Update: Google’s Danny Sullivan confirmed that Image Search can be impacted by broad core updates. That matches with what I’m seeing in the data, so it’s great to have that confirmation from Google.

——————–

I was asked an interesting question on Twitter about broad core updates from Kenichi Suzuki. He asked if Google’s broad core updates could impact Image Search (in addition to Web Search and Discover). Although I’ve helped many sites with Image Search problems (especially after url migrations), I haven’t focused too much on Image Search from a broad core update standpoint. Instead, I’m usually helping companies that have seen significant drops in Web Search traffic. Also, I don’t remember Google’s John Mueller, Gary Illyes, or Danny Sullivan ever covering this topic before, so I decided to dig in.

Since I have a lot of broad core update data, I fired up GSC and quickly checked some sites that surged or dropped during the last several broad core updates (dating back to May 2020). After quickly checking several sites, I didn’t see much movement in Image Search when those sites were impacted by broad core updates (in Web Search). That’s when I tweeted this:

I replied too soon. :) As I checked more sites, including ones impacted by the recent June and July broad core updates, I absolutely started to see several of them showing impact in Image Search when they were heavily impacted by broad core updates. So down the rabbit hole I went…

But before I provide examples of what I am seeing with Image Search during broad core updates, I think it’s important to cover how Google ranks images in Image Search, as well as how images can rank in Web Search. I know there’s a lot of confusion about that.

Ranking in Image Search: It’s about the image and landing page combination.
When Google ranks images in Image Search, it’s not just about the images alone. That tends to surprise some site owners that see drops or surges in Image Search. Google ranks images in Image Search based on the landing page and image combination. Google has explained this many times and I covered that in my post about image search last year.

Here is Google’s John Mueller about Image Search rankings and the importance of the image and landing page combination (at 14:41 in the video):

Google wants to make sure users can find out more about the content behind the image ranking, so it’s using the landing page/image combination for rankings. In my opinion, that could be why Image Search can be impacted by broad core updates. For example, if a page drops in Web Search, that scoring could potentially impact the calculation for Image Search rankings (based on the landing page content). Again, that’s my opinion and not something confirmed by Google. It just makes sense to me…

Images Ranking in Web Search
In addition to Image Search rankings, images can rank in Web Search as well (and register impressions and clicks that show up in the performance reporting for Web Search in GSC). I covered that in a post about why you might see high rankings and low impressions (since images ranking in image packs, knowledge panels, and featured snippets can often rank highly, but receive very little clicks).

For example, when an image ranks in a SERP feature in the Web Search results, it yields an impression (and click if someone clicks through). If a site is impacted by a broad core update, then those listings in Web Search containing those images could drop (or the images could drop out of certain SERP features). If that happens, those images would not receive the impressions/clicks they once did, so that can yield a drop for Web Search in Google Search Console. And remember, the default GSC performance reporting is for Web Search. To view Image Search data, you need to switch the “Search type” to Image Search.

For example, the images in the knowledge panel below will register an impression in WEB SEARCH and not Image Search. If those images drop out during a broad core update, then that would impact impressions and clicks in Web Search:

Therefore, it’s important to understand that drops or surges in Web Search could include images that rank in SERP features like image packs, knowledge panels, and featured snippets. Again, you can read my previous post about that topic for more information. But that’s Web Search and not Image Search. Below, I’ll cover the impact to Image Search from broad core updates.

Image Search Impact During Broad Core Updates: Data and Examples
Based on Kenichi’s question, and the mixed bag of trending I saw during my initial quick analysis, I decided to take a much closer look. And it was sort of a rabbit hole… I ended up checking many sites impacted by broad core updates to see the impact on Image Search.

Based on my deeper analysis, I absolutely saw impact in Image Search for a number of sites that were heavily impacted by broad core updates. When isolating Image Search, you could see the same trend that Web Search showed (whether that was surging or dropping during a specific broad core update). Not all sites lined up, though, which can make sense… I’ll cover more about that soon.

Here are some examples of sites impacted by a broad core update in both Web Search and Image Search:

Example A: Web Search drop

Example A: Image Search drop

Example B: Web Search surge

Example B: Image Search surge

Example C: Web Search drop

Example C: Image Search drop

Example D: Web Search surge

Example D: Image Search surge

And like I explained earlier, not all sites saw the same level of impact in Image Search after seeing heavy volatility in Web Search after a broad core update. I believe this is due to the landing page and image combination I covered earlier. When sites are impacted by broad core updates, certain areas of a site could absolutely be impacted more than others. For example, maybe a blog is impacted differently from an e-commerce section, a forum, or company pages.

Here are examples of sites that were NOT impacted heavily in Image Search by a broad core update after seeing significant impact in Web Search:

Example A: Web Search surge

Example A: Image Search mostly unaffected

Example B: Web Search drop

Example B: Image Search mostly unaffected

Another way to visualize the impact to Image Search rankings during broad core updates is at the query level. Here are examples of average position dropping or surging for specific queries in Image Search when a broad core update rolled out:

So, the data shows that broad core updates can impact Image Search. I’ll try and ping Google’s John Mueller and Danny Sullivan to see if they can provide more information about broad core updates and Image Search. I’ll update this post with any information they provide.

Update: Google’s Danny Sullivan confirmed that Image Search can be impacted by broad core updates.
I pinged Danny Sullivan on Twitter with a link to this post and asked if he could provide more information (and maybe confirmation) that Google’s broad core updates could impact Image Search. Danny explained that broad core updates can involve Image Search results because they involve Google’s core ranking systems that involve all types of content. You can see his tweet below. This definitely matches what I am seeing in the data, so it’s great to have confirmation from Google about this.

Summary: Check Image Search trending if your site has been impacted by a broad core update.
I hope this post was helpful for learning more about how Image Search could be impacted by broad core updates. Although we haven’t received confirmation from Google about this, it sure seems that broad core updates can impact image search rankings. I have a lot of data showing that happening across sites heavily impacted by broad core updates.

And again, it does make sense based on Google using an image and landing page combination when determining rankings for Image Search. If a page drops in Web Search, that scoring could potentially impact the calculation for Image Search rankings. But, like I explained earlier, not all sites impacted by broad core updates will see a drop in Image Search rankings. Different areas of a site can be impacted in different ways. In closing, if you’ve been impacted by a broad core update, then definitely make sure to analyze your Image Search rankings as well. You might be surprised with what you find.

GG

{Updated: July 23, 2021 with information from Google about broad core updates being unrelated to Core Web Vitals and the Page Experience Signal.}

{Updated: August 6, 2021 with information from Google’s John Mueller that the June and July broad core updates were separate and unique.}

—————-

Welcome to Google Land.

Please keep hands, arms, and legs inside the vehicle at all times. :) Yes, the spectacular summer of Google algorithm updates continues. This has been one of the most volatile few months I can remember from an algorithm update standpoint. First, Google rolled out the Product Reviews Update in April, which was followed by the June broad core update (when Google also explained a second core update would be rolled out in July). Then the much-anticipated Page Experience Update rolled out in mid-June. After that, Google rolled out two spam updates on 6/23 and 6/28, followed by the July 2021 broad core update on 7/1.

