SEARCHENGINES
Google March 2023 Broad Core Update Tremors Continue
As you know, Google has started to roll out the Google March 2023 Broad Core update on March 15th, it should probably continue to roll out through the first half of next week and complete. But like most Google updates, we see tremors and fluctuations during (and sometimes after) the roll out.
In the past 24-hours, I’ve been noticing larger tremors and fluctuations with this update. It may signal that the update is almost done rolling out or that there is a big more to go. There are over 400 comments on the original story with SEOs following these fluctuations closely, as well as chatter on WebmasterWorld. I will quote some of it below but let me first start with the tracking tools.
Tracking Tools On March 2023 Core Update – Updated For March 24th
As a reminder, this update started on March 15th, but here is what the tracking tools showed over the roll out. You can see a big spike the day or so after it was announced and then it started to calm. Then the past 24 hours or so, the spike and volatility started to kick up a notch again. Here are what the tools are showing:
I suspect some of the ones that are showing lower volatility will update today with higher volatility…
Renewed SEO Chatter On March 2023 Core Update
Here is some new chatter from the over 400 comments on the original story here and WebmasterWorld.
My total traffic in the past 48 hours is only 3 (Three). I suspect if analytics is broken. How about yours?
Back to normal here, the second shuffle round didnt start here yet.
Look into your own real server logs. No webbug shows better numbers.
I think so second wave is under the way. In UAE I can see the websites with .nz, .ca, co.uk, .com, .au ranking on 1st and 2nd page.
today traffic is lowest of all these years and same time the Bard Launch for public in US and UK!
Just coming up to 19 hours of my Goggleday and US traffic is 50% of its usual level.
Nearly all non-US companies in my widget sector have been pushed down to a minimum 30+ for the top selling widgets but I wonder what the actual organic traffic levels are since there are so many ads and images it’s nearly impossible to find them.
This new core update has been quite a roller coaster for me – I initially went up around 35% week over week, then went down, and then back up again. Overall, I’m back to my early Jan rankings/traffic levels, so no biggies.
Our 21-year-old editorial travel information site had a nice uptick about a day before the March Core Update was announced. In the days immediately after the update began rolling out, we had a moderate but sharp decline in traffic, seemingly across the board.
Traffic dropped maybe 10 to 15 percent, depending on the day, with average positions in Google Search Console dropping from the 17-18 range to 26 one day and 19 or so overall.Things have perked up a bit in the last couple of days, but we’re still below the levels of the same dates last year.
Usually I don’t see this much volatility during major Google updates, and in most cases we’re barely affected by the updates at all. I’m guessing that our site won’t see a lot more change from this current update, but I’d be happy to be proven wrong (preferably in a good way!).
I was doing well as well, until today. Anyway Core update not yet done. I’m receive almost no traffic from the US/Canada too.
My site is ranking higher and higher, with a big increase in top 3/10 ranking pages in the last two days, but traffic to my home page and some of my landing pages is in the dog house. my top landing page that was doing well, is down 80% this morning. I checked and there are two ads at top of page, then local search results, then I dropped from 1st to 2nd, but my site has the wide carousel of images underneath. I would call that good placement…but an 80% drop.
Traffic overall has been higher since this core update, but USA and Canada are definitely not sending more traffic. There are zero new inquiries for the last week or more…unusual for this time of year.
Anyway, we are not done yet – and I hope you are all managing during this update.
We will keep you posted on any future changes – as always.
SEARCHENGINES
Google’s Search Liaison Urges Patience As The March 2024 Core Update Continues To Rollout
Google is urging site owners and SEOs to have patience as the Google March 2024 core update continues to roll out over the coming weeks. Danny Sullivan, the Google Search Liaison, said on X to wait for the update to complete before deciding on what changes you may want to make.
He wrote, “I would let the update complete before deciding if there are any fundamental changes you might want to make.” In fact, he said, “There might not be any to do at all,” and maybe whatever ranking declines you are seeing now won’t be there when the update is done rolling out.
