SEARCHENGINES

Unconfirmed Google Update Impacting Product Reviews Sites On January 26th

Published

1 year ago

January 31, 2023

On Thursday, January 26th, there were some signs of a possible Google search ranking algorithm update. The signals and chatter I was tracking, honestly, were not at super high levels. However, now that I see Glenn Gabe shared some really shocking charts of sites previously impacted by Google updates but now seeing a big swing. This is not necessarily a product reviews update but rather sites in the product reviews space that are seeing massive swings on the 26th.

Let me first share Glenn’s charts, which he posted on Twitter and said, “Heads-up, run a product reviews site? Google pushed something on 1/26 that, once again, impacted some product review sites HEAVILY. These are sites I’ve documented before with crazy surges/drops, even outside of Product Reviews Updates. Let’s see if this sticks. I hope it does.”

Here is that tweet:

Heads-up, run a product reviews site? Google pushed something on 1/26 that, once again, impacted some product review sites HEAVILY. These are sites I’ve documented before with crazy surges/drops, even outside of Product Reviews Updates. Let’s see if this sticks. I hope it does 🙂 pic.twitter.com/ZXa1r3xwcD
— Glenn Gabe (@glenngabe) January 29, 2023

Starting on the 25th, I began to see limited chatter kick into gear at WebmasterWorld. The chatter there was not specific to the product reviews update but it could have been related to it. Here are some quotes from there:

My site has been climbing rankings all week and yet today the traffic has been dismal (UK). Do I smell an update?
My ranks, as I said, have been getting better after being in decline steadily since this time last year. I haven’t done anything to improve. Could this mean that google are indeed looking at different ranking signals, not just links? I could have gained a link or two that has turned it around I suppose but no evidence so far.

After great improvement over the month of January, got a big bang down since January 24 onwards. Changes again?

Definitely, something is wrong with Google. My traffic is going down without any reason. Are there any delays with Analytics?

I don’t know what’s going on, but my website has been in free fall for a week now. And it’s the usual picture again, old news articles or meaningless keyword spam ranks in my area on the top places. It’s really no fun anymore …

Google Tracking Tools

Here are what the tracking tool are showing:

Mozcast:

Semrush:

Cognitive SEO:

Advanced Web Rankings:

So the tools are not lighting up but this update may have been something tweaked with the product reviews update, or a new update impacting product review sites or limited to those segments of websites?

Have any of you seen any big changes around January 26th?

Forum discussion at Twitter.

Up Next

Yandex Search Ranking Factors Leaked & Exposed

Don't Miss

Jeff Ferguson On Starting His Own Digital Marketing Agency

Click to comment

You must be logged in to post a comment Login

SEARCHENGINES

Daily Search Forum Recap: May 13, 2024

Published

5 hours ago

May 13, 2024

Entireweb News Bot

Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today, through the eyes of the Search Engine Roundtable and other search forums on the web.

Google explains the differences between algorithm updates, data refreshes and more – again. Google Search Console doesn’t keep data for de-indexed URLs. Google lifted some of the manual actions over the site reputation abuse policy. Google said the video needs to be super obvious on the page for it to be a video page. Google Ads updated its disclosure policy for event ticket pages. Google I/O is tomorrow – I decided not to attend in person, it is just easier to cover at my desk.

Search Engine Roundtable Stories:

Google Again On Difference Between Algorithm Updates & Data Refreshes

Danny Sullivan, Google’s Search Liaison, posted on X explaining the differences between algorithm updates, like core updates, and then data refreshes, the data that goes into those ranking systems. This is actually something Matt Cutts, former Googler, did back in 2006, on his blog and now Danny Sullivan did a short version of it on X.

Google Lifts Some Site Reputation Abuse Policy Penalties

About a week ago, we reported that Google began enforcing its new site reputation abuse policy by issuing manual actions and ranking penalties for those sites that violated those policies. Google seems to be now lifting some of those manual actions where the sites took the necessary action and no longer are violating the policy.

Google Search Console Doesn’t Keep Data For Most De-Indexed Pages

Gary Illyes from Google said on LinkedIn that Google Search Console doesn’t “keep (almost) any data for un/de-indexed.”

Google: Video Pages Need To Be Super-Obvious Video Play Pages

In April 2023 and December 2023 Google changed how it classifies what it would consider video pages. In short, the video on the page needs to be the main piece of content for Google to show it a video thumbnail in the search results and to show it in the videos tab in Google Search.

Google Ads Updates Disclosure Policy For Event Ticket Sale

Google Ads will be modifying its disclosure policy for event ticket sale. The update will say that the “disclosures should be easily visible and clearly explained in the top 20% (above the fold) of any destination when reached via an ad.”

Google Gemini Swag: Bag, T-Shirt, Jacket & More

Google has given some folks some new swag for its Gemini AI features, formerly known as Bard. Here are some photos of the Gemini bags, t-shirts and jackets.