Google has been busy, that’s for sure. For the most part, it’s felt like this:

In this post, I’m going to cover findings based on the July 2021 broad core update, and its sibling core update that rolled out in June. There are many sites that saw impact during both broad core algorithm updates, so it makes sense to document what I’m seeing across both. And that includes some reversals (which Google explained could happen with the July update). Remember, Google explained that some improvements weren’t ready for the June core update and that’s why there would be a second core update in July. That’s unusual… and Google didn’t explain more about that (for obvious reasons).

Rapid-fire insights from a double core update:
In this post, I’ll provide a list of rapid-fire insights based on what I’m seeing across sites impacted. First, here’s a quick table of contents in case you want to jump around the post.

Table of contents:

• Rollout of July and June core updates.
• Time to see impact.
• Reversals from June.
• The June and July core updates were separate and unique.
• Tremors.
• Health and medical sites.
• Finance sites.
• Sites with the same, or near-duplicate, content.
• Category adjustment based on Product Reviews Update flaw.
• Reversals from previous broad core updates.
• Product Review sites.
• Spam updates.
• Rich snippets impact.
• A note about Core Web Vitals.
• The “Kitchen Sink” approach to remediation.
• Site-level quality signals.
• Final tips and recommendations.

Rollout of the June and July broad core updates:
The June update started rolling out on 6/2 and finished rolling out on 6/12. That was pretty quick for a broad core update, which can sometimes take up to 14 days to fully roll out. The July broad core update started rolling out on 7/1 and completed rolling out on Monday, 7/12. So, the July update took 12 days to fully roll out, closer to what we normally see with broad core updates.

And I have to mention the dates of other Google algorithm updates rolling out since early June. Site owners should know these dates to make sure they are seeing movement from the broad core updates and not the others. Google started to roll out the much-anticipated Page Experience Update on 6/15, but that will roll out slowly and it won’t fully complete until the end of August. Also, Google explained the Page Experience Signal will be a lightweight factor (more of a tiebreaker). So, if you are seeing significant movement in June and July, it’s probably not from the Page Experience Update.

Here is a slide from my SMX Advanced presentation about the power of the signal (along with a tweet of mine based on a video from Google’s Martin Splitt):

Google's @g33konaut about the Page Experience Signal in a video w/@lorenbaker:

*Don't panic.
*It's a tiebreaker.
*For some it will be quite substantial (?!?!), for others, not so much.
*Don't oversell the update to stakeholders… that can backfire.https://t.co/2LN3Dj7mEG pic.twitter.com/9pUFvEGFa9

— Glenn Gabe (@glenngabe) May 24, 2021

There were also two spam updates that rolled out on 6/23 and then 6/28, and I have seen several sites impacted by those updates. I’ll cover more about that in my post, especially sites that were impacted and then also saw movement during the double core updates in June and July.

Time to see impact from the broad core updates: Slower in June, quicker impact in July.
When a broad core update rolls out, we typically see movement pretty quickly (within 24-36 hours after the rollout begins). The June broad core update was different… we didn’t see movement until a few days into the rollout for some reason. The first movement I saw was 6/5 into 6/6. I tweeted about that once I saw a lot of volatility across sites.

Heads-up. The first major signs of visibility changes are being seen today. Some very big changes for the sites impacted. The update started rolling out on 6/2, but I just started seeing these visibility changes 6/5 into 6/6. Looks more core update-like now… pic.twitter.com/k7D8lfkAqi

— Glenn Gabe (@glenngabe) June 6, 2021

Here is GSC trending for a client of mine that started seeing a surge on 6/6:

And on the flip side, we saw volatility very quickly with the July broad core update (within 24 hours of the rollout). That’s similar to what we have seen with other broad core updates. I also tweeted when I started seeing the early movement.

And here we go. Saw a lot of movement starting yesterday based on the July broad core update. Some sites are seeing big changes very quickly vs the June update. First, some examples of surges during the update so far. And one saw a nice bump in June and more in July. pic.twitter.com/IoJhnXiqy1

— Glenn Gabe (@glenngabe) July 3, 2021

June reversals in July. We were warned about this…
When the June 2021 broad core update rolled out, Google explained that some sites could see reversals with the July 2021 broad core update. Needless to say, I was interested in seeing how that would go. I also tweeted that nobody should declare victory with the June core update until July fully rolls out. And after the July broad core update started rolling out, I saw some sites reverse course. There weren’t a ton of reversals based on the sites in my dataset, but there were quite a few.

Here are some examples of visibility changes for sites that saw reversals (either surging, then dropping, or dropping, then surging):

Google: The June and July Core Updates Were Separate and Unique.
Based on some sites seeing impact during one update, and not the other, Google’s John Mueller was asked a question about that during a Search Central Hangout video. John explained that the June and July core updates were separate and unique updates. And just because they are both “core updates” doesn’t mean they affect the same core parts of the ranking system. That’s why some sites can see impact during one of the core updates, but not the other. Here is John explaining this (at 30:25 in the video):

Tremors: Not a surprise, just like with other major algorithm updates.
After major algorithm updates roll out, it’s not unusual for Google to make smaller tweaks to the algorithm based on what they are seeing in the SERPs. You can think of them as minor adjustments to fine-tune the results. Google’s John Mueller explained this publicly back in medieval Panda times. Well, we definitely saw tremors during the July broad core update (especially near the end of the rollout). Here are two examples of sites seeing changes starting around 7/9.

Is there a doctor in the house? A reminder that Google’s algorithms can be more critical of health/medical content:
With many broad core updates, there can be a lot of volatility across sites categorized as Your Money or Your Life (YMYL). And within that category, health and medical can often see a lot of movement. Google is on record explaining that its algorithms are more critical with health and medical content (for obvious reasons).

Here is a tweet I shared based on a video from Google’s John Mueller explaining more about health and medical. And here is a direct link to the video if you want view it now (starting at 20:25 in the video):

Run a health/medical e-commerce site? Via @johnmu: Our algorithms are more critical for health/medical topics, so def. keep E-A-T in mind. Make sure the site represents a very high standard. i.e. High-quality content created by actual medical professionals https://t.co/aiMrdN9Hl7 pic.twitter.com/Nuz3K7Pi6o

— Glenn Gabe (@glenngabe) March 27, 2021

Well, I saw some very big swings across some health and medical sites with the June and July core updates. There were some sites with huge changes in search visibility… Note, it’s impossible to know what Google exactly changed since there are so many factors being evaluated. In my opinion, you will rarely be able to isolate specific changes to Google’s algorithms (for broad core updates). It’s more important to keep improving your site overall, and I’ll cover the “kitchen sink” approach to remediation later in this post.

For example, here are some examples of big visibility changes for health/medical sites:

Take the money and run. Also a lot of volatility across some financial sites.
While we’re on the topic of YMYL content, I also saw a lot of big swings in search visibility across sites focused on finance. Since those sites are considered YMYL, Google’s algorithms hold them to a higher standard. And some of the sites saw a lot of movement with the summer set of core updates.

