Google Algorithm change this month - theories ?
-
Hi Moz fans!
If you've not had the chance to check out moz cast go check it out it seems Google has been busy and so much so it broke Moz cast. There has been some discussion on seo round table about the changes and something seems to be going on.
I wanted to find out how you guys are all finding it have you had a change in rankings? Any theories on what you think Google is up to? Personally I've seen rather a few of my sites go up in the rankings last week or so.
As always look forward to hearing your thoughts and feelings on it Moz.
-
Thanks Marie,
You can also read more about it on Dr.Pete's Moz post here-
http://moz.com/blog/panda-4-payday-loan-2-and-ebays-very-bad-day
-
Mystery solved. Two major changes happened today:
1. Payday loans algo update - affects very spammy queries: http://searchengineland.com/official-google-payday-loan-algorithm-2-0-launched-targets-spammy-queries-192027 - This is what looked like Penguin but it wasn't Penguin.
2. A big Panda update - https://twitter.com/mattcutts/status/468891756982185985. Google doesn't usually announce Panda updates but I suppose if they affect enough queries it's worthy of announcing.
-
We saw some gains on Friday on a few terms that had fallen out of the top 50 quite a while ago. This morning though we saw some major gains. This is for an eCommerce site that was hit hard by the first panda update and also had a manual penalty for unnatural links (though the penalty was removed in late 2012).
-
Our data on eBay can fluctuate a bit, since both the main domain and "popular.ebay.com" occupy a lot of real-estate, and seem to shuffle around. Historically, though, this is a big drop for a "Big 10" property.
-
I've seen Ebay take this kind of hit in the past. Then, after Google settled down, new auction pages began to appear.
I think that Google is playing with stale data because I see old versions of recently changed title tags. With so many pages on ebay being ephemeral, I bet Google deleted them temporarily. But, who knows what they are doing?
-
I think the SSL thing is more Matt's personal crusade than a near-term change coming from Google, but it's hard to say. I suspect it's too early for that, personally.
-
Posted some preliminary findings on Google+:
https://plus.google.com/b/112544075040456048636/+SEOmoz/posts/Tj2H3QDwX56
TLDR - definitely seeing unusual activity, and it doesn't seem to be a glitch. The last week we saw historic lows, so the contrast is very telling. It might be that Google kept changes light before rolling out something major.
I can confirm EGOL's observation that eBay took a big hit (also mentioned in the G+ post). This is unprecedented for a "Big 10" site, but it could well be temporary. An eBay-sized site moving in the SERPs that far could move the overall needle a bit, but I don't think it's the whole situation.
This feels more Penguin-like than Panda-like, but that's just my gut, and I think we have to be careful putting everything into those two buckets. With in the ballpark of 600 updates/year, there's a lot more than Panda and Penguin. If it's Penguin, we may yet hear confirmation from Google. If it's Panda, we probably won't.
-
A lot of people are saying it's a test for a Penguin refresh, but none of the sites that I monitor for Penguin issues are showing any changes. I spend a lot of time monitoring Twitter and SEO forums and here is what I am seeing:
-A lot of black hats are complaining that their sites are taking major hits.
-In the Google Webmaster Help forums there hasn't been an increase in people complaining that their sites are affected.
-A site that I monitor that gets affected both positively and negatively with many Panda updates is showing almost a 50% increase in organic traffic
So my conclusions? I don't know.
I feel like there may be a couple of things going on. I think there is a Panda refresh as we haven't had one in a little while, but I also feel like Google is doing something new.
-
I've noticed it too and Matt Cutts posted something on SSL on Twitter (he's talked about how he loves encryption before, but the timing is suspicious). Are your sites encrypted? Wondering if there's an update that responds well to encryption.
-
Thanks for the responses so far really great. Just a quick update Dr. Pete just mentioned the following - (attached)
Basically Moz cast just bottoms out at 40 degrees all time low!
-
If I was going to guess, this is a topic-sensitive update. Strengthening the rankings of sites that are all about something and demoting sites that are a little about everything.
Ebay has taken major hits in all of my SERPs.
Retail sites with substantive informative content are up with double listings.... showing product page and informative article about that topic displayed together in the SERPs.
-
I have noticed some major changes today too, i hope it stays lol.