As a reminder, the March 2024 core update started officially on March 5th, then we first saw ranking shifts on March 8th and 9th, then some reversals on March 12th and then more movement on March 15th. The update can take a full month to roll out, so it may go into April 2024.
Sullivan then went into what other changes or factors may lead to a site seeing less search visibility and traffic.
Your site seems clean and nice. Going through the site, I see [steak pie] as one of your featured recipes. You’re in the carousel and second in web links for that. That’s a pretty solid sign that we like your content.
If you were previously first, trying to move up from second by doing a lot of technical and content stuff wouldn’t be something I’d recommend. Second is super successful. Rankings can also change for various reasons, so you might move back up.
You might also look to see if there’s any seasonal change. IE: instead of looking at rankings, look at your traffic. If it was higher previously, what for? Perhaps you had some seasonal recipes a few months ago that people are looking for less. We have a page about debugging traffic drops that talks about seasonality here.
Here are those posts within context:
I would let the update complete before deciding if there are any fundamental changes you might want to make. There might not be any to do at all.
Your site seems clean and nice. Going through the site, I see [steak pie] as one of your featured recipes. You’re in the carousel and…
— Google SearchLiaison (@searchliaison) March 15, 2024
Please be kind in your responses.
Forum discussion at X.
SEARCHENGINES
Google Core Update Rumbling, Manual Actions FAQs, Core Web Vitals Updates, AI, Bing, Ads & More
For the original iTunes version, click here.
This past weekend (a week ago) we saw the first ranking volatility likely from the Google March 2024 core update. We also some saw possible reversals or recoveries a few days later. Then today, Friday, March 15th, I am seeing more ranking volatility likely related to the core and spam updates. Google posted its official FAQs for pure spam manual actions. Google has clarified its page experience and core web vitals help documentation and how it relates to rankings. Google has replaced FID with INP as a core web vital metric, as expected. Google said sites use AI for some articles but don’t specify which are the lowest quality pages. Google explains that double down on AI content may be a bad idea now. John Mueller’s site dropped out of the Google index this week, no joke. Bing Webmaster Tools may provide up to 24 months of data. Bing Webmaster Tools’s new top SEO insights report can tell you if you have inadequate links. Bingbot now supports Brotli compression. Google Top Stories has this “more context” section written by AI. Google image search is testing like buttons. Google Local panels are testing numerous interface changes. Google local reviews can show photos related to reviews and related photos to photos. Google is testing placing website links next to hotels and restaurants. Google Business Profiles shows services with book now buttons. Google Merchant Center Product Studio released themed templates, with the first being for St. Patrick’s Day. Microsoft Advertising is testing a new advertising console. Microsoft Copilot is now using GPT-4 Turbo. Copilot is now in that Microsoft Advertising console. And if you want to help sponsor those vlogs, go to patreon.com/barryschwartz. That was the search news this week at the Search Engine Roundtable.
SPONSOR: Wix Studio lets digital marketing agencies get all of the benefits Wix has to offer from best-in-class SEO capabilities to 99% up-time with the added value of an extensive client and team management system baked right into the platform.
Make sure to subscribe to our video feed or subscribe directly on iTunes, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts or your favorite podcast player to be notified of these updates and download the video in the background. Here is the YouTube version of the feed:
Search Topics of Discussion:
Please do subscribe on YouTube or subscribe via iTunes or on your favorite RSS reader. Don’t forget to comment below with the right answer and good luck!
SEARCHENGINES
Daily Search Forum Recap: March 15, 2024
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.
We’re seeing more ranking fluctuations likely related to the Google March core and spam updates. Google Merchant Center Product Studio has new AI generated themed templates, one ready for St. Patrick’s Day. Google Image search is testing thumbs up like buttons. Google tests dishes near me. Google has trending icons in the people also search for section. Plus, I posted the weekly SEO video recap.
