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]

[universenet]

If that is the case, and we owe Google nothing, then why are there so many people in here complaining about Google? If it was solely up to us, then Google would be irrelevant. We wouldn’t even be talking about Google.

@gatormark
Yahoo had in past similar something like adsense, it was good , but was 1 bad problem,
yahoo did not have enough traffic,, all search visits did go to google even in that time, google was monopoly in that time, yahoo was too late
Exactly we can not say that nobody did not try nothing, but now nobody can not try nothing because all traffic are from google
Now yahoo of course is like no exist, who is guillty for that?
Mostly yahoo alone is guilty for that

[gatormark]

@Conro

Now you are no longer useful to that index of the web called google because it takes your content and rewrites it with its spinner that it calls artificial intelligence. Basically, google continues to desperately need the work of websites to make money, then there are those like you who think google has paid your bills. Which then maybe is also true, if you have a spam site

Either Google helped pay my bills or it didn’t. SPAM site or not. Which is it?

Now, as I have said before, my main sites are not “informational” so most of what you said doesn’t apply. In my niche, SPAM doesn’t apply.

Any informational sites I owned are virtually dead, but they were never strong websites to begin with.

[edited by: gatormark at 12:14 pm (utc) on Dec 18, 2024]

[gatormark]

@Universenet

Yahoo had in past similar something like adsense, it was good , but was 1 bad problem,
yahoo did not have enough traffic,, all search visits did go to google even in that time, google was monopoly in that time, yahoo was too late
Exactly we can not say that nobody did not try nothing, but now nobody can not try nothing because all traffic are from google. Now yahoo of course is like no exist, who is guillty for that? Mostly yahoo alone is guilty for that

Yes, being first has its benefits. I used Yahoo’s ad publishing service as did most of us longtimers. I started in February of 2005.

In fact, I benefited from being early in my niche.

There’s no question that Google has dominated this search space since its inception…and many of us have greatly benefited from that dominance.

Now, there are many more variables that make competing more challenging.

Fortunately, AI hasn’t impacted my niche too much. Maybe, by only 10%.

[gatormark]

My question is what do most of us want? Do we want better and more accurate search results, the removal of AI answers at the top of search results, or do we just want to demonopolize Google. Maybe some want all three.

For me, I just want better search results and more weight in those results given to niche leaders with a history, who are focused on that industry.

[ichthyous]

The real question for me is, how far will users scroll past the instant answers, the blocks of ads, images, the carousels of useless tweets, etc to find what they think is a more useful website? To a certain extent I don't think the AI overviews have hurt my traffic nearly as much as the localization is doing. People are willing to keep scrolling until they find a site they think looks useful. But if your site doesn't appear at all due to localization then it's game over. I am losing a ton of international traffic since November...especially CA, AU, UAE, and DE traffic. It remains to be seen whether that is temporary or permanent.

In that same vein...Google already decided for us that any site without front end ecommerce / public pricing / return policies / etc was simply not going to rank for transactional searches. That has not changed or rolled back at all. I have lost a ton of those types of searches and therefore the smaller single-transaction type of customer associated with them. The larger corporate projects seem to keep rolling in...so they are searching in a different way. It can be an exercise in frustration when Google changes all of the results on a page to mishmash of product listings...

[ichthyous]

NO, NO, NO, Just NO! I have heard the above remark(or similar) so many times over the years from many people, it's just mind-boggling.

Gatormark, YOU PAID, your bills, not google. YOU created your website, YOU put in the work, YOU hosted that website, YOU put in the effort by whatever means to attract visitors to your website. You owe google NOTHING!

If that is the case, and we owe Google nothing, then why are there so many people in here complaining about Google? If it was solely up to us, then Google would be irrelevant. We wouldn’t even be talking about Google. If it is solely up to you, then you have nothing to worry about.

As I said before, it has always been a symbiotic relationship. None of us would even be here if Google didn't exist...and Google would not have morphed into a multi-trillion dollar company without all of our content. That relationship is now broken.

I don't blame Google for adopting Ai and incorporating it into search...the company will vanish if it ceases to innovate. But there are ways to credit the author/site and permit more traffic to flow. Google has clearly taken a "cut them all out of the loop" approach since at least 2018.

Spammy / low quality content aside...none of these platforms crowing about how AI is going to rule the world has addressed how the dataset is about to shrink and potentially collapse due to fewer and fewer original content creators being able to make a living. AI has a very large vulnerability...so it is full circle in a way. Without us pumping out new info they still have nothing.

[universenet]

My question is what do most of us want? Do we want better and more accurate search results, the removal of AI answers at the top of search results, or do we just want to demonopolize Google. Maybe some want all three.

