September 2026 Google Search Observations

[Micha]

Pretty sluggish since Friday. The news site is just trickling along. Discover is a total write-off once again. One thing that stands out: there seems to be a delay with headlines and news, as current articles can currently only be found from the major publishers. This has been going on since Friday, and I hope it stops soon because it's costing clicks.

As for the shop, it's pretty bizarre too; for days now, practically the exact same revenue amount has been coming in via Google traffic. Overall: rankings have improved, but it's not yielding anything. And the spam update doesn't seem to have achieved much either; still the same crypto garbage and cheap AI articles flooding everything.

So it's developing exactly as we've been fearing here for months: clicks are getting fewer and fewer...

[edited by: not2easy at 11:25 am (utc) on Sep 1, 2026]
[edit reason] New month, new thread [/edit]

[MayankParmar]

potential update on sept 2/3rd - a big one [x.com...]

[Micha]

@MayankParmar That would be one explanation, but we can only guess. Edit: However, it seems like things are starting to move again. Yesterday afternoon, my Discover traffic started picking up, and early this morning (Sunday) is looking good too. On top of that, my private Discover feed looks a lot more normal today.

[RedBar]

potential update on sept 2/3rd - a big one [x.com...]

Call me old-fashioned if you like however didn't this used to be called the Black Friday / Xmas update?

The regular SERPs are irrelevant nowadays except for those actually knowing for what they are searching outside of their widget purchase. Certainly localisation can be used successfully but otherwise for "free" rankings the game's been over for quite a few years.

[Whitey]

I’d be interested to see reactions from anyone observing the SERPs in the EU
[reuters.com...]

[MayankParmar]

@Micha Hey, my Discover is coming back too! Started around Saturday/Sunday. Stories are no longer getting "dropped" off. I'm now down like 20%, but that's okay. Not brutal anymore, and it'll probably get better

Delayed console doesn't help tbh

[Micha]

@MayankParmar Glad to hear that! My numbers are looking good today too, pretty much back to normal. And the shop also really picked up again yesterday, Google Ads started delivering, and revenue was right back to normal levels. Let's just lean back now, take a deep breath, and enjoy a nice cup of coffee after this two-week Google rollercoaster ride.

@Whitey Honestly, it’s not as noticeable right now, but the search results were already pretty bad even before this

[RedBar]

I’d be interested to see reactions from anyone observing the SERPs in the EU
[reuters.com...]

Google's SERPs worldwide really depends on the type of search performed. For pro searchers using long-tail etc I still find Google ok for both commercial and evergreen content.. It's by no means perfect but the results are usually there.

However, insofar as the general SERPs are concerned, it's general results are totally dependent on one's perception. For short-tailed widget enquiries, in my experience, in general localisation dominate no matter how good a site may be, G, understandably, prefers to show local results since that is from where it derives its advertising revenue ... For FMCG one either sinks or swims with ad Dollars and branding / reputation and in many instances convenience. Everyone knows, or ought to, that Amazon is not usually the lowest cost but they do make up for it with, usually, quick delivery and service plus ease of purchase. Trying to compete with A these days must be a nightmare!

[slightly ot]The EU will screw-up, it does so on a very regular basis, and until it is dismantled it will continue its interference and blandness and never cease to amaze Europeans with so much of its ineptitude. I was a big supporter of the EU until I had the misfortune in the 80s/90s of having to deal with Eurocrats.[/ot]