{"id":1942,"date":"2017-10-17T10:18:06","date_gmt":"2017-10-17T14:18:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gsqi.com\/marketing-blog\/?p=1942"},"modified":"2017-10-23T09:04:10","modified_gmt":"2017-10-23T13:04:10","slug":"the-hornets-nest-fall-2017-google-algorithm-updates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gsqi.com\/marketing-blog\/the-hornets-nest-fall-2017-google-algorithm-updates\/","title":{"rendered":"Enter The Hornets\u2019 Nest \u2013 Exploring The Wild Google Algorithm Updates and Volatility In The Fall of 2017"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"The<\/p>\n

Google has been busy, that\u2019s for sure. Since the August 19 update<\/a>, we\u2019ve seen a number of significant updates causing serious volatility in the SERPs. Sure, Google pushes many updates per year, typically between 1,000 and 1,500 annually, but some are small updates that many don\u2019t even notice. But then there are larger changes that cause the earth to shake. That’s what I’m focusing on here.<\/p>\n

Since August, we\u2019ve seen a number of updates I would call significant. I actually can\u2019t remember seeing that many substantial updates in such a short period of time. It\u2019s been crazy, like sticking your head in a hornets\u2019 nest. Hence the title of the post. :)<\/p>\n

After analyzing a number of the sites that were impacted (both positively and negatively), I wanted to write a post covering my thoughts about what\u2019s going on. I think it\u2019s a really interesting time in the algorithm update section of Google Land. And I know many are wondering what\u2019s going on, if the volatility will calm down, etc.<\/p>\n

In this post, I\u2019ll cover the dates I saw major volatility, explain my thoughts about what could<\/em> be going on, explain where we might be headed algo-wise, and then quickly cover what site owners can do now. Let\u2019s jump in.<\/p>\n

Significant Algorithm Updates In Fall 2017 – Noteworthy Dates
\n<\/strong>OK, so I mentioned a lot of volatility earlier, but let\u2019s talk about specific dates. I wrote about the update on August 19, 2017<\/a>, which was a significant quality update. Many sites saw movement globally. But it wasn\u2019t long before we saw more substantial movement. And little did I know what we were in for\u2026 I want to provide a number of screenshots below that show the crazy volatility I have seen since August. This was across sites, categories, and countries.<\/p>\n

The first update that caught my attention after 8\/19 was on 9\/8. This didn\u2019t necessarily shock me, though. I\u2019ve documented several<\/a> larger updates<\/a> in early September over the years. This one was similar.<\/p>\n

\"Drop<\/p>\n

\"Drop<\/p>\n

But only ten days later, we saw another on 9\/18. And before I could fully dig into that update, there was more <\/i>activity\u00a0on 9\/25 and 9<\/i>\/29. First, here’s movement during the September 18 update.<\/p>\n

\"Increase<\/p>\n

\"Drop<\/p>\n

\"Major<\/p>\n

\"Major<\/p>\n

And here are examples of movement on September 25 and 29:<\/p>\n

\"Increase<\/p>\n

\"Drop<\/p>\n

\"Big<\/p>\n

But Google wasn\u2019t done.<\/p>\n

On 10\/4, we saw yet another noteworthy update. Yes, it was getting ridiculous\u2026 And then I saw movement that seemed tied to the 10\/4 update on 10\/8, and even more movement as recent as 10\/12. I\u2019m still digging in there, but it was clear enough to document.<\/p>\n

\"Drop<\/p>\n

\"Surge<\/p>\n

Worth noting, there\u2019s one hit that has garnered a bit of attention. I picked up a big drop during the 10\/4 update to giphy.com, which is the largest site dedicated to animated gifs on the web. It\u2019s a beast, but got hammered on 10\/4. This was after executives from giphy were highlighted in a Fast Company article where they boasted about \u201cowning\u201d certain keywords in Google. Here is what happened to Giphy.<\/p>\n

\"Giphy<\/p>\n

And here’s a very interesting situation tied to aggressive and deceptive ads (which I have mentioned many times in\u00a0 my analysis of quality updates). A site owner reached out to me in July after getting hit by the May 17, 2017 update<\/a>. I quickly checked the site and saw aggressive and deceptive advertising and communicated that to the site owner.<\/p>\n

Based on what the site owner explaind to me, the only changes that were made were ad-related (removing ads, toning down the deceptive and aggressive ads, etc.) And look what happened on 10\/12\/17. Wow, more about ads soon.<\/p>\n

The May drop:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Drop
\nThe October recovery:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Surge<\/p>\n

So, with a spreadsheet full of domains impacted on 9\/8, 9\/18, 9\/25, 9\/29, 10\/4, 10\/8, and now 10\/12, I felt a bit overwhelmed. Again, this was the most volatility I have seen in a short period of time, ever. And since I’m a curious guy, I really started thinking about what the heck was going on to cause this much volatility from an algorithm update standpoint.<\/p>\n

My thoughts about what is going on.
\n<\/strong>So what\u2019s going on here? Why are there so many substantial updates in such a short amount of time?<\/p>\n

Disclaimer<\/strong>: I don\u2019t work for Google, I don\u2019t have any insider knowledge of what\u2019s been rolling out, and the only people that truly know what\u2019s going on are Googlers. These are just theories I have based on helping many companies deal with algorithm updates over the years, having access to a lot of search data across sites, categories and countries, and tracking updates like these for a very long time.<\/p>\n