For example:

Sites with the same, or near-duplicate, content: Reference, lyrics, directories.
I have previously covered sites that contain the same, or very similar, content before. For example, reference sites, lyrics sites, directories, etc. Google has explained that if you provide the same content as many other sites, and don’t provide a serious value-add, then it can be hard for Google’s algorithms to decide which sites should rank highly. I have seen this many times over the years and have helped a number of sites in verticals like these. It’s easy for sites that don’t provide a value-add to surge and drop during each broad core update (as Google struggles to determine which ones should rank higher…)

With the June and July core updates, I saw a lot of movement across sites that fit into these categories. Again, it’s extremely important to provide a serious value-add (especially when the content is the same, or near-duplicate). If you don’t provide a value-add, then you could surge during one update, and drop heavily during the next. And that leads to roller coaster trending (which can drive site owners insane).

Here are some examples of sites that fit into this category that saw a lot of movement:

Large-scale reference sites:

Lyrics sites seeing a lot of movement:

Interesting: Category adjustment based on a Product Reviews Update flaw?
Continuing down the path of trends I saw during the June and July core updates, there was a lot of sites within one specific vertical that did not fare well with this update. I have a done a lot of work in that space over the years and it was clear that Google implemented big changes on that front. I’m not saying all sites in the niche dropped heavily, but a number of sites did (including some of the top players). 

This could have started when Google took a hard look at the vertical after the Product Reviews Update (PRU). With that update, some sites that don’t provide reviews content surged for queries that fell outside of their focus. I can’t go into too much detail about this, but Google’s algorithms incorrectly caused those sites to surge during the PRU. So, I knew it wouldn’t be long for them to implement changes there algorithmically. And those changes could be seen during the June and July broad core updates. I covered more about the collateral improvement I saw in my post about the Product Reviews update.

Here is some trending for those sites during the update(s):

Reversals from previous broad core updates: The gray area of Google’s algorithms.
In my previous posts about broad core updates, I explained a very important point for site owners about recovery. Sites that are heavily impacted by broad core updates typically cannot see recovery until another broad core updates rolls out. There have been a few exceptions, including what I saw with the Product Reviews update, but overall, sites typically need to wait for another broad core update to see recovery (and that’s only if the site has significantly improved in quality over the long-term). You can read my previous posts about core updates to learn more about that.

Here is a slide from my SMX Advanced presentation with information about recovery from Google’s broad core updates (including information from Google’s John Mueller):

Well, during this update, there were many, many examples of sites that reversed course (big-time) from previous core updates. And for sites that surged during a previous core update only to get hammered during this broad core update, that can often happen when those sites are in the gray area of Google’s algorithms (where they might creep out of the gray area during one update and surge, but drop back into the danger zone during the next update and drop). I’ve explained many times before that the gray area of Google’s algorithms is a maddening place for site owners to live.

Here is an example of a site seeing major volatility during a number of broad core updates:

Product Review Sites: Enough is enough
What a few months it’s been for product review sites… We had the Product Reviews Update in April, which was core update-like for many review sites. And then the June and July broad core updates rolled out and some of those sites saw even more impact. And some even reversed course with the June/July broad core updates. It seems the double core updates this summer had even more impact on a number of those sites.

For example, here are some product review sites during the June/July core updates:

And then there were review sites that were unaffected by the Product Reviews Update that saw big gains or drops during the June and July core updates. Here’s a client of mine that has worked extremely hard to improve the site overall (large-scale reviews site impacted by several previous core updates that surged during the June broad core update). This was great to see based on how much work they completed on the site:

Spam Updates + Broad Core Updates. A one-two (or more) punch for some sites.
I mentioned earlier that Google released two spam updates in June (the first on 6/23 and then the second update five days later on 6/28). Most sites didn’t see any impact from those spam updates, but it was big for the ones that did.

And beyond the spam updates, some of those sites saw additional movement with the June and July broad core updates. Some reversed course, some surged, some dropped, etc. It was definitely a crazy few weeks for those sites (getting caught in the spam updates and broad core updates).

For example, here are some sites seeing movement with the spam updates and the June/July broad core updates:

Rich snippets impact: Speak of the devil
My last blog post covered how rich snippets can be impacted by broad core updates, so it was fitting to see that happen during the June/July core updates. If you are interested in learning more about that (and how that can happen), check out my blog post.

Here’s a great example of a site that received rich snippets back after losing them during a previous broad core update (review snippets in this case). This is based on Google’s site-level quality signals (which Googlers have explained before and based on what I’ve seen in the field many times). I’ll cover more about site-level quality signals soon.

And here are how-to snippets returning for a site during the June broad core update that had them removed during a previous core update:

A Note About Core Web Vitals: Correlation vs. Causation
Based on the June/July core update impact, there are some people that speculated that Core Web Vitals were factored in during the summer core updates. For example, many sites that improved during the update had strong Core Web Vitals scores, and some were speculating that those scores were part of the reason they surged. I was asked on Twitter about this as well.

First, I don’t believe Core Web Vitals scores were taken into account during the June and July broad core updates. And I was glad to see Google’s John Mueller confirm that to be the case. You can see the video below for John’s response. But, that doesn’t mean an improved user experience didn’t help those sites. For years I have been saying that Google’s broad core updates take many factors into account, including the user experience. I’ve covered how aggressive and disruptive advertising could impact sites, how user experience barriers could have an impact, how deception could be problematic, and more. So, it makes complete sense that sites improving those areas could see gains during subsequent broad core updates (while also seeing Core Web Vital scores improve).

For example, here’s a slide from my SMX presentation in 2019 where I covered how a negative user experience could contribute to a broad core update hit:

Regarding sites that improved during the July core update, here are the Core Web Vitals scores for two sites that surged during the June core update, but their scores aren’t great. They are ok, and have improved, but they aren’t strong across the board. And keep in mind that the site owners worked on improving their sites overall, including content quality, user experience, the ad situation, technical SEO issues causing quality problems, and more.

So, I think this is a correlation versus causation situation for sites with strong CWV scores that surged during the June or July core updates. The scores themselves wouldn’t be factored in with broad core updates, but the effect of improving Core Web Vitals could absolutely impact a site during broad core updates. Anyway, just my two cents on the subject. :)

—Update About Core Web Vitals: July 23, 2021—
Google’s John Mueller confirmed in a Search Central Hangout video that broad core updates are unrelated to Core Web Vitals and the Page Experience Signal. John reiterated that broad core updates are about Google evaluating the quality and relevance across a site where the Page Experience Update is about performance. He also explained that if you saw a stark drop or surge, then it’s probably more related to the core updates and not the Page Experience Signal (which includes Core Web Vitals). You can watch the video below at 28:01 in the video:

The “Kitchen Sink” approach to remediation: A strong way forward for site owners.
I have covered what I call the “kitchen sink” approach to remediation many times before in my posts and presentations about broad core updates. Google is evaluating many factors over an extended period of time with broad core updates, so it’s impossible to isolate one or two things that need improvement. I’ve often said there’s never one smoking gun with sites negatively impacted by a broad core update. Instead, there’s typically a battery of them.

