December 2024 Google Search Observations

[Whitey]

Huge 48 hrs of overall site traffic doubling on only 3 url's, then back to zero. Top slot's since replaced with G overviews. For a moment I got excited. Looks like an AI smash and grab raid to me.

[edited by: not2easy at 11:38 am (utc) on Dec 1, 2024]
[edit reason] New month, new thread [/edit]

[Martin Ice Web]

traffic +50% today, -100% sales

[Whitey]

This core update is dragging out: [status.search.google.com...]

Unless, it's finished and we're not being told,(like the last one).

[sanjeevk89]

I am seeing huge drop in the ranking and traffic for Australian clients.

[Micha]

I don't think it's over. The tools are currently showing very strong movements. And when I look at my keywords, it seems like Google is messing everything up again.

[mosxu]

2 days full of zombies

[daniel1213]

We are still in the red. Traffic comes in waves, in seasonal pages with themes and the numbers are unjustified. Because there is no targeted traffic we have low rpm.

[renatovieira]

HUGE drop this morning...

[ichthyous]

This core update is dragging out: [status.search.google.com...]
Unless, it's finished and we're not being told,(like the last one).

I just looked at the dates that some of my highest volume terms started to get blitzed...I went off a cliff on November 13th. I didn't notice the start date of this update was the 11th. I had a huge surge of traffic and inquiries around 19th-20th and that was it...only a trickle of customers since then. This update is similar to the previous core update, it took weeks of ups and downs and very poor traffic before it snapped back.

From what I see the drop in traffic seems to be due to personalization of the results by location. Where I used to rank top 2 for the same terms in the UK and UAE as I did in the US, it seems that the results are now starting to diverge. I can see this even more clearly in closer by areas right here in the states. In one city I'm at the top, but in nearby areas far down the page or not at all. This is using incognito or safari/samsung mobile browsers in private mode. Anyone else seeing same?

[RedBar]

Tuesday's traffic came back a little more inline with expectations at 84%, so far today, Wednesday, it looks completely normal ... Fingers crossed we should have another 2+ working weeks like this.

[Micha]

I'm laughing more than I should be right now. Google messes everything up, traffic is ridiculous despite the Discover traffic, and then an email comes through with this subject line: “Hit your holiday sales goals with Google.” Say what you will about Google, but they really know how to give site owners a slap in the face.

Seriously, all the positive development that started on Monday is gone again, the ranking is dropping and dropping and dropping and the traffic is extremely ridiculous. So keep hoping that the traffic recovers before the update is over.

[Martin Ice Web]

@Micha,

i just got the same mail.

[Whitey]

Shoppers also want choice

Many will want to save time with improved accuracy. Automating the process with AI will help users, but not Google imo

If ChatGPT can summarize your site, do you even need Google?

- [webmasterworld.com...]

[edited by: not2easy at 12:45 am (utc) on Dec 5, 2024]
[edit reason] fixed format [/edit]

[daniel1213]

Our best keywords have been pushed to page 2-3. It's unbelievable. We were considered good for 2 years and suddenly without any change it took us down. Google, have you been drinking?

[Micha]

Phew, it's a complete mess today. As of today, my website is ranking for things it shouldn't even rank for. However, it no longer ranks for my main keywords because Polish websites are now at the top of the list. In general, the search results in Germany have become even more useless.

Have you been getting any e-mails lately from companies that want to integrate discount codes etc. under sub-URLs on your website? I'm getting more and more of these requests.

[christianz]

Google, have you been drinking?

November Core is something that could not have been made while sober.

[daniel1213]

About Google and its relevance. In my country, if you type Contact Trendyol and go to page 2 you will find a bank (Banca Transilvania) website (direct homepage). It has no signal about Trendyol. That's just how Google thought. Should I cry or laugh?

[ibb.co...]

[Micha]

The update is complete. According to Google, this should have improved search quality. Seriously though, can you see an improvement? I can only see the opposite.

[status.search.google.com ]

[Fluff_Nutz]

I think it ended on Monday December 2nd as traffic has been increasing these past few days. Still, as per usual, G forgot to return the missing traffic and I'm still -20% down. Could be worse I guess. But what was meant as a 2-week ''update'' ended up lasting an entire month and for what exactly? As mentioned I do not see any improvements. Just an excuse to destroy more websites for their own profits. It did end just after both Black Friday and Cyber Monday after all.

[BigKat]

can you see an improvement? I can only see the opposite.

Years ago Google had spoke about lowering quality standards to get users to search more, and that's what this core update may continue to build upon (reducing quality for higher profits). No surprise that our traffic is lower and conversions are more difficult to come by.

[EditorialGuy]

Barry Schwartz of Search Engine Roundtable (known here as RustyBrick) is reporting that the November core update is now complete.

[ichthyous]

First day I have seen relatively normal traffic patterns, but not great. Some categories still -80%. But it seems to be recovering very slowly. If this sh!t happens once a month now we are looking at half the month with poor traffic and no customers...

[christianz]

According to Google, this should have improved search quality. Seriously though, can you see an improvement? I can only see the opposite.

Search quality is obviously worse after this update. But Google needs to be careful. Their market share among younger generations has never been this weak. Loading SERPs with spam and half dozen big mainstream sites that everyone already knows about, won't make "googling" cool.

[renatovieira]

HUGE drop this morning... Here we go....

[ichthyous]

I am seeing the same patterns during this entire span of the update starting on 11/13 and intensifying through November:

1) Lower average position of terms, a moderate drop in impressions, and a small drop in CTR from 11/13 onward. This has started to improve this week slightly.
2) Sharp drop in traffic from Canada, Australia, the UAE and Germany. The same countries every day. Drops of up to 80% of traffic and wide intraday swings. Australia is back to normal this morn, so perhaps the others will follow
3) A big drop in traffic to my articles, more than to my item category pages. While the category pages have recovered, the article traffic has not...
4) Very low USA morning traffic, made up during the later part of the day...again. This was happening a lot earlier this year
5) A rise in the same cookie-cutter sites up to spots 1-3 across many terms and territories again

Some of this is definitely reversing and improving, but perhaps not in as good position as before. Still, I think there is room for some optimism that it might improve if your site was hit by this latest update.

[christianz]

Nothing is reversing or improving. There was miraculous spurt of traffic yesterday for just couple of hours but it was gone quickly and today is awful as usual for this November update.

[RedBar]

Daft question?

Is there an accurate statistics programme that's also easy to use?

How accurate are Awstats and Webalizer?

I reverted to the free Statcounter since it does not seem to bear any resemblance to the above two.

I have tried a couple of other log programmes but they were simply horrible to use.

[Micha]

Have you tried goAccess yet? It reads the log files and if you set it up right, it's pretty accurate.

[RedBar]

Have you tried goAccess yet?

Nope, just checking it out, thanks.

[EditorialGuy]

Plausible Analytics is the closest thing to the old Google Analytics that I've found at a reasonable price. It isn't quite as versatile as GA Universal Analytics, but it comes close and is good for day-to-day (including same day and real time) monitoring.

[Dooku]

@EditorialGuy, is the Live Demo of Plausible Analytics on their website what you get as a paid version? Or is the paid version considerably more detailed, especially in details of the visitors IP/Host ...etc...etc...?