Other Great Search Threads:

Missing Google I/O – just so much easier covering it from my desk than at the event. Hope all the SEOs going have a blast!, Barry Schwartz on X

I caught a Google test. Check out the posts on this listing; they’re FB posts, not GBP posts. Can’t see it again. Has anyone seen this?, Amy Mattison Toman on X

Noticed a few changes on Google’s local panel: Reviews now appear in a block card format with filter options. Both image/video and text reviews are displayed in this new format directly on the local panel, visible at the right, Shameem Adhikarath on X

I work for the Google Search teams. Not the PR team. Also, I’ll give you a little background here. Maybe you’ll find it helpful, maybe not., Google SearchLiaison on X

not gpt-5, not a search engine, but we’ve been hard at work on some new stuff we think people will love! feels like magic to me. monday 10am PT., Sam Altman on X

a page cannot both have a noindex robots meta tag and redirect. It can only be one or the other. – a page blocked by robots.txt will not be crawled, so Googleb, John Mueller on X

Search Engine Land Stories:

Feedback:

Have feedback on this daily recap; let me know on Twitter @rustybrick or @seroundtable, on Threads, Mastodon and Bluesky and you can follow us on Facebook and on Google News and make sure to subscribe to the YouTube channel, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts or just contact us the old fashion way.

SEARCHENGINES

Mikhail Parakhin Confirms He Is No Longer Working On Copilot At Microsoft

Published

1 day ago

May 12, 2024

Entireweb News Bot

Mikhail Parakhin, the former head of Bing Search and Microsoft Advertising at Microsoft, confirmed he is no longer working on the Copilot project. He stepped down as the head of Bing Search and Microsoft Advertising weeks ago after Microsoft hired Mustafa Suleyman as the CEO of AI at Microsoft.

We knew Mikhail Parakhin was planning to work on something new but now Mikhail Parakhin confirmed that he is no longer working on Copilot.

He said on X, “Not working on Copilot anymore, onto new things.”

I did follow up and asked if “onto new things” means new things within Microsoft or new things at a new company but I did not hear back on that. His LinkedIn profile still shows he is at Microsoft.

Here are those posts:

I know, those were the best 🙂
— Mikhail Parakhin (@MParakhin) May 9, 2024

Not working on Copilot anymore, onto new things.
— Mikhail Parakhin (@MParakhin) May 9, 2024

I am super interested in what Mikhail is working on now and I suspect he will tell us soon.

I deeply miss his transparent and frequent posts about what Microsoft is working on with Copilot and Bing Search…

Forum discussion at X.

SEARCHENGINES

Daily Search Forum Recap: May 10, 2024

Published

2 days ago

May 11, 2024

Entireweb News Bot

Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today, through the eyes of the Search Engine Roundtable and other search forums on the web.

Google says site reputation abuse is not about links, it is about content. Google Local Service Ads ranking removed proximity as a ranking signal. Google Shopping may soon tell searchers how many shoppers purchased at your e-commerce site. Google Local panels now can show the owner of the business. Mikhail Parakhin from Microsoft confirmed he is no longer working on Copilot. Plus, I posted the weekly SEO video recap.

Search Engine Roundtable Stories:

Google: Site Reputation Abuse Isn’t About Linking

Danny Sullivan, Google’s Search Liaison, made it crystal clear that the site reputation abuse policy has zero to do with linking. This means that who you link to and/or who links to you has no impact on this new policy that Google began enforcing with manual actions earlier this week.

Google May Show How Many Shoppers Purchased On Your E-Commerce Site

Google has sent some Google Merchant Center e-commerce site managers notifications that a new annotation may begin to show up in the search results next to their site’s listing that shows how many searchers purchased on your site. It may read, “1K shopped here recently.”

Google: Proximity Not A Relevancy Factor For Local Service Ads

Google has updated its Local Services Ads help document on ad rankings to remove the line around “proximity to potential customers’ locations” is a ranking factor for those ads. Ginny Marvin, the Google Ads Liaison, said the document was updated but there was no recent or “sudden change to ranking considerations” to LSA rankings or positions.

Google Local Panel With Owner Attribute

Google can show the owner of the business in the local panels in the Google search results. I suspect this is not new but I don’t believe I’ve seen this before, where Google will add an “owner” attribute to the local panel.

Mikhail Parakhin No Longer Working On Copilot At Microsoft

Mikhail Parakhin, the former head of Bing Search and Microsoft Advertising at Microsoft, confirmed he is no longer working on the Copilot project. He stepped down as the head of Bing Search and Microsoft Advertising weeks ago after Microsoft hired Mustafa Suleyman as the CEO of AI at Microsoft.

Google Ads Cyclone Money Machine

I found this photo funny. It is one of those cyclone money machines that money flies around in, and a person inside is supposed to try to grab as much money as possible. Well, there is a Google Ads logo on this one. Oh, the irony of this photo…

Search News Buzz Video Recap: Google Search Ranking Volatility, Site Reputation Abuse Enforcement, Pichai On Search Quality, HCU Recovery & More

Google may have had two search ranking algorithm updates, one around May 9th and one around May 3rd. Google began its site reputation abuse policy enforcement this week with manual actions, and it is not about linking. Google said sites may recover from the helpful content update. Sundar Pichai, Google’s CEO, responded…