That’s why it’s important to thoroughly analyze a site through the lens of broad core updates, surface all potential problems, and fix as many as you can (or all of them in a best-case scenario). Google is on record that they want to see significant improvement in quality over time. And that’s exactly what I’ve seen in the field while helping sites that have been negatively impacted by broad core updates. Surface all potential problems, fix as much as you can, improve the site greatly, etc. That’s your best bet for seeing recovery during subsequent broad core updates.

And no, it’s not easy. There’s usually a lot of work that has to be done. And some of those decisions are extremely hard to make. Beyond that, then you have the execution of those changes, which can be challenging. But again, significant improvement is what Google wants to see. And it can pay off big-time during subsequent broad core updates.

Site-level quality algorithms and site-level impact:
It’s also important to understand that Google has site-level quality algorithms that can have a big impact on rankings across a site. These algorithms can lift rankings overall for a site and not just on a url-by-url basis. I have covered this many times over the years and have documented Google explaining this over time. This is also why it’s important to significantly improve a site overall and not just a few urls. Site owners can miss the forest for the trees if they focus too narrowly (at least for broad core updates). So, think broadly about improving the site, pun intended. :)

Here is just one tweet of many from me about the subject. This links to a video from Google’s John Mueller explaining more about site-level quality signals:

"When evaluating relevance, Google tries to look at the bigger picture of the site." And "Some things Google evaluates are focused on the domain level".

John has explained many times that G evaluates certain things (like quality) at the site level. I have tweeted many times… https://t.co/FqgSoBf5Yl

— Glenn Gabe (@glenngabe) January 26, 2021

Here are some examples of sites I have helped that took a “kitchen sink” approach to remediation that surged during the June or July broad core updates. They didn’t fix one or two things. They fixed many things that had a huge impact on the site overall. Remediation like this can take months (or longer), but can have a big impact on a site during broad core updates.

It’s also important to understand that Image Search can be impacted during broad core updates as well. Here is one of the sites I helped that used a “kitchen sink” approach to remediation that also surged in Image Search (in addition to Web Search). For more information about that, you can read my post about how broad core updates can impact Image Search:

Next steps for site owners impacted by the June and July core updates:
If your site has been heavily impacted by the June or July broad core updates, I have some closing bullets that might be helpful.

• Recovery: First, understand you probably won’t see recovery without another broad core update rolling out. Don’t implement a few changes and expect to see a surge in rankings. That’s not how it works.
• Improvement: Understand that Google wants to see significant improvement in quality over the long-term in order to see recovery. Sure, some sites surge without doing anything during broad core updates, but those sites can stay in the gray area of Google’s algorithms and possibly drop again during subsequent broad core updates. I would work to clearly get out of the gray area.
• Remediation: Take a “kitchen sink” approach to remediation (as covered earlier). There’s usually not one smoking gun on sites heavily impacted by broad core updates. Instead, there’s typically a battery of them. Surface all potential problems and fix them all (or as many as you can).
• User Studies: Run a user study through the lens of Google’s broad core updates. I usually cover this after every broad core update rolls out, since it’s super-powerful. I know it sounds like a pain in the neck to run a user study… but the feedback is pure gold for improving a site, the user experience, the content, and SEO overall.
• Drive Forward: Keep driving forward. Don’t wait to publish new content or implement improvements to the site. The quicker you can improve the site, the content, the user experience, etc., the better. Again, that’s what Google wants to see. Unfortunately, there are many sites that see continuous drops during broad core updates until they significantly improve things. I have documented some of those situations in my case studies about broad core updates. The sooner you can improve, the sooner you can recover during subsequent broad core updates.
• User Experience: Improve the user experience on your site. Don’t bombard users with ads, annoy them with unnecessary popups, notifications, and more. I mentioned Core Web Vitals and how improving those scores can have a secondary effect during broad core updates. In my posts and presentations about broad core updates, I’ve often said, “hell hath no fury like a user scorned”. I’ve seen this over and over when analyzing sites that were negatively impacted during broad core updates and I believe this will only continue. Create happy users. Good things can happen.
• Value-add: Make sure to provide a value-add (especially if you provide content that can easily be found elsewhere on the web). If you don’t provide a value-add, then Google’s algorithms can have a hard time understanding which site to rank highly (or at all). You can end surging and dropping during broad core updates (yo-yo trending over time). Invest in providing more value to users than your competitors. Prove to Google you should rank over those sites.

Summary: The Spectacular Summer of Google Algorithm Updates Continues…
I hope my rapid-fire list of insights based on the June and July 2021 broad core updates was helpful. One thing is for sure. It’s been a crazy few months from an algorithm update standpoint, and we’re not done yet. The Page Experience Update is still rolling out and should fully roll out by the end of August. And from a broad core update standpoint, I think the soonest we would see another is in the fall. It’s hard to say if Google will roll one out then, but site owners should start working on improvements sooner than later. Remember, you will typically need another broad core update to roll out to see recovery (as covered earlier). And that’s only if you significantly improve quality over time. Good luck.

GG

If you’ve seen a drop (or gain) of rich snippets during a broad core update, then overall site quality could be the reason. In this post, I’ll cover how this can happen, why Google’s evaluation of site quality matters, and I’ll provide examples of rich snippets volatility across sites (including review, how-to, and FAQ snippets).

With the June 2021 broad core update, a number of sites reported the loss or gain of rich snippets. For example a site either losing or gaining review, FAQ, how-to snippets, etc. I also shared a great example of that happening with the June core update and I’ll cover more about that shortly. It’s important for site owners to understand that this can absolutely happen, and we’ve seen this over the years during Google’s broad core updates (and other major algorithm updates).

Here is the screenshot I shared where a client gained how-to snippets during the June broad core update after losing them during a previous broad core update. This site has worked hard to improve over time (using the “kitchen sink” approach to remediation I have covered in previous posts about broad core updates). I also cover more about this in my post about the July 2021 broad core update.

Sites can lose/gain rich snippets during these updates because there’s a site-level quality threshold involved. If Google’s quality algorithms deem a site high quality enough, you can gain rich snippets (or regain them if you lost them previously). And on the flip side, if Google’s quality algorithms aren’t sure about the quality of the site, then you can lose them. Google has explained this many times and I have shared a number of examples of this happening in my posts about broad core updates.

Google is evaluating site quality over time and has site-level quality algorithms that can have a big impact on rankings (and whether sites can receive rich snippets in the SERPs.) Actually, John Mueller just reiterated this in a recent Search Central Hangout video. He explained that there are some signals that Google can’t reliably collect on a per-page basis. Google has to have a better understanding of the site overall for those signals. And quality falls into that category. Again, this isn’t a new statement, but it’s incredibly important to understand.

Here’s the video from John (starting on 40:00):

By the way, this applies to Google Discover as well. Sites can see big swings in Discover visibility with broad core updates and other major algorithm updates (like the recent Product Reviews Update). That’s why it’s incredibly important for site owners to focus on improving quality overall for a site. Don’t focus on just a few urls… improve the site overall.

