Google Algorithm News 0519: Rankings Shift, Traffic Recovering?

This article was originally published in Chinese on 2023-05-15 and has been translated into English. Read the Chinese version.

Since last weekend, people have noticed that rankings seem to be shifting again. Based on this WebmasterWorld thread and discussions across the industry, the consensus is that changes began on May 16 and peaked on May 19 according to the SEMrush Sensor.

Some sites that were hit by Google’s March update gradually recovered from mid-April through May. Hopefully this month won’t bring any more negative impact.

Honestly, perhaps due to the influence of ChatGPT, Google has been making one small move after another since January. For SEOs and anyone who lives on traffic, keeping up with the latest news quickly is extremely important. I recommend following news across a variety of channels, and you can also follow my “Linus Overseas Traffic Player” WeChat Official Account and my WeChat Moments for the latest updates.

WebmasterWorld Summary

Here are some views from the forum for reference, with my thoughts in brackets after each. If you’re interested, feel free to join the discussion in the original thread:

⭐After several days of extremely low traffic levels at 07.00 UK time this morning my global site suddenly had a few more page loads and then from 08.00 until 13.00 completely normal page views making it already +122% v my new average … No doubt that’s just killed it
(A sudden Google algorithm adjustment caused a traffic spike, but it may quickly revert afterward.)

⭐Yesterday everything snapped right back into the old traffic pattern and all of the sections of my site which were down 40%-80% since Easter were back to their old levels. It seems to be holding thing morning, but USA and CA traffic has not fully recovered. Traffic from Europe, UK, and AU is roaring. This does coincide with higher ranking, but not a big move upward and certainly not enough to have caused this much higher traffic level.
With the reversion back to ‘normal’ traffic I have had my first new customer inquiry since May 5th! One cannot make a business on Google destroying your traffic for half the month. Let’s see how long this holds before going right back to the lower levels…
(The first new customer inquiry since May 5th, which is almost enough to make you cry. Google traffic is somewhat unstable.)

⭐For my global site Monday had a pre-April 2023 average day which made a gratifying change. Our UK hotel venue site was 100% average which for a Monday was good.
As a global business several years ago I combined all my country and region-specific sites under one umbrella site however, because of changing business conditions, my current thinking is to return them to how they were.
Has anyone else done this kind of reversal?
(Some sites affected by the algorithm are recovering, which is good news.)

⭐Something must have happend over the weekend. Starting on friday with worst day saturday and going on till today we see a significant drop in traffic. User engangment is nearly zero. Complete mismatch.
(Traffic is behaving a bit strangely.)

⭐I am also seeing things starting to come back. Visibility and traffic are returning to normal levels after a very slow past couple of weeks.
(Traffic is recovering.)

⭐Seems traffic is now stable at -20%. But like I said before even the traffic double the last few months the overall conversion remains lower than before.
Traffic tanked in France (and Europe) where the AI Bard widget is not rollout. So it’s not only a layout issue.
(Watch out for Bard and its impact on traffic!)

⭐Here we go, will anything improve after a very poor April for many or will traffic continue to be hoovered-up by the G ad machine? No prizes for guessing correctly!
(Complaints about Google’s ad placements have been around for a long time.)

⭐I don’t know what the best way is either, and we are a news site in Germany. That makes it easier for us than an online store.
For example, we started two podcasts that significantly increased our audience, then we entered into collaborations (with events, etc.) to be more present outside of the Internet, and we changed our whole look and communication. We are small, but this has given us much better opportunities to be closer to the reader. All of this has led to better reader engagement and us being found more and more without Google.
On the financial side, we kicked out Google advertising and started marketing our ad space ourselves, since then we’ve had stable revenue.
We are only a very small player and don’t have the financial capabilities of the big players in our country (especially since I still maintain that Google gives preferential treatment to the so-called leading media). But we have accepted that. Therefore, we can completely ignore the fluctuations caused by Google, because the business is going anyway and we are still growing.
(In short: they built close ties with readers through podcasts and live events, completely changed their brand image and communication, dropped Google ads and sold their ad space themselves, and achieved stable finances. Although small, they’re not at Google’s mercy, their business is doing well and their readership keeps growing. They get traffic from multiple channels and have reduced their dependence on Google. No marketing channel should stand alone. Google SEO makes your website better, but your traffic sources need to be diversified, especially in today’s era, where SEO is just one of many traffic plays. Below is the traffic matrix we use at Jindouyun SEO; you can talk to me about it at the end of this article.)

Impact on E-commerce Sites?

Across the sites in our Jindouyun SEO service, about half saw no particular impact, while a small portion were mildly affected, with some declines and some gains. We’ll keep observing over the longer term and watch for signals from Google to identify the factors involved.

SERP Volatility Sensors

• Many SEO tools use the concept of a barometer, sensor or volatility score to show how turbulent ranking changes are. As for how SEOs can use this to guide their work, I’ll write a separate article on that later. Put simply: small signs reveal big trends 🍃.

SEMRush:

Mobile:

Desktop:

SERP Fluctuation:

Moz:

RankRanger:

Keep improving, and let’s keep pushing forward together! Feel free to add LinusSEO on WeChat and follow my WeChat Moments for my SEO and overseas marketing notes, and let’s swap ideas on how to win overseas traffic in the age of AIGC. Follow me to learn more about Google SEO🧀.