As volatility in Google search results has spiked and conversation within the SEO community has begun to spike, it could be that a Google search ranking algorithm update is on the way. The next core update is expected to be released within the next few weeks, but Google may be testing/evaluating something right now.
The last update we covered was an unconfirmed update on July 9th, and there were many weekend updates from Google prior to that, all unconfirmed. Fortunately, there were no major weekend swings last weekend, which is different from the past few months.
Last Sunday at X I said:
It's an unusually quiet weekend in terms of volatility in Google rankings. Is this some kind of conspiracy? (Is it too early?) pic.twitter.com/ssxk2VxQHU
— Barry Schwartz (@rustybrick) July 14, 2024
That being said, we are now seeing the beginnings of the volatility that began yesterday.
SEO Chatter
Below are some of the conversations we saw on WebmasterWorld and our site.
A big drop today…it's started again…
I agree… My US traffic is -67% at 10am and my home page traffic is -77%. For some reason Google is now refusing to use my home page in the SERPs and has switched to ranking my site's internal pages for a ton of competing searches. As a result my internal pages are competing with other sites' stronger home pages for these searches and are nowhere to be found. Very annoying and makes no sense… My home page has been fine for 20 years. My traffic is now below what it was in 2023 for June and July and is still declining…
Traffic to my homepage has remained at -67% all day… this shouldn't be the case unless there is some sort of throttling or penalty. Has anyone else had this happen to their site?
Oh dear, looks like Google is doing something big behind the scenes today. Not sure if it's an update or not. Remember how I said my niche hasn't been affected by their dumb AI yet? Now some queries show an AI summary at the top. This seems like a never ending nightmare. Haha. Every time I think I've reached rock bottom, Google adds more.
There was another big swing today, but it is Thursday, and there hasn't been a single stable day on the SERPs this week.
The traffic patterns are weird…
It's already underway. It started today. I'm just saying.
There's lots more, but these are just a few…
Google Rank Tracking Change Tool
Here's what you'll see in the tool: Not everything has been updated yet today so I might come back later and update some things.
Advanced Web Ranking:
SERP Metrics:
Cognitive SEO:
Semrush:
Algorithm:
Mozcast:
SERP Stats:
Similar websites:
Acculancar:
Mangool:
Wincher:
What are you guys seeing in terms of rankings and organic traffic on Google over the last 24 hours?
Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.