@gatormark
Honestly, I am not sure that we can do much
It is not good when we can not choose beetwen few of big market players, exactly only google exist, all other is minority and it is not good because they do not have traffic.
It is more and more users on internet, more and more people who buy online, number of people who using internet is lie never before
and it is less and less worth for all of us what doing websites
Only regulators in every country can do about, and they are very slow.
This is job for them, they need protect market

[Fluff_Nutz]

I think a lot of people will see the instant answers from AI, think is this even reliable information? Can it be trusted and verified? At present that is a definite no. A lot of it is most certainly incorrect info. Then there is ads underneath it, which will turn people away and on to other platforms. So it won't work for anyone. Google or publishers.

I do enjoy Reddit being a Google favourite along with other messageboards because people can interact with other people, who have experience with whatever it is. Although, a lot of them get their sources from websites. So that will be difficult to do if they all get killed off.

I do agree Google has a better interface and layout when compared to Bing and others. I have tried them all in my attempts to leave Google. The other SE really need to improve their layouts. A LOT. Its too cluttered. Overwhelming perhaps. But at present none of that matters anyway as people are being forced onto Google related products because of various on-going deals and monopoly-style tactics. So a lot of people have never even heard of other SE. Hence we do need to kill that G marketshare, somehow.

Google, is now, becoming just as cluttered as Bing with their Ads and AI. I really won't accept their AI search on anything actually. I will always prefer written responses from those I can trust and verify. With images and videos to back it all up. With years of being in that particular field too. Trust is highly important. AI responses does not qualify for that. It just magically appears. Where are the sources? How do you even know this stuff? But I often have a trust issue anyway

It won't work without websites. Alexa was a great invention that could have, so easily, removed websites. Speak to an AI and get an instant response. Now no one even mentions Alexa despite how many people have adapted to new technology such as mobiles and cell phones.

Google are blinded by greed, selfishness and are paranoid because of new competition and the possibility of loosing their marketshare that has been there for so long. But because of this they are turning away loyal viewers anyway as no one wants to be limited to AI and Ads, they enjoy a variety of different options available to them. Websites and AI should co-exist.

Anyway not sure I'm getting hit by the latest update but my trending articles are starting to have less impact. Traffic is still down compared to November. Revenue is up though, for now.

[gatormark]

@Fluff_Nutz

I think a lot of people will see the instant answers from AI, think is this even reliable information? Can it be trusted and verified? At present that is a definite no. A lot of it is most certainly incorrect info.

100% agree. While I do use AI results, I definitely fact check. Unfortunately, I don’t think the regular user will do that. We will, because we’re in the industry. But one thing we know about most Internet users, they are not very savvy and tend to be lazy.

[edited by: gatormark at 4:32 pm (utc) on Dec 18, 2024]

[gatormark]

@ichthyous

But if your site doesn't appear at all due to localization then it's game over. I am losing a ton of international traffic since November...especially CA, AU, UAE, and DE traffic. It remains to be seen whether that is temporary or permanent.

Yes, localization is a major concern. Frankly, that is why I stopped promoting my business outside of the United States and the UK. It seemed as though I was being penalized for promoting my business worldwide, so I stop that and have seen the benefits of doing so.

[gatormark]

I believe there is room to cut into Google‘s monopoly. The problem is, when you an industry leader and you have the best product, it’s almost impossible to take market shares.

However, there are chinks in Google search armor. This is the perfect time for an exceptional, non cluttered search product to hit the market. Heck, it can even use AI. Bing and DuckDuckGo are not those products.

Microsoft has the resources, they are just not focused on search. Sure, they use their power to promote Bing, but the product is not good.

[RedBar]

My question is what do most of us want?

Excellent question to which there will be many, many different answers depending upon ones own question(s) !

And I know this is a question that has vexxed G since day 1 since I worked on the original algo testing in the 90s and precisely why, especially in the early days, that we had so many irritating dances.

Insofar as my global site is concerned of course I want any search engine to list me at #1 for a specific specialised widget so that everyone can learn and understand about its origins, details and specifications plus production methods, yep, fantatsic, BUT this is utterly useless to Joe Buyer in widgetville, widgetstate, since I do not supply people like them, I'm a bulk B2B supplier, not a local B2C retailer whether onlline or not.

I could take many industry sectors and most of them would give different reasons for how they would like to see or appear in any search engine results page.

Then G has to address the educational sector, the many different direct to the public sales sectors such as travel, gaming, every bit and bob one can think of, every supporter in each sector will have their preference of what ought to be prioritised in the SERPs and most will give different responses.

Ask yourself how would you organise it?

I'm not defending G / all SEs, I'm pointing out their diilemmas and relationships between them and their search customers.

Is there a solution to all this since G for several years has been nothing more than a huge classifieds billboard? I said many years ago that G needed to split-off genuine evergreen / educational / company informational sites from all ecommerce platforms / shops. The site owner would choose and they could be in both listings if they wanted to be BUT with a completely different site set-up, a genuine info v shop.

Of course I can pick many holes in this idea however I feel that it's a discussion worth debating simply because so many are frustrated and downright annoyed with all these constant changes and unknown downgrading / Google slap issues.

YMWV !

