Google Update?

[OliDale]

Has anyone noticed any changes lately ?
Saw a spike in traffic around september 18th and then lower traffic for last couple of weeks.
This is across a few sites in different niches.

Seen some chatter around the web about it but not much -
https://www.webmasterworld.com/google/4870905.htm

Just wondered if anyone here had noticed anything.

 

[CCarter]

There is a Google core update on the 26th of every month.

@Grind talks about it on twitter a lot: https://twitter.com/GrindstoneSEO/with_replies

At SERPWoo we have the latest SERP Volatility metrics (free) you can use to see movement within different countries and across local versus non-local, mobile versus desktop.

You are most likely seeing part of the core update happening to your site cause it was about quality this time around.

However, looking closer there was a spike on the 16th - which looks like it was something more than a core update, which falls in line with what some people are seeing in that thread:

Further checks looks like it was a location based and/or volumes up to 1,000 in search volume. It impacted Desktop searches more than Mobile.

 

[Cash Builder]

Yep, I’ve been seeing a few keywords jumping from page 1 to page 10 and below and then back again, almost on a daily basis for a few weeks. The keywords were stable on page 1 for months before that.

 

[shaunm]

Interesting, I never noticed the 26th pattern. Just noticed that Algoroo seems to have stopped running since last month though .

 

[turbin3]

There is a Google core update on the 26th of every month.

I noticed something recently, thanks to SERPWoo. Mobile volatility is practically off the charts for the past few weeks. It's higher than it has been ALL year. You can see it at the end of that screenshot above.

Much of it seems to be non-local keywords, moderate search volume (1-10K/mth I believe). Also, it's across more than the US. Watch your mobile rankings. Looks like things are getting "dynamic".

 

[Darth]

Yes I have noticed crazy movement every day for like the past 8 weeks.

 

[Cash Builder]

My rankings are starting to stabilise now, only one or two keywords doing crazy jumps.

 

[CCarter]

Mobile volatility is practically off the charts for the past few weeks.

Mobile's been high - but now it's a bit too high (via https://www.serpwoo.com/stats/volatility/)

There is a recalculation that comes up every 10 minutes since we calculate in real-time, so I figure it will calm down a little with the new data. (Update - since the screenshot mobile has gone up to 46%):

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By countries:

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Last 365 days of mobile movement:

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I'm going to wait till USA is done reporting and we are at 18:00 EST today to make any announcements, cause it's still a bit too early and even I can't believe 45-46% mobile movement just yet. It's off the charts alright!

 

[blackwar85]

I agree. Seeing some crazy movement past week or so. A lot of keywords jumping from 20-30 spot out of 100 ( according to Pro Rank Tracker ) and back the next day.

Today, jumped for my website url term which I have been ranking steady Nr.1 for ages out of 100 ( according to PRT ).

I'm tracking desktop only. No PBNs, only white-hat outreach. Not worried, but interesting.

EDIT: Not seeing a lot of change in TOP 1-3 ( except the weird url term ). Just 2-3 page keywords jumping to 100+ one day and back another. Organic traffic overall is slightly rising for me.

 

[Ryuzaki]

Like @Darth said, it's been going on for about 8 weeks at least. I'm seeing a loss in the top 1-3 positions and an increase in long-tails and gains across lower position terms, but not enough to make up for the loss of being in the top 3 for some shorter terms.

Perhaps it's an even heavier weight towards age, branding, size, etc.: The things that can't be manipulated. I'm not seeing any new competitors, just the old guys that I had beat regaining spots.

 

[Calamari]

My organic Google traffic has become more topic based over the last few weeks and less keyword based. I'm losing positions too but not seeing much of a difference in traffic.

I have been seeing new competitors but they are backed by old competitors. Old competitors are starting or buying new sites in the niche that are less corporate and more "blog" like. They are putting out good content and linking to it from their old very authoritive domains.

 

[Darth]

I'm seeing a loss in the top 1-3 positions and an increase in long-tails and gains across lower position terms, but not enough to make up for the loss of being in the top 3 for some shorter terms.

I am seeing the opposite for my sites (top 3 etc still OK, long tail way down)

but not enough to make up for the loss of being in the top 3 for some shorter terms.

Sadly seeing exactly the same (not enough to make up the loss)

Perhaps it's an even heavier weight towards age, branding, size, etc.:

100% this. I am niche specific and one site that covers the entire overall industry as a whole has seen visibility double in the specific niche SERPS in about the last 8 weeks. All the rest of us (niche specific), visibility has gone down.

 

[turbin3]

Mobile's been high - but now it's a bit too high (via https://www.serpwoo.com/stats/volatility/)

I'm going to wait till USA is done reporting and we are at 18:00 EST today to make any announcements, cause it's still a bit too early and even I can't believe 45-46% mobile movement just yet. It's off the charts alright!

Saw that this morning. CRAZY! Yeah, wondered if it was a fluke.

I suspect this to be one of the first major probes of the SERP's mobile defenses. They're assessing weakness. Preparing for the 2018 mobilegeddon offensive.

Hold on to your butt's, and take note of anything weird. It'll probably give you insight into how things might be working next year.

 

[CCarter]

Yeah, wondered if it was a fluke.

Let's just say Google's having a laugh...

They've been discontinuing old mobile variations of smartphones whichs creates havoc across the system. It started around the 12th - and accumulated to today they completely discontinued the last set of user-agents - that would result in what "appears" to be lot of volatility...

So yeah...

 

[turbin3]

Damn user agents. Keeping track of UA's at big data scale is freakin annoying. After I'm done with my regex, friends over my shoulder like, "Are you coding in hieroglyphics?"

 

[Darth]

Well, I got absolutely SMOKED overnight. I don't know if this is the mobile index thing or what but something major going on.