The Internet Marketing Driver

  • GSQi Home
  • About Glenn Gabe
  • SEO Services
    • Algorithm Update Recovery
    • Technical SEO Audits
    • Website Redesigns and Site Migrations
    • SEO Training
  • Blog
    • Web Stories
  • Contact GSQi

Phantom Tremors Continue As SEOs Wait For Panda – Latest Tremor on 7/14/15

July 17, 2015 By Glenn Gabe 16 Comments

Share
Tweet
Share
Email
127 Shares

Phantom 2 Tremors

As many of you know, Phantom 2 began rolling out on April 29, 2015, just days after the mobile-friendly update was released. Phantom 2 was a big update that Google initially denied. During my analysis of the update, I saw a lot of movement across sites dealing with content quality problems. It was clear from the beginning that the algorithm update was focused on content quality (like Panda). That’s one of the reasons many people (including myself) initially believed it was a Panda update.

Once Google confirmed the update, they explained that it was a change to its core ranking algorithm with how it assessed “quality”. Even though Google explained that Phantom was part of its core ranking algorithm, I had a feeling that websites would not be able to recover quickly. The reason? I had seen this before, specifically with the original Phantom update in May of 2013. Phantom 2 was eerily similar to Phantom 1 (and rolled out almost 2 years to the day that Phantom 1 rolled out). Interesting timing to say the least.

Both Phantom 1 and 2 Were Panda-Like
With Phantom 1, I also saw the update target content quality problems. The companies I helped with fresh hits had a dangerous recipe of user engagement issues, content quality problems, and technical issues that all led to significant drops in organic search traffic. It took nearly three months before I saw the first Phantom 1 recovery, with others following as time went on.

It took a lot of work to see recovery from Phantom 1… it was not a trivial undertaking. And I expect Phantom 2 remediation and recovery to follow suit.

Actually, we are already over two months out from the Phantom 2 update (late April/early May), and I haven’t seen any major recoveries yet. That being said, I’ve seen a lot of movement on specific dates following Phantom. That includes both additional drops in traffic or sudden jumps for Phantom 2 victims. And that’s the topic of this post – Phantom tremors.

Multiple Phantom Tremors Since 4/29
After Panda 4.0 in May of 2014, I saw what looked like near-weekly updates impacting Panda victims. I called these updates Panda tremors, and they were confirmed by Google’s John Mueller.

Panda 4.0 Tremors and John Mueller

Basically, after Google pushes a major update, it can refine and tweak an algorithm and then push smaller updates (to ensure everything is working the way they want). I saw many of those tremors after Panda 4.0. Well, Phantom 2 has been similar. I started seeing Phantom tremors soon after the initial rollout and I have seen several more over time.

And most recently, I saw the latest Phantom tremor starting on 7/14/15. I’ve seen the impact with companies I am helping now, but I’ve also had new companies reach out to me explaining what they are seeing. And when tremors roll out, Phantom victims can see more impact (mostly negative based on my analysis, but there has been some positive movement).

Negative movement makes a lot of sense if the site in question hasn’t made any efforts to improve from a quality standpoint. For example, here is the hourly trending for a site hit by a Phantom tremor on 7/14. Notice the change in trending starting around 11AM ET on 7/14:

Traffic Drop From Phantom Tremor on July 14, 2015

And here is a screenshot of a site that saw positive movement starting around that time:

Traffic Gain From Phantom Tremor on July 14, 2015

Here is another screenshot of negative impact, this time showing the drop in clicks when comparing traffic after the tremor to the timeframe prior (based on the 6/8 tremor):

Traffic Drop Based on 6/8 Phantom Tremor

(Update: Here are some more screenshots of impact from the 7/14 Phantom tremor):

This example shows impact during the late June tremor and then more impact on 7/14:

Impact from two Phantom tremors

And here is an example of a quick jump at the end of June with that gain being rolled back during the 7/14 update:

Temporary Recovery During Phantom Tremor

Documenting Important Phantom Dates:
In order for Phantom victims to track their own trending based on Phantom tremors, I have included important dates below. It’s always important to understand why drops or spikes occur, so I hope this list of dates provides some clarity:

Original Phantom 2 Rollout: 4/29/15
Phantom Tremor: 5/27/15
Phantom Tremor: 6/8/15
Phantom Tremor: 6/17/15
Phantom Tremor: 6/28/15
Phantom Tremor: 7/14/15

What This Means for Panda Victims
Remember, many Phantom victims have been impacted previously by Panda. For example, some sites that were still working to recover from Panda got hit by Phantom, while others that already recovered from Panda got hit too. Yes, some of those sites saw drops after fully recovering from Panda.

For those sites still impacted by previous Panda updates that got hit by Phantom 2, it’s clearly not a great sign. We know that Phantom focuses on “quality” and so does Panda. I can’t imagine Phantom reacting negatively to your site, while Panda reacts positively. If that’s the case, then Google has an algo problem.

Now, if a site has recovered from Panda and then saw negative impact from Phantom, then that does not bode well for the next Panda update. Phantom is clearly picking up quality problems, which could also contribute to a future Panda hit. We are eagerly awaiting the next Panda refresh so recent Phantom hits on sites that have recovered from Panda should be concerning.