Search Engine Roundtable Stories:
-
Google March 2024 Core & Spam Update Movement Today
Today is day 10 of the Google March 2024 core update rollout and Google March 2024 spam update. We believe we saw the core update touch down on March 8th and 9th and some possible recoveries or fluctuations on March 12th. Now I see more signs of Google search ranking volatility likely related to the core and spam updates today. -
Search News Buzz Video Recap: Google Core Update Rumbling, Manual Actions FAQs, Core Web Vitals Updates, AI, Bing, Ads & More
This past weekend (a week ago) we saw the first ranking volatility likely from the Google March 2024 core update. We also some saw possible reversals or recoveries a few days later. Then today, Friday, March 15th, I am seeing more ranking volatility likely related to the core and spam updates. Google posted…. -
Google Merchant Center Product Studio With Themed Templates Including St. Patrick’s Day
Google Merchant Center has added new themed templates to the Product Studio. The new theme was for St. Patrick’s Day, which is coming up this Sunday. But Google will soon add Easter, Spring, and Mother’s Day themed templates to the Product Studio as well. -
Google Image Search Results Testing Like Button
Google seems to be testing a like, thumbs-up, button on image search results. The thumbs-up icon is near the share and save button and below the image, description and visit button. -
Google Search Dishes Nearby Carousel
Have you seen the “dishes nearby” carousel in the mobile Google Search results? I am not 100% sure if it is new, but I don’t think I’ve covered it before. But Google will show dishes served by nearby restaurants in a carousel interface. -
Google People Also Search For Trending Icons
Google is placing trending icons on some of the people also search for people in the knowledge panel. We’ve seen various forms of this and I don’t think this is specifically new, but I don’t think I covered this specific example. -
Wall Of Superstars At Google
Here is a photo from the Google Hong Kong office of a wall that says “Superstars at Google” and it then shows photos, names and descriptions of specific Googlers.
Other Great Search Threads:
- Bing is testing a large font size for the first title on Bing SERP., Shameem Adhikarath on X
- Google, in an effort to display and prioritize even more expertise, is showing a short bio of who the person is who’s writing or tweeting about a “Perspective” Notice how they add “covers technology” This looks very ve, Shalom Goodman on X
- Are these JavaScript Errors Anything to Worry About?, Reddit
- I think this might be new (DMA), for bus and train searches. Don’t recall a “Transport sites” module (like the Places sites one) being mentioned in Google’s announcements…, Lluc B. Penycate on X
- Perplexity’s integration of Yelp data is imperfect but points to exciting times ahead for “Local AI.”, Greg Sterling on X
- Want your mind blown today? -> Ray Kurzweil is Google’s AI visionary and has over *61* years of experience with AI. Yes, 61. On Rogan’s podcast, he covered a number of topics that would blow your mind. To say he knows his stuff AI-wi, Glenn Gabe on X
Search Engine Land Stories:
Other Great Search Stories:
Industry & Business
Links & Content Marketing
Local & Maps
- How Local Businesses Inspire Love, Loyalty, and Friendship, Moz
- Apple Maps Cycling Directions Expand to Austria, Belgium, and Sweden, MacRumors
- Apple Maps vs. Google Maps: Which Is Better?, MacRumors
- Istanbul construction pit mistaken as lake on Google, Apple, Yandex maps, Daily Sabah
Mobile & Voice
SEO
PPC
Other Search
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.
-
SEO7 days ago
Content Checklist for 2024: A Comprehensive Guide
-
SEARCHENGINES6 days ago
Daily Search Forum Recap: March 12, 2024
-
WORDPRESS6 days ago
11 Best Shopify Alternatives & Competitors (2024 Comparison)
-
SEARCHENGINES5 days ago
Daily Search Forum Recap: March 13, 2024
-
MARKETING7 days ago
3 Classic Copywriting Books You Need Now More than Ever
-
PPC5 days ago
17 Content Distribution Strategies to Try in 2024
-
SEO6 days ago
WordPress Site Builder Plugin Accused Of Adding A “Backdoor”
-
SEO6 days ago
How to Search Through the Source Code of the Entire Website