October 2024 Google Search Observations

[Micha]

Could Google finally make up its mind? The back and forth is really getting on my nerves. One day it's really good, the next day it drops, etc. Many keywords jump back and forth in the ranking. A little consistency would be really good for the nerves.

[edited by: not2easy at 1:34 pm (utc) on Oct 1, 2024]
[edit reason] New month, new thread [/edit]

[Micha]

I can vouch for that, the spam has increased dramatically for us. What is new, though, is the whole bunch of fake shops that are suddenly at the top in Germany.
Since Monday, things have really taken a turn for the worse. My website is now at -95 percent compared to a week ago, and the webshop is at a complete standstill. I just miss September with the record numbers.

But hey, at least Google made more sales in Q3, so let's all be happy for once.

And as if that wasn't enough, there is an “interesting” interview with Danny in which he explains that Google is waging a war against niche sites because they just want to make money. So we are just collateral damage in the war.

[x.com ]

[mosxu]

In the news search engine giant earnings go up…

[NeapTide]

Google again made record profits while burying webmasters alive. Their profit is going to double when they will further hide ads in AI overviews as well.

Also on Play store, if you search for any app or game, on top you will only find 3 or 4 sponsored apps/games and then start regular apps that are not running ads. And even in between results you will find sponsored apps and games.

[Samsam1978]

I can't understand why search advertising increased. I think this is cloud computing and youtube - not adsense search.

[renatovieira]

High volatility around here today. My main terms/keywords are falling like stones in the SERPs.

[Whitey]

Another update coming soon

[seroundtable.com...]

[TiggerSpain]

thats going to help all that were hit ..."move on to new things" Mc D's got jobs

[saladtosser]

I'd have far more respect for Google if they were upfront and simply said, "We're shifting toward an ad- and AI-driven model, so it's time to prepare for fewer organic results and, a different career path." Instead of dragging everyone along for months, we’re left watching the gradual transformation as traffic declines each quarter, conditioning us for a future where organic visibility is removed.

Though the Helpful Content Update hasn't impacted me directly, it's clear where things are heading. After seeing this shift unfold, I’ve lost the motivation to work on my site—Google has ingested my content already and doesn't really need my site anymore to be listed IMO.

[EditorialGuy]

Google Says Search Update Coming Soon But HCU Victims Should Move On

It certainly appears that Google is turning its back on the World Wide Web, which seems odd when you consider how much money it makes from ads on third-party sites. I wonder who might take over Google's historic role as a Web search engine? There's got to be an opportunity for a company (maybe a start-up?) that can connect users with the richness of the World Wide Web.

[TiggerSpain]

I've been hoping for a long time for apple.search with brand following Apple have, I think they are the only one that could give G a run and have the money to back it up

[gatormark]

This roller coaster ride is making me nauseous.

[superclown2]

The term 'helpful content update' is an oxymoron. I have been in this business since well before Google arrived and I have never seen such unhelpful results from this advertising agency masquerading as a search engine.

"There's got to be an opportunity for a company (maybe a start-up?) that can connect users with the richness of the World Wide Web." Yes, that's a lovely thought but the chances of that happening whilst Google keeps it's illegal monopoly by spinning out one appeal after another for years is about zero.

Those publishers that survive will need deep pockets. The old democratic Web in which Mom n'Pop could be thrive has been killed by Wall Street.

[ichthyous]

Another update coming soon

It must be here already my traffic was down yesterday and is down hugely this morning. Let's see if this is just a short term shakeup because if not it's going to be ugly...

Oh, and as usual...I had one week where I had a normal level of new inquiries and then back to zero this week, not one new customer inquiry just spam.

[TiggerSpain]

I'm not seeing any change to the terms I'm watching still dominated by Reddit/ Quora / and Flickr ! yep its that much of a mess

[RedBar]

After 13 hours of my Googleday I am seeing a total collapse across global, national and regional sites. Global sites are at 20% and regional at 30% ... What have they done now?

[renatovieira]

There's also a lot of volatility here. There were 4 days of huge drops, yesterday was a little better. Today there's a lot of traffic, but curiously, it doesn't match the AdSense data...

Usually when this happens to my sites, they announce the beginning of an update right after...

[EditorialGuy]

I've been hoping for a long time for apple.search with brand following Apple have, I think they are the only one that could give G a run and have the money to back it up

Maybe, but how would they monetize search? If they went the ad-supported route (like Google, Bing, etc.), they'd be leaving money on the table unless they backtracked on privacy. They'd also be starting from behind, since they'd have to give up $18 billion a year in Google payments.

[Micha]

So maybe it's different in Germany, but here the fluctuations have been going on for 14 days (i.e. massive devaluations of many websites).

[Pjman]

Seeing a 50% drop in traffic today.

[RedBar]

18 hours and at 40%!

[EditorialGuy]

Seeing a 50% drop in traffic today.

At this time of year I expect our travel-planning site's traffic to drop off (week over week), because that's been the seasonal pattern for 20+ years. And to be sure, our overall traffic is showing its usual post-summer decline, but our Google traffic has actually been up for the last several days. Caveat: I don't expect Google's burst of mild generosity to hold. (It never does.)

[Chris travel 30]

seeing about - 35 % today here in germany, yesterday was already not the best, but today the traffic is coming in veeery slow

[Pjman]

Somewhat confirmed massive reshuffle on SEO roundtable comments by Barry just a few hours ago.

[System]

The following 3 messages were cut out to new thread by engine. New thread at: google/5113733.htm [webmasterworld.com]
10:50 am on Nov 1, 2024 (utc 0)