-
I have seen a remarkable positive change this morning in rankings on one site which we have been trying to recover from an algorithmic penalty, however this appears to be an isolate result unique to Moz. Other tools show no such recovery in rankings for that site. Other similar sites we are tracking in Moz show no significant changes this morning.
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
What happens when we change redirects to pass linkjuice to different pages from backlinks? Google's stand?
Hi Moz community, We have employed different pages (topics) at same URLs for years. This has brought different backlinks to same page which has led to non relevancy of backlinks. Now we are planning to redirect some URLs which may improve or drop rankings of certain pages. If we roll back the redirects in case of ranking drop, will there be any negative impact from Google? Does Google notice anything about redirect changes beside just passing pagerank from backlinks? Thanks
Algorithm Updates | | vtmoz0 -
Anchor name URLs & anchor blocks: how Google sees them?
Hi guys, Anchor name URLs & anchor blocks: how Google sees them? As far as I know Google hasn't ever recommended anchor name URLs and anchor blocks, mostly when you have one page site, but I have ran into an organic result with an hyper-link to an anchor name URL. anchor name link There is a proper link and there aren't on the page and the code the words "Jump to". It means Google has put those words there and it has also taken the header of that block as anchor text. Why has Google placed that link? The query is "faqs umbrella company", so I thought that Google has seen "faqs umbrella company" like "what is the most popular faq about umbrella companies?" and therefore perhaps the correct answer could be "Is an umbrella company the only option I have? What are the alternatives?". Although, IMHO the most popular FAQ on Umbrella Companies should always be "what is an umbrella company". Unfortunately, that page is only worthy of third Google organic result page and there is no hint of rich snippet or any kind of conversational/KBT optimisation on its source code. no-rich-snippet Someone has any idea of why Google shows that link and if it's something that we can optimise in our pages? Cheers Pierpaolo IhwGwkb.jpg VWORt5F.jpg
Algorithm Updates | | madcow780 -
Will Google discount new gTLDs?
I have the opportunity now to acquire a very desirable generic domain name with either the .org or .pro TLD. Obviously, the .pro version I can get for a far better price. The .org will probably end up being about 10x the price of the .pro. I feel like the .org would give me instant clout while the .pro might raise eyebrows. Also, I'm concerned that Google might also discount these new gTLDs. What do you guys think? Is the perceived authority of the old-time TLDs something worth investing in? Or will this fizzle away over time as the new gTLDs flood the market? THanks! Ira
Algorithm Updates | | iraweissman0 -
Google keyword tool
I was quite happy with google keyword tool for basic and accurate searches for keywords. Can anyone suggests a new tool that will give accurate search volume on google ( country specific ) I am not interest in info for adwords, and find a keyword planner tool way out in traffic results, compared to Keyword tool. Is the keyword tool completely gone?
Algorithm Updates | | summer3000 -
Does a KML file have to be indexed by Google?
I'm currently using the Yoast Local SEO plugin for WordPress to generate my KML file which is linked to from the GeoSitemap. Check it out http://www.holycitycatering.com/sitemap_index.xml. A competitor of mine just told me that this isn't correct and that the link to the KML should be a downloadable file that's indexed in Google. This is the opposite of what Yoast is saying... "He's wrong. 🙂 And the KML isn't a file, it's being rendered. You wouldn't want it to be indexed anyway, you just want Google to find the information in there. What is the best way to create a KML? Should it be indexed?
Algorithm Updates | | projectassistant1 -
Google places - are you still registering your companies?
Is Google plus taking over from Google Places? I have our company and website registered on Google places and Google Plus. Now we have a new website ( same company different product) Should I register a new listing on Google places? And what about Google Plus?
Algorithm Updates | | Realtor1010 -
Google Love and Bing Hate
I have a site that is currently ranking 6th for a certain key phrase. But when i search on Bing it is on page 4. The result on google is for the homepage and the bing result is a search result. Does anyone have any suggestions? I am not logged into to google when searching but we do use adwords.
Algorithm Updates | | SoundinTheory0 -
Did The Last Google Algorithm Update, Hit sites with poor anchor text?
My content is quite strong within my niche, so I ranked well, but last month my rankings plummeted. On closer examination and scrutiny I discovered my anchor text needed updating. Has anyone else seen this happening in the last four weeks?
Algorithm Updates | | simonberenyi0