Google Algorithm Updates - 2024 Ongoing Discussion

Zoro said:
Thanks, I did the disavow in google like 10 days ago on all my sites but I dont see any difference.
Maybe I have to wait alittle longer.
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If you haven't already read the entire convo in the Massive Influx of Links thread, you should start there. It gets juicy/relevant here after @MinstrelJunkie outlines his steps. If you read from that point on, you'll understand everything.

Also, if you're following Grind's strategy perfectly, you need to get Google to find those spam links again, which it won't do on its own. But, you might still get some benefit by just disavowing, though it usually takes two weeks or more. My first round of disavows took 15 days to see a result. Follow the link above, it's all covered in there.
 
Smith said:
If you haven't already read the entire convo in the Massive Influx of Links thread, you should start there. It gets juicy/relevant here after @MinstrelJunkie outlines his steps. If you read from that point on, you'll understand everything.

Also, if you're following Grind's strategy perfectly, you need to get Google to find those spam links again, which it won't do on its own. But, you might still get some benefit by just disavowing, though it usually takes two weeks or more. My first round of disavows took 15 days to see a result. Follow the link above, it's all covered in there.
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Thank you!

I actually got a question, or more of a thought.
I got the IndexNow API configurated for Rank Math on one of my sites.

Does that work as an Indexer, just chugg in all toxic links there?
 
Zoro said:
Thank you!

I actually got a question, or more of a thought.
I got the IndexNow API configurated for Rank Math on one of my sites.

Does that work as an Indexer, just chugg in all toxic links there?
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I've never used RankMath so can't speak to that...

But, in my experience, if you're following someone's strategy and want a similar outcome to what they've achieved it's usually best to use the same tools. Otherwise, you're not giving yourself the best shot at success.
 
ToffeeLa said:
https://twitter.com/x/status/1785375145848459579
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In a similar vein, @Grind do you or anyone else know of a tool that allows you to provide a list of URLs only and bulk export the domains' traffic without using an api?

Ahrefs and semrush have enough data but trying to get a better gauge of sites I found via LRT since LRT doesn't have a traffic filter.

Playing with LRT filters now and there isn't a traffic option.

Quick Tip: For those using LRT or even sheets + ahrefs or semrush data, filtering out random tlds (.pics/.cfd/.sbs/.click etc. or not .com/.org/.net etc.), Title Case anchor text, domains with #s 0-9 in them and pictures is a good start but ofc always manually check if unsure.
 
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MWWWconquest said:
In a similar vein, @Grind do you or anyone else know of a tool that allows you to provide a list of URLs only and bulk export the domains' traffic without using an api?

Ahrefs and semrush have enough data but trying to get a better gauge of sites I found via LRT since LRT doesn't have a traffic filter.
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Found a batch analysis option in ahrefs https://app.ahrefs.com/batch-analysis but only allows 200 domains...better than nothing I suppose.
 
Lots of web chatter about the Google Update dropping this Sunday (May 5) that will apparently target reputation abuse... e.g. parasite SEO and sites that publish unedited guest posts directly.

Does anyone else feel like 'reputation abuse' isn't the whole story and we should prepare for another round of 'WTF is Google doing to small sites' come Monday morning? ... or is that just me?
 
MWWWconquest said:
In a similar vein, @Grind do you or anyone else know of a tool that allows you to provide a list of URLs only and bulk export the domains' traffic without using an api?

Ahrefs and semrush have enough data but trying to get a better gauge of sites I found via LRT since LRT doesn't have a traffic filter.

Playing with LRT filters now and there isn't a traffic option.

Quick Tip: For those using LRT or even sheets + ahrefs or semrush data, filtering out random tlds (.pics/.cfd/.sbs/.click etc. or not .com/.org/.net etc.), Title Case anchor text, domains with #s 0-9 in them and pictures is a good start but ofc always manually check if unsure.
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Ahrefs has a thing called Applications, click on your Account icon in Ahrefs and then look at the left menu.

You set them up through a 3rd party tool, I use Netpeak Checker, most prob use URLprofiler and it pulls your data in through their interface. I have hundreds of custom configurations I use for various things, the latest is named surprisingly enough Disavow Quick Check.
DR
Traffic
Traffic Top 10
Traffic Value Top 10

I've built enough spam and good links over the last twenty years that I can almost always tell if a link is helping or hurting at this point based on those 4 metrics.

The ones I have to check are the obvious high authority high traffic forums. Is it a legit post where someone is talking about my product/site or is it some spam with 100 anchors mashed up in some spun text.
 
Smith said:
Lots of web chatter about the Google Update dropping this Sunday (May 5) that will apparently target reputation abuse... e.g. parasite SEO and sites that publish unedited guest posts directly.

Does anyone else feel like 'reputation abuse' isn't the whole story and we should prepare for another round of 'WTF is Google doing to small sites' come Monday morning? ... or is that just me?
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Reputation abuse could also target expired domains maybe.

