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]

[markmaster]

I noticed X (Twitter) Panels in the search results pushing real sites down further. Havent noticed this in a long time. What they need some hate in the SERP?

[markmaster]

I noticed X (Twitter) Panels in the search results pushing real sites down further. Havent noticed this in a long time. What they need some hate in the SERP?

[Razorllama]

-20% since yesterday. At least I see some pages that were completely dropped out of the SERPS generate some impressions, one month later...

Still, -20% further takes me at something like -75% altogether since mid-September.

[saladtosser]

"Danny Sullivan, Google's Search Liaison, was quoted as saying that major changes are coming Google's search ranking algorithms"

After talking to a Google insider, I heard an Google is reportedly on the verge of releasing an algorithm that can detect the exact amount of money stuck at the bottom of every couch worldwide. But here's the twist: the algorithm uses this information to influence the volume of ads you see. The logic is; the more spare change you can afford to leave under your cushions, the higher your disposable income is presumed to be, and consequently, the more ads you'll be bombarded with. So, if you suddenly notice an uptick in targeted ads, it might be time to check beneath those sofa pillows! Its called HCU (Hidden Currency Unearthed) and is the brain child of DS who came up with the idea after coach diving for vacation spending money for this months getaway! Holidays are expensive!

[Conro]

@Saladtosser Usually, around mid-November, a new update arrives.

[adman]

November update is still rolling.

Core updates will be more frequent and they will not even notify anymore, just roll out.

[ichthyous]

Big drop in USA search traffic...-22% on the 12th and -17% on the 13th. Looks like it may be recovering today but too early to tell. ZERO new inquiries since 11/9, and it was already slowing down before that.

My ranking has actually jumped up strongly, but clicks have dropped in GSC...impressions are stable. I checked this morning and I was at #1-#3 for most of the terms. But no sales or inquiries....hmm. Perhaps the war is really putting a damper on things, or people just are not spending as much as earlier in the year?

[Dooku]

Core updates will be more frequent and they will not even notify anymore, just roll out.

This is only logical considering the current "online landscape" and the crap that is being put out every minute of every day.
As much as we all love to criticize G, they have practically no other choice.

Even if you do not know Python or any other scripting language and if you only know how to install Wordpress and it's templates, you can stomp out huge amounts of pages on every imaginable subject 24/7 if you put some effort into it.
This is now made possible by ChatGPT and the new plugins. Just check the amount what is getting online every minute of every day, if google would wait 4 months between a major algo update then they would be up sh|t creek.

But in their efforts of trying to organize a fair display of info in the serps google is doing a piss poor job. Probably partly because they just are not competent and more probably because their preference is geared towards scraping as much income at the expense of content creators.

The "big november" update is not really an algo update but an extra adjustment for the holiday season in an effort to make the shearing of sheep more effective. The only difference being that each year that adjustment is getting more unscrupulous.

[RedBar]

Shhh...my global site is having a completely normal traffic day, the usual countries with normal page views with no spikes or troughs...How pleasant it is to write that an average day is noteworthy!

[ichthyous]

Bizarre...huge drops in traffic to my most important landing pages of up to 72% today. USA traffic is once again lagging...-30% at 1pm. The crazy thing is that if I search I am #1 - #3 for these terms, higher than before. Yet such drastic drops in traffic. I don't even see that many ads on the page, so perhaps it's just personalization of the results?

[Razorllama]

No idea, but I'm seeing the same here. -25% for the day (week on week performance) now, but when I check my rankings nothing has changed much. Been a ghost town.

[Micha]

Same with me. My ranking has risen, but the number of visitors has fallen by 27 percent today.

[adman]

My ranking is the same high as it was, but lower impressions.
Actually, I lost more than half of pages to oblivion.
Google simply not showing half of my pages that were ranking #1-5 for one word keywords.
I honestly don't know why, if they were good for three years.

[Treud]

@adman
SAme, I see a down trend in impression which I hadn't since a long time. But my CTR is increasing.

[RedBar]

For my global site Tuesday concluded at 113.6% v 2023 average, this morning it's dead!

Apart from my most valuable keyword phrases in the USA my rankings are as strong as ever and as explained many times I put this down to US localisation of supplires most of whom only conncentrate on probably 2.5% of my range.

[RubicCubed]

This is only logical considering the current "online landscape" and the crap that is being put out every minute of every day.
As much as we all love to criticize G, they have practically no other choice.

Google is the largest dispenser of the crap you speak of. 4 text ads above the fold, an equal ratio of ads to minutes (4 ads in 4 minute video clip) in a Youtube video, etc. Google itself is pure ad spam. I feel both Google Search and Youtube are largely unusable due to the poor user experience from their ad spam.

[Martin Ice Web]

today is a zombie day. Traffic way up but it seems full mismatched ( probably with full intention )

[RedBar]

My day is continuing with very low page views per visitor which is very unusual for a workday, on a weekend it is quite a regular occurence,

[honestman]

Having to check results on a daily basis and note patterns, misdirections, etc., is such a waste of time--unless one is paid well for it, I suppose. I suspect tools will be created that use AI to decode the patterns we can only decipher through the many existing SEO packages, along with our own observations and sometimes even intuitions. I wonder what will happen when AI faces AI and the whole "game" turns into "Spy versus Spy." It seems such is inevitable in all aspects of modern life and is going on as I type (all electronic info we type or appear in is immediately public).

[Conro]

ChatGPT is gaining so many Plus subscribers that it had to temporarily halt new subscriptions and take a break. This is thanks to Google, whose worsened search results have driven people to use ChatGPT. Really well done

[samwest]

Still, after 25 years online and #1 in the faux SERPs, my live analytics never has more than 1 or 2 consecutive/simultaneous hits. It's the same on nearly all sites. Must have been blacklisted long ago.

[insideout]

Total annihilation ! my 18 years website lost more than 80% of its traffic and still going down. What the f** is going on with G !

[Razorllama]

Looking at my GSC, I see that some of my articles which disappeared from the SERPs before have started gaining impressions again.

However, the majority of these impressions are non-relevant, like 80-90% of them.

[renatovieira]

Big drop today... Here we go...

[Micha]

Down again yesterday, up again today. This rollercoaster is really annoying.

[Martin Ice Web]

still at +72% so far but all zombies. what was a good search engine is now a ad loaded spam engine. It is a joke.
It like buying a newspaper that is full of ads with only one report in it and this report also has been copied from another source.

[adman]

still at +72% so far but all zombies

What do you mean by "zombies"?

[ichthyous]

Looks like a big drop today, after a week of already poor USA traffic and zero new inquiries since the 9th. Today, Canada, Australia, Germany, France all down exactly 65%! Interesting how that works, a totally natural phenomenon, and not the result of Google manipulating the sh!t out of everyone's traffic of course.

[RedBar]

My visitors to lower page views has continued into Thursday, Weds ended with visitors 100% and page views 75%, strange for a working day.

[Martin Ice Web]

@adman,

zombies are one page visitors or visitors that do not buy anything just lurking around.
Mostly this appears when google mismatches the serps to query. E.g. looking for apples and getting oranges in serps.