August 2024 Google Search Observations

[christianz]

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System: The following 2 messages were cut out of thread at: [url=https://www.webmasterworld.com/google/5108712.htm]https://www.webmasterworld.com/google/5108712.htm[/url] by engine - 3:31 pm on Aug 1, 2024 (utc 0)

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Traffic drop since yesterday / today. Not sure who is gaining right now - SEO spam or Googlespam (SGE etc).

[Micha]

what has google done lately that has made sense?

[saladtosser]

>>>I view Google's affair with Reddit as a fling, not a long-term relationship. It just wouldn't make sense for Google to become an extension of Reddit while turning its back on the larger Web.<<<

I mean, they paid a lot money to scrap reddit data long term and they **know*** AI is killing the open web (they are doing it) so they need humans to be writing new content SOMEWHERE to harvest for the the future, else their AI will be mining other AI content from the open web that's left (they have your sites data already, don't worry). I suspect reddit will get another BIG bump to encourage more humans to move to reddit = more human rather than AI data to mine! To me it's just basic common or business sense and what I would do if I was a trillion dollar corporate monster that is never satiated no matter what the bank balance looks like...Sad, very sad but also blatantly obvious and probably their only advantage is reddit moving forward!

What I am REALLY confused about is, why does google have a social media PR team anymore, every post on every platform is completely slated by 100's of people which makes them look worse and worse, they would be better off firing the PR team completely and not posting anything at this point, this really confuses me......THAT makes zero sense to me any way I try to comprehend it..explanation, anyone? If you as a business hired someone to-do PR on social media and you saw the replies were even 30% negative would you continue to pay people to promote you? Cray cray! As my dear old nan used to say, god rest her, silence is golden!

[EditorialGuy]

To me it's just basic common or business sense and what I would do if I was a trillion dollar corporate monster that is never satiated no matter what the bank balance looks like

Let's not forget that advertising is where Google earns its money--not just ads on Google properties, but also on sites of every size across the Web. In 2023, for example, Google network revenues (defined as " revenue from ads displayed on websites and apps that are part of Google's ad network, beyond Google-owned properties") were more than $31.3 billion. That's not an insignificant sum.

[Fluff_Nutz]

The way I see it Google will continue to have negative feedback regardless. It's all over Reddit. Their reputation is forever tarnished at this point. They know this and likely don't care. However, they do still post news summaries and so decide to keep their PR. More and more people are waking up to the damage that G has done over the past few years. They are a terrible company with no idea what they are doing, constructively. As long as it brings in money. I mean I suspect articles being de-indexed is due to them being removed from the SERP and added to AI. But surely there is a better solution to this?

I, personally, do not mind them keeping to using Reddit because of the AI abuse among sites. Plus it, perhaps, brings in stability too. That is all site owners want and need. My worst fear is G owning Reddit in the future. They are a very selfish and poorly run company.

I looked at my traffic from 2023 and noticed that I used to get 400 views per day from G alone. It was more back in 2022 but I no longer have those figures. Now, in August 2024, I only get 30 views per day. They are also, almost, at rock bottom in terms of generating traffic compared to other sources. Glad I don't need to rely on them any more but my how far we have fallen.

In a way I'm glad it happened as relying on one source for traffic is never a good thing. Plus it woke people up to its dangers and now, thankfully, its finally being noticed by authorities. I see it as a positive, but albeit, nightmare awakening especially for those who have depended on it for so long. But alas it needed to happen. Nothing in the world should be run by one company.

[MayankParmar]

Long time, friends. I hope you're all doing well. :)

I just wanted to come here to wish everyone good luck with the core update. I hope we all see improvements and significant recoveries.

I'll be retiring if I don't see improvements after this core update. I'm exhausted and lack the energy to keep trying to make G happy.

So far, it's not looking good.

[ichthyous]

This one really shook the rankings up considerably. I shot back up to #1 for multiple terms, but also dropped to page two for others. I am seeing all kinds of new sites, some of them smaller independent sites. When you analyze them they don't seem to have much of a footprint so it makes no sense why they are even there. It is getting much harder to dominate multiple terms than it used to be...you really have to have a high domain authority for that.

[universenet]

how google working for now everyone can make search engine and searching only what
giving money and what like, no need search millions of website just few tousends or maybe few houndret tousnds and ok, this is what google doing now, no need resources for that,
few tousends strong servers are enough, no need millions of servers , allis cheap for google now,
but...
this is not searchengine,
this is friends engine?
or money engne?
or scammer engine?
how to call that thing?
ransom engine?
mafia engine?

[delorean]

too much shuffling. disaster on my end.

[morpheus83]

http[b][/b]s://searchengineland.com/google-august-2024-core-update-rolling-out-now-445221

"One of the aims of the Google August 2024 core update is to surface useful content from small and independent sites."

Lets hope for the best.

[Whitey]

FYI "Released the August 2024 core update. The rollout may take up to a month to complete " https://status.search.google.com/incidents/gVx6b2o78zke7GrMidGy

Another month of turbulence - jeepers.

Early days, but it'll be interesting to hear of anyone recovering from HCU.

[edited by: Whitey at 9:03 am (utc) on Aug 16, 2024]

[mosxu]

Algorithms are dangerously designed to offer enough dopamine to its slaves but how much are we losing every day? Let’s look back when apparently internet is still growing!

A former boss!

https://x.com/tsarnick/status/1823920847910002913

[superclown2]

I suspect reddit will get another BIG bump to encourage more humans to move to reddit = more human rather than AI data to mine!