If it actually targeted advertorials on AAA websites, then it would be a thing for good in the force, but likely won't.
 
Does anyone want to take a look into everydayhealth?

All the other health juggernauts seem to be chugging along mostly unscathed or at most teeny tiny bruised but THEY got five fingers to the face.
 
Their traffic has been pretty volatile for a while.

utSRVI.jpg


Though looks like they've got plenty of shit links too...

0owaud.jpg


Here's Healthline for comparison. 1.6B follow links lol.

Besides their gorrilla-sized backlink profile they also have a much lower percentage of images and no follows compared to EveryDayHealth above.

2h6eiz.jpg
 
Smith said:
Their traffic has been pretty volatile for a while.

utSRVI.jpg


Though looks like they've got plenty of shit links too...

0owaud.jpg


Here's Healthline for comparison. 1.6B follow links lol.

Besides their gorrilla-sized backlink profile they also have a much lower percentage of images and no follows compared to EveryDayHealth above.

2h6eiz.jpg
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99% dofollow lol... rules just don't apply to them haha...
 
Update from HouseOfFresh with some interesting insights... talk of Dotdash Meredith SEO strategy and how HoF is going to fight going forward: https://housefresh.com/how-google-decimated-housefresh/

TL;DR: They lost a further 91% of traffic since writing the original article. Dotdash employees reached out and explained how they use a swarming strategy for high-earning keywords. Forbes is a scam site. And HoF is going to win by going hard as fuck on YouTube, Reddit, X, Insta, FB, and email.
 
Site Reputation Abuse Update

Google has yet to update their Google Search Status Dashboard but John Mueller confirms the Site Reputation Abuse Update has started yesterday, May 5th, 2024.

So seems like Google is going to start a new pattern of not telling us when updates end and start. They're telling us late now. We'll see if that pattern starts extending further. I doubt it ends up being "we're not telling you at all any more" since that'd be a pretty bad look for them.

Learn more about this update here. The basic gist is that giant sites like Forbes WebMD or whoever need to stop selling CBD posts to people and creating coupon subdomains and junk like that, or set it to no-index.
 
Ryuzaki said:
Site Reputation Abuse Update

Google has yet to update their Google Search Status Dashboard but John Mueller confirms the Site Reputation Abuse Update has started yesterday, May 5th, 2024.

So seems like Google is going to start a new pattern of not telling us when updates end and start. They're telling us late now. We'll see if that pattern starts extending further. I doubt it ends up being "we're not telling you at all any more" since that'd be a pretty bad look for them.

Learn more about this update here. The basic gist is that giant sites like Forbes WebMD or whoever need to stop selling CBD posts to people and creating coupon subdomains and junk like that, or set it to no-index.
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for me and quite a few sites i checked the march update started around 14 feb.
 
G's algo/database/search results are total trash now.

Really 2 WHOLE results for in quotes.

It's so so bad now. I did this search 4 years ago and was able to find people taking about how serving sandwhiches and soups at parties is the equivilient of serving freinds/family prison food.

Now, nothing!

It's like they have REMOVED all non giant sites from the results.

FnkEUBH.jpeg
 
Bouncing back nicely actually. Rankings are up on pages that were targeted/affected by crap links, and traffic is starting to build. While I don't think this was the only thing that is turning things around since a lot of things are changing, I don't doubt that it helped.

Looking at a lot of pages that were stuck on page 2 popping back into the middle of page 1 within a few weeks. Pages that we were banging out heads against the wall trying to figure out why they weren't ranking well enough even though we thought the content addressed the questions better.

I haven't gone through all the links though. I only added about 2k domains to the disavow list, which is probably only 30-40% but I'm going to make this a more usual task moving forward. This was the single biggest change from our normal workflow so I've got to think this is a major contributor to what helped.
 
NotaLawyer said:
Bouncing back nicely actually.
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I have this strange feeling that BakerStreet isn't going to believe you no matter what.

People have already posted screenshots after screenshots and testimonials after testimonials - on here and XSEO. In fact now gurus are creating courses on how to disavow and sending out emails stating how disavowing is allowing them to recover. I told ya'll they would come out when people start showing results from the trenches.

What's one more person saying "yeah this is working" going to do to convince the BakerStreets of the world, who aren't bothering to be in the trenches but only wait for the results? Nothing. Some people aren't built for trenches and need a lot of handholding. I guess that's what their CMO, COO, and CPO are for.
 
NotaLawyer said:
Bouncing back nicely actually. Rankings are up on pages that were targeted/affected by crap links, and traffic is starting to build. While I don't think this was the only thing that is turning things around since a lot of things are changing, I don't doubt that it helped.

Looking at a lot of pages that were stuck on page 2 popping back into the middle of page 1 within a few weeks. Pages that we were banging out heads against the wall trying to figure out why they weren't ranking well enough even though we thought the content addressed the questions better.