With that out of the way, let’s cover five thoughts I have about what’s going on in Google Land.<\/p>\n

First, in the past we had seen quality updates every few months. That\u2019s when Google refreshed its quality algorithms and there was widespread volatility. Then I noted that Google seemed to up the frequency of those updates to almost monthly. I documented that in my post about the August 19<\/a> update.<\/p>\n

But now we have seen substantial updates causing mass volatility almost every other week (or even more frequently). This is NOT what we have seen in the past. Again, there may be 2-3 updates per day that are small and don\u2019t cause massive movement in the SERPs, but now we are seeing substantial movement more frequently. It\u2019s not the norm\u2026 that\u2019s for sure.<\/p>\n

Below, I have included five thoughts about what could be going on. I don\u2019t know for sure which one, if any, are correct. But these are all worth thinking about as we\u2019ve experienced serious volatility on a regular basis since August.<\/p>\n

Thought #1 \u2013 Quicker Quality Algorithm Refreshes As We Approach Real-time
\n<\/strong>Did you just get a shiver down your spine? I did as I wrote that. :)<\/p>\n

Remember how Panda went from near-monthly updates to being incorporated into Google\u2019s core ranking algorithm?\u00a0 When that was approaching, I explained that once that happened, site owners wouldn\u2019t know what hit them. And if that was the case, it would sure be harder to identify what caused the drop in rankings.<\/p>\n

Well, I feel we are on the same path with quality updates. From what we know, Google refreshes its quality algorithms periodically. Again, this seemed to be happening every few months until this summer. Then I wrote that I was seeing quality updates almost monthly<\/em>. Well now we are seeing updates like this every other week (or even more frequently).<\/p>\n

And if sites are in the gray area of Google\u2019s quality algos, then more sites could end up having trending like this:
\n\"Google<\/p>\n

So, Google may be increasing the frequency of refreshing its quality algorithms. And the end goal could be to have that running in near real-time (or actually in real-time). If that happens, then site owners will truly be in a situation where they have no idea what hit them, or why.<\/p>\n

By the way, Google would love a situation where site owners can\u2019t scream bloody murder when a specific update rolls out. Imagine site A gets hammered on Monday, site B that Saturday, then site C on Sunday, with site D the following Wednesday. All of this would be happening as Google\u2019s quality algorithms reevaluate site-level quality scores in real-time.<\/p>\n

Again, I don\u2019t know if that\u2019s the plan, but if this follows the path of Panda (which currently rolls continuously), then it\u2019s entirely possible.<\/p>\n

Thought #2 \u2013 Specific quality algorithms refreshed separately.
\n<\/strong>Google has always said they push 2-3 updates per day, but we really only saw major updates every month or so (or spread out even further). And again, that\u2019s typically when Google refreshed its quality algorithms<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Notice the \u201cs\u201d is bolded above. There\u2019s not one quality algorithm. There are a number of them. So what if Google simply started refreshing those quality algorithms separately versus all at one time? That potentially could cause more volatility at more times during the month. I\u2019m not saying that\u2019s definitely the case, but it\u2019s possible.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s just very interesting to see so much volatility in a short period of time. Again, this is probably the most volatility I have ever seen in a short period of time.
\n<\/strong>
\nThought #3 \u2013 Don\u2019t forget about Panda.
\n<\/strong>Let\u2019s not forget about our cute, black and white animal that\u2019s still roaming the web. Sure, Panda has changed a lot since “medieval Panda” (when sites would plunge 60%+ overnight), but it\u2019s still running continuously and looking for low quality content.<\/p>\n

So, changes to the Panda algorithm could be causing big shifts in rankings. I\u2019m not saying that\u2019s what we are seeing, but if the algorithm is being updated, then it could cause radical changes in rankings, and on a regular basis. We have no updates from Google about this, so it\u2019s hard to say. Just something to think about\u2026<\/p>\n

Maybe the \u201cnew\u201d Panda isn\u2019t as docile as we once thought. I have joked in the past that once Panda was incorporated into Google’s core ranking algorithm, this is what it looked like. That could have changed. :)<\/p>\n

\"Panda
\nCredit Giphy<\/a>: Yes, ironic considering the hit they took on 10\/4.<\/p>\n

Thought #4 – Above The Fold (ATF) \u2013 The beast few people are talking about.
\n<\/strong>If you\u2019ve read my previous<\/a> posts about major<\/a> algorithm updates<\/a>, then you\u2019ve noticed the continual mention of user experience (UX). And within that category, we have various things that could be creating a negative<\/strong> user experience. That includes aggressive, disruptive, or deceptive ads, other UX barriers, etc. I\u2019ve analyzed many sites that have gotten hammered that employed aggressive, deceptive, or annoying ads. And I\u2019ve also seen all types of UX barriers (anything that can get in the way of users traversing your site).<\/p>\n

Well, many don\u2019t realize that Google has an algorithm running all the time called Above The Fold<\/a> (ATF). The ATF algo can impact rankings when ads or other elements push your main content down the page. Google\u2019s John Mueller has explained that ATF doesn\u2019t need a refresh. It is working all the time. So as Google crawls your site and identifies ads (or other elements) pushing down your main content, your site can be negatively impacted.<\/p>\n

\"Google's<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a recent video clip of John explaining that Above The Fold (ATF) could be impacting sites employing aggressive ads that push the main content down the page (at 7:46 in the video):<\/p>\n