For example, here is a significant drop in Discover after a broad core update. The site flatlined in Discover as the update rolled out. I covered this in a previous SMX presentation about broad core updates:

And here is a site surging during in Discover visibility during the Product Reviews Update after working hard over time to improve site quality. The Product Reviews Update was a significant update impacting reviews content (and was core update-like for many sites that were impacted):

In this post, I’ll cover more about this topic, including what Google has explained over the years about the quality threshold for rich snippets, examples of what I have seen and shared over time, and then why this is important for site owners and SEOs to understand. 

Google About Site Quality Thresholds and Rich Snippets Impact:
First, let’s cover what Google has explained over the years about rich snippets, quality thresholds, and major algorithm updates. It’s not uncommon for Google’s John Mueller to be asked questions about sites gaining or losing rich snippets after broad core updates (or other significant algorithm updates). It can be jarring for site owners to see those precious snippets disappear from the SERPs, or surge, during algorithm updates.

Below, I’ll provide several comments from John, and Google’s Gary Illyes, about rich snippets impact. Again, it’s very important to understand. Note, I have shared most of these clips over the years on Twitter or in my blog posts about major algorithm updates.

First, here is Google’s John Mueller explaining that if you’re seeing rich snippets drop after a broad core update (the May 2020 core update in this example), it could be site quality that’s the issue. If everything is correct with the technical setup for receiving rich snippets (structured data-wise), then it could be that Google just doesn’t think the site is high enough quality to receive them. The segment starts at 44:01 in the video:

John also explained in that video that if you suddenly lost rich snippets, and you’re unsure if it’s a quality issue, that you can run a site query as a test. If the technical setup if correct, Google will often show the rich snippets when you run a site query (even if you aren’t receiving them in the actual search results). This isn’t foolproof, but it’s a good test to run. To run a site query, you can search for site:yourdomain.com (and obviously add your own domain name there). The segment starts at 46:24 in the video:

Also, in 2019, Google’s Gary Illyes explained to Dan Shure (and others) that a site losing all review snippets can be a sign of overall quality issues. Gary explained that Google has site-level quality signals and those can impact the gain/loss of rich snippets. He also explained how Panda was a site-level quality signal and that could have caused the loss of rich snippets as well (if a site’s Panda score fell below a certain threshold).

Here is the podcast from Dan Shure where he covers what Gary explained (at 3:45 in the podcast). You can click the image to view the episode on Google Podcasts:

And here is a blog post from Barry Schwartz covering John Mueller’s tweet about why rich snippets might not be showing up when the structured data setup is correct. If the setup is technically correct, and doesn’t violate Google’s structured data policies, then it can be a “general quality issue” with the site:

https://twitter.com/JohnMu/status/895992952262017025

More Examples of What Gaining or Losing Rich Snippets Looks Like:
Now that we’ve covered what Google has explained about site-level quality evaluation and how that can impact rich snippets, I wanted to provide several more examples of this happening in the wild. Again, if Google’s quality algorithms think highly of your site, you can gain rich snippets, or maintain them. But if you’re on the flip side, and Google’s quality algorithms aren’t so sure about your site from a quality perspective, then you can unfortunately lose those rich snippets.

First, here is a site has dealt with its share of drops based on previous algorithm updates that worked hard to improve over time. The site finally received FAQ snippets when the May 2020 broad core update rolled out.

Here is a site losing rich snippets during the May 2020 broad core update (how-to snippets in this case).

And here is how a visibility tool can pick up drops or surges in rich snippets over time. By using a tool like Semrush, you can filter by different types of search features to view trending over time. This site lost review snippets with the January 2020 broad core update.

Here is another example of Semush picking up a surge in review snippets. This time it was during the June 2021 broad core update. This site received review snippets after working to improve quality overall (for months leading up to the update). The graph below is filtered by SERP Feature, and then Reviews:

Using visibility tools can help you view these drops or gains in rich snippets over time (beyond the 16 months of data that GSC provides). It’s helpful when auditing sites that you didn’t have access to when the initial drop or surge occurred.

Why Overall Site Quality Matters: Rich Snippets + Stronger Rankings Overall
Broad evaluation of quality and site-level impact can have a big effect on visibility in the SERPs and in the Discover feed. If Google re-evaluates your site and it passes a certain quality threshold, your entire site can benefit. That’s why some sites can see very strong impact during broad core updates or other major algorithm updates (like the Product Reviews Update). It’s not about a specific url seeing improvement, it’s about the site receiving higher scoring overall from a quality standpoint (which can help many urls rank higher across a site and not just a few).

And from a rich snippets standpoint, if your listings in the SERPs suddenly receive review, how-to, or FAQ snippets, then you can gain a nice advantage in the SERPs from a click through rate perspective. If you mix the enhanced SERP treatment from rich snippets with stronger rankings overall (which can happen if Google’s site quality evaluation improves for a site), that can yield stronger rankings combined with better SERP treatment. That combination can be very powerful for sites benefitting during broad core updates, or other major algorithm updates.

Summary: Rich Snippets Impact During Major Algorithm Updates
I know there can be a lot of confusion about why sites are seeing the gain or loss of rich snippets with major algorithm updates (like the June 2021 core update). For sites losing rich snippets, Google’s quality algorithms just might not be convinced about the overall quality for those sites. And that can yield a loss of rich snippets, or even a big drop in Discover visibility. That’s why it’s extremely important to focus on site quality overall (especially for sites negatively impacted by Google’s broad core updates).

And as I’ve explained in my posts about broad core updates, there’s no quick fix for this. Google will need to see a significant improvement in quality over the long-term in order for a site to regain rich snippets (or to gain more visibility in Discover). Therefore, don’t get so bogged down in improving just a few urls on your site that you forget about Google’s broad evaluation of site quality. Those site-level signals can have a big impact on visibility in the SERPs, and in Discover. Good luck.

GG

On April 8, 2021 Google announced a new algorithm update called the Product Reviews Update. The update was designed to reward in-depth reviews versus thinner review content (whether that’s a single product review, a group of products, service reviews, etc.) I’ve been heavily analyzing the update since it launched, including impact across different niche categories, content that was impacted, site-level findings, user experience factors across sites affected, and more. Based on what I’ve been seeing, the update has been core update-like for some sites. For example, some sites impacted are experiencing heavy drops or surges based on the Product Reviews Update.

For example, here are some visibility changes for sites focused on reviews:

Google’s Danny Sullivan explained the update can take up to two weeks to fully roll out, and I absolutely saw that in action. For example, I saw a lot of volatility early in the rollout around 4/9 and then have seen volatility later in the rollout as well (like 4/15 and 4/19). I tweeted about that movement along with screenshots of what I was seeing. That additional movement could have been based on the two-week rollout or it could have been based on tremors – where Google is tweaking the algorithm over time based on what they are seeing in the SERPs (which is definitely possible).

Here are some examples of late movement for two sites focused on reviews (both starting on 4/19). Remember, the update started rolling out on 4/8:

Below, I’ll cover what I’ve found during my analysis while I’ll also providing some final bullets covering key takeaways and recommendations for site owners that have been impacted. I’ll start with important points to understand about the update overall and then I’ll cover my findings based on digging into a number of sites impacted by the update (across various categories). Also, I published a companion Web Story for site owners and affiliate marketers covering those key points about the Product Reviews Update.