I haven't gone through all the links though. I only added about 2k domains to the disavow list, which is probably only 30-40% but I'm going to make this a more usual task moving forward. This was the single biggest change from our normal workflow so I've got to think this is a major contributor to what helped.
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Good for you.

My site didn't but the queries turned from informational to navigational and the drop in traffic is industry wide, not just my site. I think it's different for my industry.
 
Sharing my experience on this. Don't really understand the hostility towards 'disbelievers', if I've learnt anything in my time in this industry you should treat most SEO advice shared on the internet with a healthy dose of cynicism.

I've learnt to always question 'what does this random internet stranger stand to gain by giving this advice?' but in this case I was willing to try having explored most other avenues.

My site is unaffected by the HCU but hit by the previous two core updates. Still doing between 15-20k sessions per day but have seen a large drop from peak.

Spent 3 days total on a disavow with 7.5k spammy domains identified. I used to work in an agency disavowing and recovering sites after Penguin so I know the difference between a good and bad link.

Saw an immediate drop the day after filing the disavow and ultimately lost another 20% visibility over the following two weeks. Most likely a number of the spam links I disavowed were still passing value, which I knew was always a possibility.

My own personal opinion is that submitting disavows during a time of such volatility is going to lead to a number of false positives. I just don't think this is the silver bullet it's been vaunted as - in all likelihood it's probably going to make things slightly worse for most. Not to mention the wasted time.

Will report back if anything changes but as things stand I won't be using the disavow tool again.
 
tomo8900 said:
Sharing my experience on this. Don't really understand the hostility towards 'disbelievers', if I've learnt anything in my time in this industry you should treat most SEO advice shared on the internet with a healthy dose of cynicism.

I've learnt to always question 'what does this random internet stranger stand to gain by giving this advice?' but in this case I was willing to try having explored most other avenues.
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Same here. Luckily, I caught on pretty quickly that it was just a way of getting people to sign up to some newsletter and use a backlink service. The whole thread kinda lost its purpose and value once all the alt-accounts and trafic leak-spam began.

I've seen people, both in private and public, use the disavow to try and repair the recent updates. Not a single one recovered. In fact, people on Reddit and Twitter were doing it long before they started selling the idea on here.
 
Trump said:
Same here. Luckily, I caught on pretty quickly that it was just a way of getting people to sign up to some newsletter and use a backlink service. The whole thread kinda lost its purpose and value once all the alt-accounts and trafic leak-spam began.

I've seen people, both in private and public, use the disavow to try and repair the recent updates. Not a single one recovered. In fact, people on Reddit and Twitter were doing it long before they started selling the idea on here.
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LOL I'm aware of it too and I even contacted a very well known person who is spouting the disavow method. I think it's a scam but, if several people are saying it is working and I show a client who "needs help" that the community has an answer, and tell that guy on Twitter to give me 50% as a finders fee, I'll get 50% of the commission while having nothing to do with it not working :smile:

.... and the guru backed out of the deal.

Come on, you're trying to get sales for a thing that doesn't work 100% of the time? During a time of turbulence when people are desperate for a solution? Let's call a spade a spade. It's a scam! I'm totally OK with scamming people but I just gotta do it in a way where they can't blame it on me... and you can't even play along with that? Jesus christ. You can't even scam good.

Of course, out of respect, this Twitter person won't be named :smile:
 
Here's my take on disavowing, and I say this focusing on a single site as the test case so the sample size is low but there has been a lot of links to review.

If you solely rely on tools like LRT, SEMrush, Ahrefs, whatever, then it won't work. The tools will give you a lot of false positives. If you only look at metrics at a high level to make decisions, then it won't work. You're once again going to get a lot of false positives.

The way I've been doing it has sucked. I take the metrics from a few tools to get an initial sort, find the known scraper/content farm sites (e.g., ends in -k), and then the rest is a manual review. There are sites which the tools say "this is bad" but in reality it was just a site owner that had no idea what SEO is so the site looks like trash to the SEO tools. They were actually great, industry relevant links that someone would be crazy to disavow.

So it all comes down to process. I'm doing this in a very tedious, manual way to start so that I understand the real patterns that I need to look for and flag. I can then write up the SOP and automate half and outsource the rest for future projects.

Every industry is going to be a little different. If you're doing this for the first time and aren't feeling like it sucks, then you might be doing something wrong. Borrow and steal ideas from other people, but test them yourself and see if they apply to your situation.

Most of the "Gurus" on twitter or where ever pitching their courses don't know what the fuck they're doing. Many of them are just sales people who sold a couple of clients and now they think they know everything. Disavowing isn't new. Go back to 2012 when the disavow tool was introduced. Look how many people said it's "a waste of time" because Google knows better. The tool is only as good as the user/the process for the tool.
 
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