SEARCHENGINES

Google Search Ranking Algorithm Volatility August 9th and 10th

Published

6 days ago

August 11, 2024

Since Friday, August 9th, I have been seeing yet another intense spike in Google Search ranking volatility. This is based on the SEO chatter within the communities and of course, the third-party Google Search rank volatility trackers.

And no, we still do not have a new core update officially released by Google but it is coming soon, weeks away…

As a reminder, last week we reported on volatility on August 6th and then we had that bursting Google volatility around July 31st, the previous two weeks have been incredibly volatile and also July 23rd, then before that was July 18th and then July 9th we saw big movement from Google Search.

Then again, this past weekend, I have been tracking some big movement with Google Search ranking positions. Maybe Google is testing the next core update? If so, we are still not seeing any positive direction from those hit by the September 2023 helpful content update.

Google Rank Tracking Volatility Tools

Let’s start with what the tools are showing and most are showing big movement:

Semrush:

SimilarWeb:

Advanced Web Rankings:

SEO Chatter

The folks on this site (now almost 400 comments in a few days) and on WebmasterWorld are noticing a lot of volatility in the past couple of days.

Here are some quotes:

The current traffic is like a slow drip of nothing.

And a lot of shuffling going on. The results are for some of the product queries in my niche not geospecific at all and all over the place. When I search from Germany, I don’t want to get results from the U.S., Canada or outside Europe at the top.

The results should be German results first, then European results and then the rest of the world. This has been always the case up until sometime last year.

I agree with you that the English results for a search from Germany are extremely annoying, especially for topics that affect Germany. I even get English websites presented to me when I search for something related to my income tax return. It is becoming increasingly difficult to find something with Google. Unfortunately, Bing and thus DuckDuckGo are getting worse and worse.

This is the worst my rankings have ever been. AI sites are popping up, taking over my rankings less than a year old. Not sure how long I can survive. Google ends up banning these sites for 6 months to 12 months, only to replace them with another one. It’s really affecting my site.

The fact that these AI sites rank at all is shocking. This August update seems to have weakened Googles defenses against such SEO content. It’s not dramatic yet. Maybe some 10% more crappy SEO sites ranking.

Let’s see if it gets worse. Spammers are certainly pumping out more “niche sites” than ever before and large publishers with no moral compass are milking their reputation more than ever before, because there is still no penalty for that.

Traffic is surging this weekend, everywhere except for the USA, which is only up +1%:

Click throttling hard this week.

It feels like we’re back to April’s throttling. In April, just when Q2 starts, traffic dropped very drastically and SERPs make no sense. Sales went little to zero despite rankings the same.

It is happening again this the start of August, or rather, after the monopoly verdict. Many have pointed out the same.

Google is hopeless at this point.

Helpful Content Update movement?

And on the helpful content update, we are not seeing anything. Glenn Gabe posted this morning on X, he wrote, “I had some people ping me about running the visibility numbers for the 380+ HCU(X) sites I’m tracking. Nope, no movement really on that front.”

Here are those posts:

Still a ton of volatility as we lead up to the next core update. Looks like 8/4 is another big date with many sites seeing movement then (with some reversing course based on previous tremors this summer). I have included some screenshots below of search visibility changes across… pic.twitter.com/2k7BOeuXoD

— Glenn Gabe (@glenngabe) August 11, 2024

And just to underscore the insane volatility we have seen this summer, check out the visibility trending for the site below. Talk about a roller coaster… And the second screenshot is a site I’ve been tracking that’s heavily using AI content. It surged a few months ago, started… pic.twitter.com/2zpLk4IFz7

— Glenn Gabe (@glenngabe) August 11, 2024

Also, in the comments area here:

“Once hit by HCU, there is no coming back. I spent far too long trying to recover. One of my HCU hit websites. Looks like everyone else’s.”

If Google is testing the core update, none of these tests over the past several weeks have shown any recoveries for those sites hit by the September helpful content update. Yea, I am sorry to report on that.

Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.

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Daily Search Forum Recap: August 12, 2024

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SEARCHENGINES

Google August Core Update, Big Ranking Bug, DOJ Google Breakup, AI Overview Links, Gemini Research & More

Published

5 hours ago

August 17, 2024

Entireweb News Bot

Google August Core Update, Big Ranking Bug, DOJ Google Breakup, AI Overview Links, Gemini Research & More

For the original iTunes version, click here.

It finally happened: Google released the August 2024 core update; this one should reward small and independent publishers more, should it? Google had another search ranking bug, today, this was a big one. There has been tremendous Google ranking volatility this week, maybe the core update, but it was the day before and the weekend before the official announcement. The Department of Justice may decide to break up Google. Google launched new links in AI Overviews, expanded it to more countries and launched new Search Labs features, oh and Google is showing them in incognito mode. Google Gemini Research shows links as well. Google may be sending some publishers a lot more Discover traffic and a lot less Web Search traffic, a report says. Google Search Console only shows 35% of your data, maybe. Google does not technically follow links. Google may get better at URL parameter handling. Google confirms it shows 10+ shopping ads as you scroll. Google Search lists merchant center tracking parameters, causing a mess for some. Google deactivated Russian AdSense publishers. Google top stories may be showing fewer stories for political figures. Google is testing mini knowledge panel cards. Google knowledge panels have these “connections.” Google Home listings are hidden with fake WhatsApp numbers, and some hotels are closed. Google highlights reviews in the search result listings. The FTC officially banned fake reviews. And Apple Business Connect expanded its showcase feature. That was the search news this week at the Search Engine Roundtable.

