!

This is not a ranking issue insofar as I am concerned, the sheer huge volume of image ads for my popular keyword products is incredulous.

[ichthyous]

Traffic is swinging widely today...first a drop to zero, then a big surge, then a drop...all before 11am. USA is at average but UK traffic down 32% today. Overall search traffic is -3%. I'm noticing that weekends tend to deliver traffic later in the day from the afternoon onward. I suspect another bust of a holiday season is coming if this keeps up...

[ami3810]

Interesting observation from today: Our newest website (about 2-3 weeks old) outranked like a pro its bigger brothers (9 and 2 years old). Should we just let the old horses die and all start a bunch of new pages? Surely something is going wrong?

[RedBar]

Should we just let the old horses die

Without going into all the reasons why, don't touch anything for at least 2-3 months just to see where all the dust settles.

[goodoldweb]

Yesterday's surge, as suspected, was brief...this morning USA traffic is -52% and Australia is -27%. Fridays are typically a low traffic day these days. Conversions have literally been NIL for the entire month of October and so far in november...so these constant updates on top of the war, etc have killed off the brief steady period in late August and Sept. It lasted perhaps two weeks and back to the crapper for google.

@ichthyous, I'm seeing exactly the same, popular well converting website (Australia) that suddenly went to zero conversions, zero enquiries for almost two weeks now. Adwords traffic turned into junk too and is of no help at all. I just finished dialing down all my keyword bids to less than half of what they've used to be before this crappy "update". Considering switching off my adwords campaigns all togther, no point throwing more money on junk traffic.

[EditorialGuy]

It just gets worse and worse for us, too. The "reviews" updates hit us hard, and while we didn't see any major gains or losses in the most recent Helpful Content Update, the core updates (including this one) have not been kind.

I wouldn't feel entitled to complain if we were just losing rankings and traffic for random articles or minor subtopics, but it's galling to see us losing ground for our most popular topic, where we've created a body of useful, regularly updated informational content over the last 2+ decades.

I get the feeling that subject expertise and experience (which have seemed to benefit us in the past) are getting less attention in the most recent updates. Contrary to what Google's guidelines might suggest, the proof of the pudding is no longer in the E-E-A-Ting.

[daniel1213]

Hello, I found this on a specialized blog in the comments, What do you think? They say they noticed increases in position and traffic after the removal

"my little tip - go to google and put -

site:example.com/

then after / put -

/tags (or /tag?)
/2021
/2022
/2023
/page
/authors"

[edited by: not2easy at 11:20 am (utc) on Nov 6, 2023]
[edit reason] Please see Charter [webmasterworld.com] [/edit]

[Razorllama]

Running some analysis, I see that the bing/yahoo/duckduckgo traffic to my highly buyer-intent articles has skyrocketed % wise...Because Google has been sending fewer and fewer people.

My informative/not as buyer-intent focused articles have been fluctuating around +/- 10% since this particular update started.

Still hit hard after the HCU and October update, but at least November isn't another -30% or something. The annihilation of buyer-intent articles feels rough, though. On some of them it's 20-25% coming from other search engines. It used to be like 5%.

[renatovieira]

Huge drop today. Now I feel the effect of the november core update.

[RubicCubed]

What do you think? They say they noticed increases in position and traffic after the removal

During an update, like the core update currently rolling out, it's common for positions and traffic to jump around. It's very likely the update is why they see traffic go up, and it's also likely it will also go down again.

[RedBar]

Obviously I have no idea how long this may last however already today I have exceeded either weekend day, in fact it is my most normal looking traffic in ages ... there, that should just about kill everything !

[ErrlyBird]

@RedBar

I am seeing the same things and also feeling the same way. Get those hopes up just to have them let down again soon :3

[RedBar]

And there ya goes, the last 2 hours have almost come to a halt!

[christianz]

And there ya goes, the last 2 hours have almost come to a halt!

If you go by GA4, don't. It is glitched right now and shows less than actual visits.

Update about my situation:

Main site was in freefall on Saturday and Sunday after reaching very high levels on Friday. It is still at around all time high levels but a lot lower than Friday. Maybe today will be better, but I don't count on it.

Secondary sites continue to be reliably dead. Although my smallest one did show some improvement on Sunday.

