Is a Google Update Brewing? — 2nd September 2016
By Jonathan Griffin. Editor, SEO Consultant, & Developer.
There is a lot of chatter in the SEO community that a significant Google Update has just been rolled out. While some of the SERP trackers such as the Rank Risk Index, or MozCast haven’t yet updated, the Google Grump Rating shows the volatility as furious, with Algaroo also showing significant movement.
It is unclear at this stage what the update might be affecting, but typically we find that most of the core algorithm updates target content quality in some way.
The best way to avoid being susceptible to these kinds of updates is to focus on only publishing high-quality content on your website. This means doing much more than the standard 500-word blog post that was all the rage only a couple of years ago; you have to provide real value to the user.
The SERP Trackers
Before we look at the community chatter, let’s first take at the SERP trackers to gain an inclination as to the scale and impact of the update:
Google Grump
Algaroo
Google Update Community Chatter
It is evident, at least from a SERP tracking perspective, that the update is fairly significant. As such, you would expect a substantial increase in chatter among webmasters and SEO specialists. Let’s take a look at some of the community forums:
WebmasterWorld
As of the time of posting, two different comments have been made, explicitly mentioning the UK SERPs, but this is probably due to the timezone difference. This is what they had to say.
User Jez 123 commented:
I’m seeing some decent changes on UK Google this morning. Are they real or has Google lifted the filters to apply some new patch? Interesting to see if we all get a spike in converting traffic as on 1st / 2nd August. Is anyone else seeing anything or is this an isolated occurrence?
User Imbenking commented:
A noticeable move in our vertical over night in the UK. (Classifieds). Almost all large players including ourselves took a hit in page 1 visibility. We’ve noticed over time more and more national players are being displaced with strong local websites (e.g. local newspaper classifieds etc).
James Perrott, Strategy Director at ZazzleMedia, said:
Unfortunately, there doesn’t appear to be any indication of what may be causing the fluctuations, and we suspect it may be a few days until there is enough data to analyze to come to some conclusions.
Glenn Gabe, Digital Marketing Consultant at G-Squared Interactive, has not seen anything that indicates there is an update.
Local pack changes
However, in one post on the 31st August, a user on the Local Search Forum indicated that some changes were being made to the Local Pack in the Netherlands.
I’m seeing a lot of ranking changes in the Local Pack here in the Netherlands on numerous of keywords I’m tracking. Anyone else who’s seeing a lot of movement?
This could account for the Algaroo volatility being shown over a few days. It doesn’t appear to account for the more recent chatter, and the Google Grump rating being specifically high today.
What does Google have to say?
Despite a few tweets being directed at John Mueller today, so far, there is no comment from him. Gary Illyes, another active Google spokesperson, is away on vacation, so it is unlikely any response will be forthcoming from him.
As soon as we get any further news, we will provide an update.