You may well be right. However will this data improve Google's Artificial Ignorance system? Reddit members vary from the expert to the clueless so no doubt Bard2 will continue with it's usual level of 'accuracy' .

[superclown2]

One of the aims of the Google August 2024 core update is to surface useful content from small and independent sites

So far I'm seeing the opposite. High profile sites with lots of backlinks are dominating in the niches I am interested in, pushing down the smaller specialist sites that are packed with information. Maybe things will change; they usually do but not for the better.

Roll on the breakup.

[renatovieira]

There's an ongoing issue with ranking in Google Search that's affecting a large number of search results.

https://status.search.google.com/incidents/42XCLGtpuCZkzqe4dc6S

[Micha]

What's going on today? My news site can't save itself from readers at the moment. No matter what we publish, the articles are being overrun. I've never experienced anything like it (and it's staying constant, it's been like this all day and the site has already broken its visitor record from 2022).

[universenet]

Micha
Google just open for some moment normal internet (by mistake push on red button)

but do not worry, soon they will make it back and no more visits
Will stay google youtube and reddit only

[Micha]

@universenet I only saw your post after I had sent mine. Unfortunately you will be right, even though I fortunately don't have a problem with Reddit in Germany. It can't be that small websites get reasonable traffic from Google.

[delorean]

Still no recovery.

[MayankParmar]

Nothing here as well.

[renatovieira]

I see positive signs here. But it's too early to speculate anything, as the update will take a month.

[MayankParmar]

Looks like a lot of people who were previously hit by HCU and CU are seeing improvements, but I'm not. In my case, I'm typically affected within the first 6-12 hours after the update. All the updates in the past got me within 12 hours. So it seems like recovery isn't happening for me this time either. Womp womp.

[ichthyous]

There's an ongoing issue with ranking in Google Search that's affecting a large number of search results.

I am seeing huge shifts...My home page and most of my major content category pages have dropped up to 80% and only the lower level content pages are receiving traffic. The articles are receiving much more traffic than they used to, while the other parts of the site are blitzed.

What's going on today? My news site can't save itself from readers at the moment. No matter what we publish, the articles are being overrun.

I am seeing the same thing...the articles are receiving all the traffic, while the content category pages and the home page have dropped drastically.

[NeapTide]

Has anyone checked mobile serps? My websites get 95 percent traffic from mobile devices. So today while checking different keywords I have seen that often 5 results are displayed and a large "More Search Results" button appears.
For some other terms the number of organic results displayed ranged from 6 to 10.
Now even if your website has recovered but if it is 5+ below chances are it is hiding under "More Search Results" button thus killing your web traffic.

No wonder google just keeps finding new ways to destroy the web and webmasters.

Unfortunately I have observed same behavior with Bing too. So both these monsters are in same league.

PS. To observe this behavior, you need to test on web browser where you are not logged into your own Google account

[edited by: NeapTide at 3:19 pm (utc) on Aug 16, 2024]

[christianz]

Yesterday traffic was looking hopeful. Today it's bad.

[Dooku]

I have several email only hosting packages at Namecheap(besides many domains).
Yesterday I received an email offering a nice discount if I renew those email packages.......I have NEVER EVER seen that for existing customers at Namecheap in ALL the years I use them. (anyone else?)
This is NOT a coincidence, especially with all the news I hear from people letting their domains and hosting packages expire.
The writing is on the wall......

[RedBar]

as the update will take a month.

Is Google search powered by Win 11 since it's just as flaky, slow to update and incredibly frustrating?

[Soulofmonk]

I am not seeing any improvements for my 8-year-old site, which has been losing traffic since HCU. I must be one of the unlucky ones :(

[ichthyous]

Is Google search powered by Win 11 since it's just as flaky, slow to update and incredibly frustrating?

Why I would think it would take at least a month to test Google's latest small-business-crushing / profit-boosting algo changes on billions of guinea pigs around the world. ;)

Perhaps before all the Trump/Musk cult members floating around on here should take note that it's the Justice Department taking action and winning cases against Google, and which could potentially break it up. Trump and Musk are both vehemently against regulating the tech industry at this point. Trump and the GOP used to be for action against the tech monopolies, until Musk, Thiel, et all started to bribe them with massive campaign cash. This isn't directed at you Red, just the general readership here. It's good to know who your real allies are in this battle.

[not2easy]

Mod's note: We still do not discuss politics anywhere in this forum. Everyone is welcome to their opinion whether others agree or not, it just doesn't belong in here. See [url=https://www.webmasterworld.com/tos.htm] Terms of Service[/url]

[christianz]

I am not seeing any improvements for my 8-year-old site, which has been losing traffic since HCU. I must be one of the unlucky ones :(

I don't think there is any chance of expecting wholesale HCU recovery for everyone. That would mean total drowning in MFA AI sites. Basically the number one complaint regular Google users had before HCU - ending up in ad stuffed made-for-affiliate made-for-search crap sites that you have to scroll for ages and rear through worthless fluff just to get blasted with ads etc.

HCU was good at actually getting that crap eradicated from SERPs to some extent.

And that was before the widespread availability of LLM text generators. Imagine how many crap SEO sites there are now and how many would be spawned if Google rolled back HCU and actually gave SERP placements to these types of sites - there would instantly be 10-20 sites competing in the niche of "How to open a door" with increasingly elaborate illustrated articles on the art of door opening, etc.