Panda Recovery Followed By Phantom 2 Hit

What Are Phantom Tremors?
Great question, and it’s hard to say exactly. Google could be refining the algorithm and then rolling it out again. Or they could be adding more factors to Phantom and rolling it out. Or they could be adjusting the threshold for each factor. All three are possibilities. That’s why it’s so important to get out of the gray area of Phantom.

I wrote a post recently about the SEO nuclear option and how it relates to both Panda and Phantom hits. Let’s face it, with multiple major quality algorithms running like Phantom and Panda, it’s ultra-important for websites to identify and fix all quality problems riddling their sites. If not, then they can see more impact. And in a worst-case scenario, they could get hit by both Phantom and Panda, which is what I call Phantanda. And although Phantanda sounds like a soda or rock band, it’s not cool or fun. You don’t want to experience it.

Is Phantom The Real-time Panda?
In my Phantanda post, I brought up the possibility that Phantom was actually the migration of Panda (or Panda factors) to Google’s real-time algorithm. It’s entirely possible this is the case. I’ve analyzed many sites hit by Phantom 2 and every quality problem I surfaced would have been picked up by a thorough Panda audit. The factors are extremely similar…. almost identical actually.

By the way, after Phantom 2 rolled out on 4/29, Josh Bachynski tweeted a similar thought. I said at the time that he was on to something… and I still believe that.

Josh Bachynski Tweet After Phantom 2

And with Google having all sorts of problems with Panda, this makes even more sense. For all we know, Panda might have problems with Phantom (as Phantom is part of Google’s core ranking algorithm and also focuses on quality). If that’s the case, then the “technical problems” Google has explained could be Panda and Phantom at odds with one another.

That’s total speculation, but there are now two quality cowboys in town. And to me, this SEO town might be too small for the both of them. It wouldn’t surprise me to find out that Panda is slowly being incorporated into Google’s core ranking algorithm. Remember, it’s been almost nine months since the last Panda update (10/24/14), while we’ve had multiple Phantom updates (the initial rollout and then several tremors). Hopefully we’ll find out soon what’s going on with Panda, and its relationship with Phantom.

Moving Forward: Keep Implementing (The Right) Changes
To quickly recap this post, if you were impacted by Phantom 2 in late April or early May, then you very well could have seen further impact during one or more Phantom tremors. I would check the dates I listed above and see if your site saw any drops or spikes during that timeframe.

And more importantly, continue to make the right changes to your website. Audit your site through a quality lens, identify all problems riddling your site, and move quickly to rectify those problems. That’s how you can rid your site of both bamboo and ectoplasm. Good luck.

GG

 

Share
Tweet
Share
Email
127 Shares

Filed Under: algorithm-updates, google, seo

Connect with Glenn Gabe today!

Latest Blog Posts

  • Analysis of Google’s March 2022 Product Reviews Update (PRU) – Findings and observations from the affiliate front lines
  • How NewsGuard’s nutritional labels can help publishers avoid manual actions for medical content violations (Google News and Discover)
  • What Discover’s “More Recommendations”, Journeys in Chrome, and MUM mean for the future of Google Search
  • How to extend a multi-site indexing monitoring system to compare Google-selected and user-selected canonical urls (via the URL Inspection API and Analytics Edge)
  • Favi-gone: 5 Reasons Why Your Favicon Disappeared From The Google Search Results [Case Studies]
  • Google’s Broad Core Updates And The Difference Between Relevancy Adjustments, Intent Shifts, And Overall Site Quality Problems
  • Google’s December 2021 Product Reviews Update – Analysis and Findings Based On An Extended And Volatile Holiday Rollout
  • The Link Authority Gap – How To Compare The Most Authoritative Links Between Websites Using Majestic Solo Links, Semrush Backlink Gap, and ahrefs Link Intersect
  • How to identify ranking gaps in Google’s People Also Ask (PAA) SERP feature using Semrush
  • What happens to crawling and Google search rankings when 67% of a site’s indexed urls are pagination? [SEO Case Study]

Web Stories

  • Google’s December 2021 Product Reviews Update – Key Findings
  • Google’s April 2021 Product Reviews Update – Key Points For Site Owners and Affiliate Marketers
  • Google’s New Page Experience Signal
  • Google’s Disqus Indexing Bug
  • Learn more about Web Stories developed by Glenn Gabe

Archives

  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • GSQi Home
  • About Glenn Gabe
  • SEO Services
  • Blog
  • Contact GSQi
Copyright © 2022 G-Squared Interactive LLC. All Rights Reserved. | Privacy Policy

We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our website.

You can find out more about which cookies we are using or switch them off in settings.

The Internet Marketing Driver
Powered by  GDPR Cookie Compliance
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.

3rd Party Cookies

This website uses Google Analytics to collect anonymous information such as the number of visitors to the site, and the most popular pages.

Keeping this cookie enabled helps us to improve our website.

This site also uses pixels from Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn so we publish content that reaches you on those social networks.

Please enable Strictly Necessary Cookies first so that we can save your preferences!