Table of Contents:
Since the post is long with a number of sections, here’s a table of contents so you can jump around:

• Key points about the launch and rollout.
• Google evaluating sites more broadly (site and section level impact).
• Sites impacted by previous core updates.
• Frequency of updates and recovery.
• Discover impact.
• Analysis and findings.
• Reviews content quality.
• Thin versus valuable.
• Examples of thinner reviews.
• The anatomy of a strong review (Wirecutter).
• Affiliate aggressiveness.
• Content organization.
• Affiliate disclosure.
• Authors and branding.
• Aggressive advertising plus affiliate content.
• The Authority Impact.
• Collateral Improvement – Holes in the algo.
• Structured data.
• Key takeaways and recommendations for site owners.

The Product Reviews Algorithm Update: Key Points To Understand
Launch and Rollout:
First, and as I explained earlier, the update officially launched on 4/8/21 and Google explained it can take up to two weeks to fully roll out. The update feels a lot like a broad core update for some sites impacted, but it’s just focused on reviews content. Note, the two-week rollout is exactly what Google says when a broad core update rolls out. Just an interesting side note.

This is the timing on the rollout completing (basically two weeks). And it started today https://t.co/oTqGqOSuHZ

— Danny Sullivan (@dannysullivan) April 8, 2021

It’s worth noting that I asked Danny Sullivan if the update was still rolling out on 4/20. He replied and said it was indeed still rolling out. That makes total sense based on what I was seeing across sites impacted (you can see my screenshots from earlier about impact over the two-week rollout).

It is not.

— Danny Sullivan (@dannysullivan) April 20, 2021

And then we finally heard on 4/22 that the rollout was complete. So it was a full two-week rollout for the update:

Actually, just checked, and it's done. So yeah. Caveat is with any update, you can still sometimes have some edge case lingering. But effectively done.

— Danny Sullivan (@dannysullivan) April 22, 2021

Site and Section-level Evaluation, Not Just Pages:
This is super-important to understand, and again, it’s similar to how broad core updates work. Google has explained that the Product Reviews algorithm is looking more broadly at sites and sections. For example, analyzing the site overall and/or specific parts or sections of a site. With core updates, Google is evaluating the site overall, where with this update, it can be a mixture of the site overall or sections of a site (that contain reviews).

https://twitter.com/JohnMu/status/1380493360541089801

So, this is not always going to be a page versus page comparison. I bring this up because I’ve seen site owners sometimes make a big mistake with broad core updates by not reviewing the site overall from a quality and relevance standpoint. This is also why Google has explained time and time again to significantly improve a site overall to see recovery from a broad core update. I have hammered this point in all of my posts about core updates. This advice also applies to the Product Reviews Update.

Sites Surging That Were Previously Impacted By Broad Core Updates:
It’s also worth noting that I have seen sites surge or drop after seeing a lot movement during broad core updates. For example, some sites that dropped heavily during the December broad core update started surging with the Product Reviews Update. So, it’s like recovery from a broad core update, but not during a subsequent broad core update. That is not the typical way recovery from broad core updates works. This is more evidence that the Product Reviews Update is evaluating sites overall. For example, here are two sites that surged during the Product Reviews Update that dropped heavily during the December broad core update. And as I mentioned above, sites typically do not see recovery (or significant movement back) until another broad core update rolls out. So this was super-interesting to see.

Types of Reviews Impacted:
Google has explained that various types of reviews can be impacted, including single product reviews, lists of products being reviewed, services being reviewed, etc. In addition, sites with heavy UGC reviews can be impacted as well. I have seen all of these types of sites and content impacted based on my analysis of the Product Reviews Update. I’ll cover more about that soon.

It looks to improve for all types of product reviews, single reviews or round-ups.

— Danny Sullivan (@dannysullivan) April 8, 2021

Frequency of Updates and Recovery:
After the announcement, I asked Danny Sullivan if the update will roll out like broad core updates (every few months) or if sites can see improvement as they improve their reviews content and the site overall. Danny explained that the update requires a periodic refresh, and we might not be notified when that happens. This is extremely important to understand. If you’ve been impacted by the update, you have to work to improve the site and content over time and wait for a refresh. You probably cannot see a lot of improvement until that refresh occurs.

At the moment, there's a periodic refresh. Unlike with core updates, we might not always post when a refresh happens given the more limited nature of content involved here. So overall, sites should consider the advice & keep working to it (true of core updates as well!).

— Danny Sullivan (@dannysullivan) April 9, 2021

In addition, John Mueller explained in a Search Central hangout that he wouldn’t be surprised if the algorithm is baked into core web ranking at some point. It’s just another reason to tackle this situation NOW and try to improve your site significantly. Here is a video of Google’s John Mueller explaining this (at 29:38 in the video).

Discover Impact (like broad core updates):
Google has also explained that the Product Reviews Update can impact Discover visibility (just like it can with broad core updates). Again, this underscores the point I mentioned earlier about Google evaluating a site or sections more broadly. It’s not unusual for sites impacted by broad core updates to see a lot of volatility in Discover and now it’s similar with the Product Reviews Update.

Barry covered 2 points today that are important for site owners to understand. 1) There will be a periodic refresh w/the Product Reviews Update (and it might not be announced). So keep working to improve… It's not real-time. 2) Discover visibility can be impacted by the update. https://t.co/W6T2ZycVWf

— Glenn Gabe (@glenngabe) April 14, 2021

And I have an amazing example of this happening. There is a site I helped that recovered from a broad core update hit last year. It’s a news publisher that surged during the December broad core update. That was amazing to see, but they still weren’t showing up in Discover at all. The Discover reporting didn’t even show up in GSC! Well, with the Product Reviews Update, the site finally started showing up in Discover. It was amazing to see. And it was right on 4/8 when the increase started. The strange part is the site doesn’t focus on reviews at all. :)

But beyond this one example, there are a number of site owners reaching out to me that have seen Discover volatility since the update started rolling out on 4/8. That makes total sense based on what Google has explained about the update impacting Discover visibility.

Analysis and Findings: Google’s Product Reviews Update
Now that I’ve covered key points about the update, I’m going to cover my findings based on analyzing many different sites impacted since the update started rolling out. The sites are across a number of different niche categories, including consumer goods, health, technology and software, professional services, education, finance, food and recipe sites, and more. As I said earlier, some of the impact has been core update-like with significant visibility changes since 4/8/21.

Below, I’ll cover some important findings based on what I’ve been seeing across sites both negatively and positively impacted. I have reviewed content that dropped or surged, the SERPs before and after the update, compared link profiles of sites competing in each space, and more. I obviously can’t analyze every situation, site, and piece of content, but I dug into many sites across a number of categories. It’s also worth noting that you can definitely find examples of sites that surged that shouldn’t, or dropped that shouldn’t. Remember, this is an algorithmic, so there are always going to be examples of collateral damage or improvement. Actually, I cover some examples of collateral improvement later in the post.

Also, I am actively helping several companies that provide reviews (across different categories) and have been able to dig into changes those sites are seeing based on the update. And last, I’ve had a number of site owners reach out to me after seeing impact based on the update. So, there’s been a lot of data to dig into since the update started rolling out.