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SEARCHENGINES

Daily Search Forum Recap: August 16, 2024

Published

1 day ago

August 16, 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 released the much anticipated August 2024 core update, it will take a month to roll out and may help smaller publishers. Google has a massive search ranking bug going on today, the same time Google released the core update but they are unrelated. Google AI Overviews launches its new links, expands to more countries and more. Google does not follow links, at least not technically. Google is testing showing review snippets. The FTC banned fake reviews. And I posted my weekly SEO video recap with a new camera. What an insane 24 hours – a core update, huge ranking bug and AI Overviews being expanded.

Search Engine Roundtable Stories:

Google August 2024 Core Update Rolling Out – Will Small Sites Rank Again?

The time has finally arrived; the day you all have been waiting for is here – the Google August 2024 core update started rolling out on Thursday at 11 am ET. Yea, you all saw it coming, Google told us it was near and now it has finally landed. It will take about a month to fully roll out and “useful” small and independent publishers will see their rankings improve with this one – at least that is what Google implied.

Confirmed: Google Search Ranking Bug Impacting Large Number Of Results

This morning at 1:48 am ET, Google confirmed a Google Search ranking bug impacting a large number of the Google Search results. Google wrote, “There’s an ongoing issue with ranking in Google Search that’s affecting a large number of search results. We’ve identified the root cause and this issue is unrelated to the ongoing core update rollout.”

Google AI Overview New Links UI, Save, Simpler Mode & More Countries

Google announced a number of new features across its AI Overviews, including the new links test we saw going live. Google also is adding new Search Labs features and is expanding AI Overviews to more countries.

Google Doesn’t Technically Follow Links, It Extracts, Collects & Checks Later

Google’s Gary Illyes clarified on the Search Off The Record podcast that Google technically does not follow links. Instead, Google will extract the links, collect them in a database, and then check them later. Of course, most of you know this already and it doesn’t really matter much for SEO to know the difference but hey.

FTC Banned Fake Reviews

You may have heard, the Federal Trade Commission announced that they have officially banned fake reviews and AI-generated fake reviews. But will this actually end up doing anything?

Google Highlighting Review Content In Search Result Snippets

Google is highlighting review content within its search results snippets for some queries that ask for reviews. At least, Google is testing this – since I cannot replicate it.

Fancy Windy Staircases At Google France Office

Here are two photos I found on Instagram of fancy windy staircases at the Google offices in France. You can see more in these two posts on Instagram.

Search News Buzz Video Recap: Google August Core Update, Big Ranking Bug, DOJ Google Breakup, AI Overview Links, Gemini Research & More

It finally happened: Google released the August 2024 core update; this one should reward small and independent publishers more, should it? Google had another search ranking bug, today, this was a big one. There has been tremendous Google ranking volatility this week, maybe the core update, but…

Other Great Search Threads:

Search Engine Land Stories:

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SEARCHENGINES

Daily Search Forum Recap: August 15, 2024

Published

2 days ago

August 15, 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.

We are seeing more explosive Google search ranking volatility again and still no confirmed Google update – yet. Google is testing over 10+ shopping ads as a way to promote more discovery Google said.Google is testing showing AI Overviews in incognito mode. Google may be showing fewer top stories for political figures. We have a recap of Google’s EMEA Product Experts Summit 2024.

Search Engine Roundtable Stories:

Google Search Ranking Volatility Combusting Around August 14th

Google is still at it, maybe it is angry again about the possibility of it being broken up by the DOJ after being ruled a monopoly. But in all seriousness, the search ranking volatility is super heating, almost combusting. The chatter is still super heated and many of the tools are showing extreme volatility.

Google Tests AI Overviews In Incognito Mode (Not Signed In)

Google is testing showing AI Overviews for users not signed in to their Google account. Some users are seeing AI Overviews for searches when using Chrome in Incognito mode (i.e. private mode, not signed in).

Google Confirms Tests Over 10 Shopping Ads In Mobile Search Interface

Google has confirmed it is testing more than 10 ads (some 18) in the Google Shopping ad box. Ginny Marvin, Google’s Ads Liaison, said “This is a small experiment exploring different configurations for shopping ads to promote greater discovery.”

Google Top Stories Showing Fewer Top Stories For Political Figures?

Google Search changed how many stories it shows for political figures recently. Now Google shows the two by two top stories grid in search for searches on Harris, Trump and other political figures. Google use to show 7 top stories formats for these figures.

Google EMEA Product Experts Summit 2024 Recap

Summer’s going by rather fast, but one event that’s already come and gone has been this year’s edition of Google’s PE Summit for the EMEA region. It took place on June 20th and 21st in Zürich, Switzerland, and was hosted at Google’s own offices as well as in a virtual format, similar to previous years.

Google’s Sundar Pichai Gets Honorary Doctorate From IIT Kharagpur

Here is a photo from a few weeks ago from Sundar Pichai’s Instagram channel of him receiving an honorary doctorate from his alma mater IIT Kharagpur.