[gatormark]

What we, as webmasters, want and what the average searcher wants are often vastly different.

[engine]

Considering that search from Google is no longer an adolescent, it's a shame the SERPs don't reflect that.
Well over 20 years and the SERPs don't appear to have improved. The clutter of ads, YT, etc., is a distraction. The quality of some SERPs should be way better.

Clearly, it has reduced the worst of spam, but still has work to do to achieve better quality, IMHO.

[Micha]

By the way, according to Google, the Core Update is over

[x.com ]

[ichthyous]

Absolutely atrocious traffic...USA is still -36% at almost 3pm. Seeing very large drops in top three ranking terms in the past two days. This is far worse than November...let's see what the next few days will bring as this update subsides.

[EditorialGuy]

By the way, according to Google, the Core Update is over

That was quick! I wonder how long the aftershocks will continue. On the whole, our information site has benefited from both the November and December updates, but we're still way down from where we were in 2022.

[RedBar]

What we, as webmasters, want and what the average searcher wants are often vastly different.

Absolutely and that is why I have always written my sites with both knowledgeable trade and retail purchase visitors in mind. The 90s FAQ page interactions were good at finding out these questions thus generating valuable on-page info in latter years.

[gatormark]

What we, as webmasters, want and what the average searcher wants are often vastly different.

Which is why I understand what Google does in putting video results and a lot of that other “junk” in the search results. It is what people want.

However, if we have not migrated to, let’s say, video content, and are still writing text driven articles, we are going to be in BIG trouble long-term. PEOPLE DO NOT READ. Unless our demographic is 50 and above, there’s no longevity in that. Even then, you’re on borrowed time.

One mistake that I see Webmasters make is that they write or produce content for search engines, hoping for higher rankings. You should NEVER produce content for search engines, you should produce content a way your users like to consume it.

[Treud]

If the update is over I’m left with like -50% traffic (e-commerce), but the google metrics don’t match traffic on the website host. I’ll check later when the WP engine metrics update.

[EditorialGuy]

PEOPLE DO NOT READ.

Some do, some don't. (Reddit and Wikipedia seem to do pretty well with text. And the New York Times hasn't yet sold out to CNN.)

[Micha]

After reading all this, I'm really glad to live in a country where AI doesn't play a role yet and where people actually read more.
Seriously, the problem is that no one knows what people want. Some don't want to read more, some do, etc. In my opinion, the mistake lies in the fact that algorithms, numbers, etc. suggest that you can determine this from the ‘will of the users’, and Google is extremely fixated on these numbers. Google gives people an option, but because the data is not error-free, it is not automatically what people really want. You can see this, for example, from the fact that more and more people are complaining about the results on Google.

[Martin Ice Web]

something started yesterday again. MUltiple pages views for one item from all over the world withhin seconds. Rubbish google traffic with drop of -40%
this year google shifted from quality serps to rubbish serps while UI gets worse with every update.

[Treud]

@Martin Ice Web

Yes I feel something too. Same day that announced the end of the update many KW lost ranking.

[Fluff_Nutz]

Yup, same here too now. Traffic was going nicely and now the site has, once again, fallen back into the exact same traffic category. Where is the growth? Why can't I keep it? So today I'm ignoring the site. Feel bad for my writers but today I'm having a day off. So sick and tired of falling, getting back up and trying again, just to see growth lost once again.

Also I'm having issues with neighbours. Living in a connected property allows you to hear everything, including them in the bathroom. So I'm not sleeping. My dream would be to afford a new, more quieter, property, which I thought would come from the site. Too late for that train it seems.

/End of rant

[Micha]

@Martin Ice Web I can say the same about my customer's shop: traffic suddenly plummeted, as if Google had flicked a switch yesterday. Christmas business was extremely poor this year.

[cooler29]

@Fluff_Nutz : be positive! You will fulfil Your dreams, just don't go with pesimisim. I am in this business 20+ years, there was few thinks like this now, big and radical updates of algo, actually this is largest "earthquake" in Google SEO ever I sow, but trust me: when one doors are closening another are opening in sam moment, so just be positive and patient! :)

[gatormark]

@cooler29

Very wise words.

Also, if you have a young website, be persistent and patient. You are not going to make lots of money immediately. In fact, don’t look for financials gains, but if you have gains, invest them back into your website, if it’s young. Sometimes it takes a few years before these businesses take off. Play the waiting game…

[Micha]

Google's update madness continues with a spam update.

[x.com ]

[ichthyous]

If the update is over I’m left with like -50% traffic (e-commerce), but the google metrics don’t match traffic on the website host. I’ll check later when the WP engine metrics update.

Join the club...my traffic is way down. It tends to trend down before Christmas anyway, but this is extreme. Big losses in top 3 ranking terms for both mobile and desktop. I'm back to where I was 12 months ago. My informational articles still seem to be ranking well but the traffic is 25%-30% less. Not sure how Google is accomplishing that other than worse ranking when localization is factored in?