What happened on Saturday/Sunday looks like partial reversal of October Core. Lots of "niche sites" and "made for affiliate" crud showed some vital signs again, unfortunately, as I was hoping those hit will stay hit forever.

There was huge collateral damage to September/October updates, including my own smaller sites, so clearly there is no magic bullet to sort out low value sites. Google is chasing their tail, although they did seem to get something sort-of-right for a fleeting moment.

[RedBar]

If you go by GA4, don't. It is glitched

I've never used it, I go by my server logs, maybe everyone was at breakfast / lunch / dinner :-))

[MayankParmar]

The update just killed my site, It's all over.

[RedBar]

Sorry to read this MP, I've always enjoyed your site.

[breeks]

Don't give up yet, Mayank.

[Micha]

@MayankParmar this kind of thing makes you angry to hear, unfortunately i don't know your site, but is there no way out?

[ami3810]

@MayankParmar i'm sorry to hear that, the last updates have been harsh to us too. I don't know your site, but maybe it's just temporary? As things are still shuffling around... or at least fingers crossed.

[superclown2]

@MayankParmar: don't lose hope. I've been in the same situation many times over the last 20+ years but things have always bounced back. There will be more updates with more winners and losers so you might be back on top again before you expect it. And Google won't last for ever.

[Micha]

One of the biggest annoyances is that big websites end up at the top with every topic they write about, even if it doesn't fit the theme of the website. This seems to have finally been noticed and with any luck it will be checked. For us niche site owners, this would be a relief as this is currently one of the main problems that is (also currently) getting worse with the updates.

[twitter.com ]

[haramamba]

even if it doesn't fit the theme of the website

And even they practice clearly visible keyword spam.
And even with multiple copy-pasted paragraphs with only the year number changed in the headings.

[superclown2]

One of the biggest annoyances is that big websites end up at the top with every topic they write about, even if it doesn't fit the theme of the website.

I've just checked the twitter post you linked to: I see a technology company plus five major magazines in the top ten results. None of these can be expected to have the slightest expertise in the subject. Ridiculous but unfortunately not surprising, given the state of this advertising company these days.

[renatovieira]

Since yesterday everything was half done. Today the trend is to remain -50%, both traffic and earnings...

I've never seen an impact as high as this update.

[Conro]

If Cnet is a multiniche site what is the problem? Do you think you're experts in only one topic? I don't think so. Maybe you understand hosting, mechanics, cooking, finance, and putting it all on a website in separate subdirectories. If you think an author only understands one topic, you're just playing Google's game. I am an expert in various niches and might want to, for convenience, organize everything on one website. It's not that if I keep various niches on one site, I'm a goat, while if I open different sites with different niches, then I'm a genius on that topic. Having vertical sites only benefits Google.
Do you really need a doctor or a dietitian to write a guide on how to choose a multivitamin? These are supermarket products. What's next? Do you need to be an engineer to write about why your mouse doesn't work? Meanwhile, posts on Reddit and Quora, where anonymous users argue in every thread and write the most absurd things, are taken as positive signals. We're in complete madness.

[KaseyM]

Niche entertainment site here - absolutely clobbered by October and November updates - no impact from the first HCU though.

Not quite sure where to go from here.

[Fluff_Nutz]

Just gone 1pm and I'm currently sat at -44%. I'll admit I'm using UA4, which is known to be slow at updating. But we are also talking about Google. The terrible search engine. So it's likely updated already and I'm just facing a -44% drop.

[superclown2]

Do you really need a doctor or a dietitian to write a guide on how to choose a multivitamin? These are supermarket products.

Yes I do. Taking too many vitamins or the wrong ones can lead to severe health complications. I have known people who were hospitalised with life threatening renal issues through swallowing the wrong pills that are freely available in supermarkets.

A search term like 'cheap multivitamins' may justify a supermarket or other marketing site being high in the SERPs but 'best multivitamins' indicates a need for expert opinion on whether or not they are suitable for a particular purpose. I would expect a site that provides information on health matters to trump a fashion magazine any day of the week.

Google's obsession with 'authority' could be positively dangerous in this particular case.

[BigKat]

If Cnet is a multiniche site what is the problem?

Cnet, like many other big names, has capitalized on their brand to become a MFA (Made for Amazon) website that directs many of their readers to the China dumping ground known as Amazon. Fortunately Cnet is not in our industrial type ecommerce niche yet, but Amazon most certainly is.