Before I begin, a quick disclaimer:
I do not work for Google. I do not have access to Google’s Product Reviews algorithm. I have not dressed up as Paul Haahr’s long lost uncle Homer and approached him on the street about trying to learn more about what Google is crafting algorithm-wise. OK, I have thought about trying that… but haven’t moved on it yet. I’m not sure Paul would appreciate a scene like the following… :)

The findings below are based on reviewing many sites impacted by the latest update, based on my experience analyzing major algorithm updates during my career, hearing directly from site owners impacted, and helping several companies that focus on reviews (across different niche categories).

With that out of the way, let’s jump in.

The Product Reviews Update: Key Findings From The Front Lines

Reviews Content: Mostly thorough, helpful, detailed, and balanced (with clear disclosure).
When the update first rolled out, it was easy to think that all sites negatively impacted would have extremely thin review articles, short and meaningless posts, etc. That was definitely the case for some sites I analyzed that dropped, but definitely not all. Not even close actually. Once I dug into the drops, I found many review articles that were actually ok (not great, but not horrible either). In addition, there were several examples of collateral improvement… i.e. sites that surged that had little to do with reviews. I’ll cover more about that later in the post.

Below, I’ll cover key themes based on analyzing the update, while providing several examples of what I found (without revealing the sites and urls). My goal isn’t to “out” any specific company for dropping during this update. Based on my findings, I think you’ll get a good feel for what I was seeing across various niche categories.

Thin vs. Valuable:
If you read Google’s post about the Product Reviews Update, it provides a number of questions that site owners can ask themselves about their own review content. Google also linked to their blog post about core updates, which contains even more questions site owners can ask. Those questions address making sure sites provide unique, original, and thorough review content for consumers.

Reviews should be well-balanced and cover pros and cons, provide as many details as possible so users can truly understand more about each product in order to make an informed decision. That includes providing strong visuals and/or video supporting the review, data about how products or services measure up against the competition, and more. I highly recommend reading through those questions several times.

It’s also important to understand that thin has nothing to do with word count. Instead, it has everything to do with value. Site owners should objectively determine if their content can meet or exceed user expectations based on query. If it can, it’s not thin. If it can’t, I would consider it thin (even if you have the same amount of content). Again, it’s not about word count.

When checking content that dropped, a lot of it wasn’t mind-blowingly extensive. Sure, it might provide a paragraph or two about the product, but it often wasn’t giving me the detail I wanted in order to make a purchase decision. And on the flip side (mostly), many of the reviews that surged (or remained with strong rankings) were more detailed, provided more balance, contained clear affiliate disclosures, strong visuals, and were written by experts or enthusiasts in those categories.

It’s also important to know that you could easily tell when a writer had not used the product or service they were reviewing. The level of detail based on actually using a product, testing it out, etc., cannot be matched if you really didn’t try it out… That sounds obvious, but I came across many reviews that were like that.

Examples of thinner reviews content that dropped:
Here are some screenshots from review content that saw negative movement based on this update where the reviews were thinner in my opinion. Again, a simple paragraph is not sufficient, reiterating what the manufacturer already wrote is not extremely helpful, a lack of data and strong visuals left me wanting more, etc.

E.g. One paragraph and just a set of links to buy products:

Not much original and valuable content:

Not enough content to help consumers and the page is inundated with ads (on top of affiliate content):

Ditto:

On the flip side, strong reviews content:
I know many of you reading this post want to see some good examples of reviews. Again, my intention is not to call out certain sites for bad reviews or focus attention on many sites that surged. That said, there is one site that produces some of the best review content on the web — Wirecutter. I’ll provide one example below highlighting some of the great things they do with their reviews. I totally understand it’s not possible for many sites to match or exceed what Wirecutter is doing, but it would be smart to review their content to get a stronger understanding of how to craft outstanding review content. It’s also important to understand that each vertical is different and will require different levels of expertise, research, and thoroughness.

Example URL: https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/best-bluetooth-headphones/

Clear affiliate disclosure:

Broken down by category:

Table structure with top picks, prices, discounts, and stock updates:

Table of contents:

Detailed research with information about how they pick the top products, how they tested them, etc.:

Strong visuals of each product:

Additional research and information for consumers (privacy and security for this specific review):

Author details (expertise, links, etc.)

Wirecutter provides a great structure for their reviews, packed with insightful, unique, and valuable information for consumers, presented in a user-friendly way, with clear affiliate disclosures, author information, and more. Again, if you focus on reviews, I would spend some time there.

Affiliate Aggressiveness:
For affiliate marketers, there’s always a fine balance between providing information and getting users to click through (so they can earn a commission). With a number of sites that saw a drop, the affiliate aggressiveness was strong… I felt like the pages were trying to push me to click through in any way possible. There were images leading off the site, links, buttons, and more. I get it, affiliates want users to click through. But as a user researching products, that can get super-annoying. As I’ve said many times with broad core updates, “Hell hath no fury like a user scorned”. I would try to strike a nice balance between providing helpful information and gaining that click… I would not overwhelm users with affiliate links, buttons, image links, and more.

Note, image links can be a bit deceptive since some users might think it would yield larger images to view. But in reality, those images are driving them off the site to buy the product. For those sites that are impacted, you should read my post about running user studies through the lens of broad core updates. That methodology applies here as well and you can include some questions from Google’s post about the Product Reviews Update.

Here is a page that was aggressive with linking out without providing specific reviews of each product:

Content Organization: Comparison, Pros and Cons, etc.
After going through many review pages, this point really stood out. A number of pages on the winning side of the update (or sites that remained strong) seemed to organize their content better. For example, clear sections for each part of the review, using a table structure when comparing features or data across products, providing FAQs at the bottom, summaries for longer reviews, etc. It’s impossible to say if Google is looking at organization like this, but it sure helps from a usability perspective. And since Google is evaluating sites and sections more broadly, I would always try to improve the user experience as much as possible. More about UX soon.

Affiliate Disclosure:
This is something I have been helping clients understand for a long time (for broad core updates) and now it’s front and center with the Product Reviews Update. It’s extremely important that users understand there is an affiliate relationship set up or it can feel very deceptive. For example, making sure users understand that the author is recommending X products, but they are earning a commission from recommending those products. There should be a clear disclaimer for users on the page.

And for me, beyond “clear”, it should be located in areas of the page where users can actually find it. For example, during my analysis (of this update and broad core updates), there are times that affiliate disclosures are buried on the page. They might be at the very bottom and in a smaller font, they might be in the sidebar, and sometimes they aren’t even on the page at all. Instead, there might be a small link to read the “Affiliate Disclosure” on another page.

If you provide reviews on your site and have affiliate links to earn a commission, then you should absolutely have a clear disclaimer that users can easily find and read. And I recommend having one at the top of the content and at the bottom.

Authors and Branding:
Google’s blog posts about the Product Reviews Update and broad core updates both explain more about expertise. For example, each post talks about “experts and enthusiasts” writing content. Let’s face it, anyone can take a manufacturer description, add some fluff, and then add an affiliate link to Amazon. But, not everyone can provide a solid review based on extensive expertise in a certain category.

