Google Algorithm Updates - 2022 Ongoing Discussion

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Ryuzaki

Ryuzaki

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...Continued from our Google Algorithm Updates - 2021 Ongoing Discussion

There's been some general ups and downs on the "weather charts" this year already but only around the 14th and 15th of January did they start to register anything noteworthy:

Possible Update: January 14th - 17th​

Advanced Web Ranking:
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Algoroo:
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Cognitive SEO:
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RankRanger:
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Semrush:
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I'm not personally seeing anything. One site I've not touched in a long time is doing nothing but being stable. Another one I'm working on actively is growing as expected.
 
I'm hoping it's temporary but my site dropped hard during this update. Upon checking, I somehow lost all of my featured snippets and replaced with answers from sites that don't even answer the query in full.
 
I've been getting absolutely slaughtered.
Had it roll back a bit then roll in even harder with a steeper drop the last couple days.
If I had to take a wild guess it seems like they ratcheted the standard on the load lazy loading stuff. A couple sites that were getting full points on googles testing systems arnt anymore. We were doing a bunch of stupid hacks to keep the performance metrics up that are now getting marked as failing.
 
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Possible Update: February 5th & 6th​


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Semrush is showing a peak just slightly higher than the update mentioned above for January the 14th to the 20th.

I haven't paid close enough attention to notice anything here but if you are seeing sudden changes this could be an explanation and a starting point for investigation.
 
Had a very nice bounce up in rankings yesterday but it didn't last.
 
I lost about 10 of my top 3's about two weeks ago, they all came back yesterday, and then some.
 
Confirmed Update: February 22nd, 2022

Page Experience Update for Desktop​

The page experience update that rolled out for mobile last year has begun to be pushed out to the SERPs for desktop. It will continue until completed at the end of March 2022.

We're talking about all the Core Web Vitals among some other things. They are:
  • Largest Contentful Paint (LCP)
  • Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS)
  • First Input Delay (FID)
  • HTTPS Security
  • Absence of Intrusive Interstitials
  • Mobile Friendliness (N/A to Desktop)
Desktop isn't going to have much issue with most of this (except CLS) due to higher internet speeds on landlines. CLS is a web design issue that can effect you on desktop where the screen shifts as later elements are loaded (like an image or advertisement pushing everything below it down as it loads in 2 seconds after everything else).
 
Possible Updates: Feb 18th & 19th and Feb 23rd & 24th

Advanced Web Ranking
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Rank Ranger
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Semrush
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SERPmetrics
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I did feel these. On the 18th I experienced a 23% increase in sessions on one site. Yesterday on the 24th I experienced a 14% decrease on another site I haven't really touched in at least a year.

I haven't had the time to dig in and see what I think it was targeting, but I can say the site that saw an increase has been receiving steady content, and perhaps some data was pushed online and those began ranking (haven't been rank tracking them either!). I'm focused on the macro-picture these days which essentially is just "check my revenue and sessions in the morning and then get back to publishing".

No insights from me here. You guys got anything?
 
I'm also seeing a decrease in rankings and traffic on multiple sites.

Initially I thought the main factor would be tensions relating to global tensions, but now I'm clearly seeing one of my tech sites rankings go down for keywords that were ranking near the top.

And those articles are well written, useful, get organic backlinks without me getting involved, and overall I'm 100% confident they should rank at the top.

My most popular article went from position ~5 (for months), to position ~21, for its main keyword.

Traffic seems to be holding up. I think some keywords shifted up, and some down. It's probably too soon to draw a conclusion. I'll wait a few more days and look more closely and get back with an update.
 
I saw some movements up and this seemed to have majorly reversed some previous updates, because a site jumped up like 3 pages, so something major got changed imo.
 
I don't know what to make of it. I have a site I launched in April last year. Three months or so into the launch, the general pattern I saw was my peak traffic day of the month was always double the previous month (so 200 in Sep would be 400 in Oct, 800 in Nov, etc.).

As per my calculations, I hoped to hit the 1000/day mark in Feb.

My traffic has not dropped, but it has not risen either. For a young site like this, traffic has kind of stagnated in February.

My site is at that stage when it should be out of sandbox and ready to go big. But I'm kind of bummed that it's behaving like a granpa.
 
Possible Update: March 4th, 2022

Serpwoo:
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Semrush:
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RankRanger:
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CognitiveSEO:
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I can't say that I personally noticed anything in my own daily traffic and revenue reports this time around, but enough people got impacted that the streets is talking. How'd you fare?
 