What is the problem you ask? Bringing a single product to market may cost $100,000 for some industries. Once the product hits the market, China then scurries to make a knock-off to sell on Amazon. Then places like Cnet write an Amazon affiliate motivated story and Google ranks that instead of the original company that invested all that money/time into R&D along with the initial production run. What Google is doing, at least for their part, is killing domestic innovation and manufacturing. In our industry what Amazon is selling, and Google is making money off of with all those Amazon ads, fails to meet current safety standards. But your average consumer will never know because Google buried us under Amazon ads, despite our products carrying the necessary safety declarations.

[Conro]

@superclown2 Drinking too much water can also lead to death. Exaggerating is always harmful

[Conro]

@BigKat What you're saying is true. In the European Union, indeed, certain non-compliant products will not be able to be sold soon, precisely to put a spoke in the wheel of Amazon and Chinese businesses.

[mosxu]

Smart money knows what is happening what November update?

Moving the cheese is no longer good enough for smart money!

[superclown2]

Drinking too much water can also lead to death. Exaggerating is always harmful

Many toxicologists agree that the misuse of non-prescribed, over the counter medication kills more people than illegal stuff. And the number of lives destroyed by the latter is horrifying.

If Google really believes that these businesses have more expertise than the professionals, and have evidence to prove it, then putting their sites on page 1 may be justified. Otherwise it is simply irresponsible and could cause immense harm.

So no. I don't think for a second that I'm exaggerating.

[Micha]

It's quite simple: CNet is (or was, I don't read the site) a site for technology and not for such things, and if Google were to judge "specialized knowledge" fairly, then the site for this topic should not be at the top of the list. There are specialized sites that are guaranteed to pay more attention to the topic than CNet. Besides, this is just an example, because in principle, being a big publisher and adding something is enough to automatically rank well. What's more, these affiliate articles are supposedly rated negatively by Google.

All in all, this just shows that ranking is not only dependent on factors such as "helbfuel content", but that there is no fair evaluation. And that's exactly the point: if it were fair, it would be up to us what we do with it. But since that doesn't seem to be the case, as the example shows, we are largely powerless.

[RedBar]

I'm going to call this sawtooth Tuesday it's varied that much from hour to hour with the country spread looking much more "normal".

I don't like typing positive aspects too much since things usually then go pear-shaped however at the end of this first 7 days of the month I have already had as many genuine new business enquiries as either the entire months of September or October and, I'm hesitating here, this is more like "things used to be"!

One sunny week does not a summer make, is this possibly the start of a new business cycle?

[Micha]

This week is shaping up to be a disaster and today has already started worse than I've ever experienced. You do research, put hours of work into an article and then Google completely ignores it because you're not a big brand. This has been going on for days now.

We're literally being bled dry. After October and the current crap, I feel like so many others: My website will soon no longer be able to support itself economically if the situation doesn't improve now.

[adman]

I am thinking something, maybe Google should divide it's search into some categories.
Like there are malls that have expensive brands, there are malls that have less expensive brands.
If we apply same analogy, there should be search of only big companies, small companies, individuals...
How can an individual or small company compete with Amazon?
Maybe there should be Google Search Corporate, Business and Individual.
Also maybe Google AI which would only be for AI content.

[morpheus83]

We are live since 2006 and have seen the worst of updates. But nothing like this one. Our downhill started from October 4th and its been steadily going down ever since. There are quite a lot of posts out there claiming 'recovery tips', i however refuse to believe that adding a published and updated on to all the pages will change things.

[adman]

i however refuse to believe that adding a published and updated on to all the pages will change things.

Update to what?
I mean, world didn't start from October update.
Google is not the alpha and omega of the world.

[Micha]

There are quite a lot of posts out there claiming 'recovery tips', i however refuse to believe that adding a published and updated on to all the pages will change things.

These tips are the same as Google's statement that you should write for your readers: Rubbish. People are still puzzling over what exactly is going on.

[morpheus83]

On the bright side have heard stories of people seeing an uptick after updating their old posts. Just not possible for us as we have 29,000 of them.

[christianz]

I'm going to call this sawtooth Tuesday

How about Wipeout Wednesday?

Big drop in traffic (mostly US traffic) coinciding with Semrush spike.

have heard stories of people seeing an uptick after updating their old posts.

Updating something for the sake of updating seems too SEO for my liking....