I already covered thin versus valuable content, but there’s also an aspect of understanding author information or branding information (which can help users learn about who is writing the content and which company is behind the site they are visiting). When reviewing sites and content that dropped or surged, I could see this first-hand. First, not all pages contained author information. That’s a big mistake in my opinion, since users typically want to know that a review is authored by someone with expertise in the subject matter. Second, some authors listed didn’t have much information there (and not even full names).

On the flip side, there were sites that performed well during this update that had reviews written by experts or enthusiasts and provided solid author information on the page or site (via a bio). That definitely reinforces for users that the content is at least written by someone with expertise in the subject matter. It doesn’t mean the content is great… that person still needs to write a valuable post, but it’s important for users to learn more about the person writing the content.

Beyond authors, I found some sites that dropped heavily didn’t even have solid branding on the site. For example, there was no logo or site name at the top of the page, it wasn’t easy to find out who ran the site, which company owned the site, and more. Similar to learning about authors, it’s important for users to understand more about the site in general. Is it a fly-by-night company, is it some guy in his basement, is it a teenager trying to earn a quick buck, etc.?

First, here is a page with no author or site branding:

On the flip side, here is page with two authors listed (Senior Editor and Chief Editor):

Aggressive Advertising + Affiliate Content: A UX Nightmare, but…
If you’ve read any of my posts about broad core algorithm updates, then you know aggressive, disruptive, or deceptive ads can be seriously problematic for a site. One thing I noticed while analyzing many sites with reviews was the weaving of many ads within affiliate content. I found that extremely annoying and those sites are double dipping from a monetization standpoint. They are earning ad revenue while also earning affiliate commissions when people click through and buy something. To be clear, those sites can absolutely do that, but the impact to the user experience can be extreme in certain cases.

That said, I didn’t really see a correlation with this update with heavy ad content (and that’s different from what I have seen with broad core updates where there is a connection). So, I would still be very cautious with your ad situation since it can impact the user experience, but from what I saw while analyzing sites that dropped or surged, ads didn’t really seem to play a part.

Here are two examples of sites with aggressive ads with affiliate content (but it didn’t seem to impact the sites based on the update):

Authority (and a possible fallback?):
When referring to the A in E-A-T (authority), Google has explained that one of the best-known signals it uses is PageRank (or links from across the web). And Google’s Gary Illyes once explained that E-A-T has a lot to do with links and mentions from well-known sites. So, it’s always interesting to dig into a site’s link profile and compare it to sites either surging or dropping in the same vertical.

Since Google is evaluating sites and sections broadly with this update, I wanted to dig into the link profiles of sites seeing big gains versus drops. I wanted to see if there was a correlation with authority (and not just quantity of links, but quality). Surprisingly, I did not see a connection overall. Although there were some extremely authoritative sites doing very well with the update, there were also many examples of sites with weaker link profiles that surged during the Product Reviews Update. I found that super-interesting.

For example, here is a site with just 426 inbound links surge during this update:

And here is a site with 261K links that dropped heavily. It’s not about the quantity of links, but the site has strong links from authoritative sites. And it still got hammered.

But hold on, as I dug deeper, this finding didn’t tell the full story from an authority standpoint. For example, I found when a series of reviews were close in quality and thoroughness, it seemed like Google fell back to authority in those cases. For example, it’s like Google was determining which site overall could be more trusted since the reviews were close in quality… Google seemed to rank the more authoritative sites above the others (overall) when analyzing the SERPs for those queries. I saw this a number of times during my research. It’s impossible to know exactly if this is what Google is doing, but again, I saw this a number of times while analyzing the update.

Collateral Improvement: Holes in the algo.
I mentioned this earlier, but I have definitely seen sites that surged during the update that probably shouldn’t have. The ones I’m referring to are larger and more authoritative sites that don’t necessarily focus on reviews content. For these sites, some content is being seen as legitimate reviews content, but it’s really not. I wish I could provide more information about this, but I can’t. And that has led to a big surge in traffic to those urls. I’m pretty darn sure Google wouldn’t want this content to rank for those queries… My guess is Google will correct this at some point. But as of today, those sites and pages are still ranking well. Remember, algorithms aren’t perfect. There are always edge cases.

Below are two queries that lead to pages that are being seen as reviews content. Notice the surge after the update started rolling out:

Heads-up About Structured Data:
In Google’s blog post, they linked to another post for how to present product information via structured data. We know structured data is not a ranking factor, but I would make sure to provide Product structured data when you are reviewing a single product. If you are reviewing several products on one page (like the best widgets for 2021) or comparing two products, then Product structured data doesn’t make sense. Google’s documentation explains that it’s for single products only (as of now).

Key takeaways and recommendations for site owners:
I know I covered a lot in this post about the Product Reviews Update, so I wanted to end with some key takeaways. If you focus on reviews content and your site has been impacted, then I recommend going through the following bullet points and determine which changes you can implement to improve your reviews (and your site overall).

• Review the list of questions in Google’s blog post about the Product Reviews Update and in its post about broad core updates. Objectively review those questions and determine gaps in your own approach and reviews content.
• Make sure to analyze your site overall from a quality and relevance perspective. Google has explained the Product Reviews algorithm is evaluating sites and sections more broadly. It’s not always a page versus page comparison.
• After implementing changes to your content (and site), understand you need to wait for a refresh to see significant improvement from a rankings standpoint. This is similar to how Google’s broad core updates work.
• Make sure your content is written by experts or enthusiasts based on the subject matter. Provide insightful, original, and valuable analysis for consumers (way beyond what they can learn from the manufacturer description).
• Provide data and strong visuals to support your reviews. And organize that content in way that’s easy for users to consume.
• Provide clear affiliate disclosures and in areas of the page where users can easily find those disclosures.
• Make sure to check for Discover impact, which Google has explained can be affected by the Product Reviews Update. And if you were negatively impacted, then you will need to wait for a refresh to see recovery there (if you significantly improve your site and content).
• Watch both affiliate aggressiveness and the heavy mixing of ads on affiliate content. Remember, “Hell hath no fury like a user scorned”. Don’t overwhelm users based on your monetization strategy.
• And just like with broad core updates, improve your site, content, UX, ad strategy, and more over time. Google wants to see significant improvement over time in order to see recovery during subsequent updates.

Summary: The Products Review Update Was Core Update-like For Some Sites
The Product Reviews update heavily impacted many sites focused on reviews, and across various niche categories. It was a significant update and Google explained the algorithm is evaluating sites and sections more broadly (similar to how Google’s broad core updates evaluate sites overall). If you have been impacted, I recommend taking a hard look at your reviews content through the lens of the questions Google provided (and based on my analysis above). Then I would implement as many changes as possible to improve your site and reviews content.

And remember, you’ll have to wait for a refresh to see recovery (and we might not be told when that happens). We’ll definitely see the movement after a refresh happens, but Google might not publicly announce it occurred. I’ll definitely be sharing what I see over time with sites impacted by the Product Reviews Update, so follow me on Twitter if you haven’t yet. We know Google has a busy spring and summer planned, so it should be interesting to see when the first refresh happens. Stay tuned.

GG

[Back to top]