Possible Update: March 21st, 2022​

Looking like something's brewing. The first thing I do when I wake up is check my monetization revenue and jot down the "daily numbers". This also lets me see the daily sessions. I noticed revenue was up 20% and sessions on one of my main sites (one that I actively work on) was up a solid 5%-10%. My other main site (that I'm not working on at all) was holding firm.

Algoroo
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RankRanger
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Semrush
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These are cherry picked graphs that confirm what I'm saying. You've got others that seem to measure this less well that aren't confirming squat, or see it as high but not high enough to pay attention to. It's not clear across the board, is what I'm saying. Never is though.

Anyone seeing anything and noticing any trends?
 
Nothing here yet, but we've been delayed usually.

In general I feel most of my sites are rather stuck and not moving much recently.
 
Things have been flat for me too recently, haven't changed any inputs (links/content). Affiliate commissions feel down these last couple of weeks but that is a paranoia that isn't new to me so take it with a grain of salt.

I'm waiting for the product review refresh.. 2021 was April + Dec, should be due for one soon I figure..
 
harrytwatter said:
Things have been flat for me too recently, haven't changed any inputs (links/content). Affiliate commissions feel down these last couple of weeks but that is a paranoia that isn't new to me so take it with a grain of salt.

I'm waiting for the product review refresh.. 2021 was April + Dec, should be due for one soon I figure..
Click to expand...

Nah, it's not just you.

The paranoia is widespread friendo. I was talking to a larger company in the space and they too were concerned about a recession in general.

I wish I had started that money saving blog I wanted to do lol.
 

Confirmed Update: March 23rd, 2022​

Source: https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2022/03/product-review-ranking-one-year-on

March 2022 Product Review Algorithm Update
The follow up to the April 2021 and December 2021 product review updates is here.

"Today, we’re launching another update that builds on that work to enhance our ability to identify high quality product reviews. This will make it easier for us to get sound purchasing advice in front of users, and to reward creators who are earnest in being helpful.”"

"The update will roll out over the next few weeks, and may impact the rankings of English-language product reviews across many sites."

Some questions people have been asking are answered on the source page, which I'll share here:
  • Are product review updates relevant to ranked lists and comparison reviews? Yes. Product review updates apply to all forms of review content. The best practices we've shared also apply. However, due to the shorter nature of ranked lists, you may want to demonstrate expertise and reinforce authenticity in a more concise way. Citing pertinent results and including original images from tests you performed with the product can be good ways to do this.
  • Are there any recommendations for reviews recommending “best” products? If you recommend a product as the best overall or the best for a certain purpose, be sure to share with the reader why you consider that product the best. What sets the product apart from others in the market? Why is the product particularly suited for its recommended purpose? Be sure to include supporting first-hand evidence.
  • If I create a review that covers multiple products, should I still create reviews for the products individually? It can be effective to write a high quality ranked list of related products in combination with in-depth single-product reviews for each recommended product. If you write both, make sure there is enough useful content in the ranked list for it to stand on its own.
New "Best Practice" guidance includes:
  • Include helpful in-depth details, like the benefits or drawbacks of a certain item, specifics on how a product performs or how the product differs from previous versions
  • Come from people who have actually used the products, and show what the product is physically like or how it’s used
  • Include unique information beyond what the manufacturer provides — like visuals, audio or links to other content detailing the reviewer’s experience
  • Cover comparable products, or explain what sets a product apart from its competitors
The barriers to playing in these "best blank" and "blank reviews" SERPs is justifiably getting higher and harder + more expensive to scale.
 
Overall this seems like it might be a good update for niche websites. I went top 10 for a broad product keyword and saw several others as well.

The way its worded could seem like targeted big media review lists
 
bernard said:
The way its worded could seem like targeted big media review lists
Click to expand...
It does read that way, although like all these kind of updates I assume an invisible asterisk reading "unless you're a stacked authority legacy publisher in which case you get a pass"..

I've got 6 sites that were smacked quite hard last PRU rollout in 12/21... overhauled them each slightly differently..will be watching intently.
 
harrytwatter said:
It does read that way, although like all these kind of updates I assume an invisible asterisk reading "unless you're a stacked authority legacy publisher in which case you get a pass"..
Click to expand...
So become one of those stacked authority sites.
 
Big whopper of an update just now, the biggest that's gotten to my sites in months.
 
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