Recently, some anomalies were monitored in Google Search Tracking Tools. Some of them caught huge spikes in changes in the Google Search results. What triggered it remains unknown, which made people curious whether there was any Google Search UI update or not.
Over the last few weeks, Google has been rolling out some UI changes in its search engine.
Now the question arises whether the Search result anomaly was caused due to these UI updates.
A new “knowledge panel design with buttons on top” is one such Google Search UI update. It has already been on mobile phones for some time, and now it’s on PCs too. The second UI change is “continuous scrolling” on mobile phone search results. It will show search results from the first four pages on the first page itself.
Another reason might be the indented results, which appear on more than 40% of search results. The source of the spikes is unknown, but it has been a concern for SEOs worried about its effect on rankings. Changes in its search algorithms is a common practice as part of Google Search UI updates. Therefore, it has become difficult to point out what caused it.
Here are the stats from some of the search tracking tools. RankRanger was calm as the others during the mid-week but was recording something in the morning. Might it be due to another weekend update getting closer?
Contents
Mozcast
RankRanger
Semrush
Advanced Web Rankings
Accuranker
Cognitive SEO
SERPmetrics
Algoroo
SEO discussions which got submitted in the Webmaster World:
“High inconsistency and older articles are experiencing a drop-off. Feels like moving on a treadmill at 50 mph.”
“Today, once again, sharp at 9 am, a huge dropoff was experienced in the USA traffic. Down at 39% versus the previous four Tuesdays at 2 pm. European traffic, including France, Germany, and almost all other Western Euro countries gone. It’s Google’s new ball game. Anticipate much less traffic during prime hours (8-6 pm). I don’t consider this to be a test. It’s now baked in.”
“Google is certainly rolling out these changes across the more and more extensive scope of searches in the USA. It has killed off every single one of my most important searches, like cancer. This is also the reason everyone is experiencing this at different times while it rolls out.”
“Although USA traffic was normal TodayToday, the traffic from other places remains very poor. UK, Canada, Australia, Brazil, Germany, France, and others were way below at -28% to -66%. The homepage and landing pages are much lower, even though my ranking was mostly higher during the week.”
“About 20% traffic decline so far this morning. Never witnessed this happening before.”
The usual traffic in various parts of the world took a hit following these events. It is still unclear whether its due to Google Search UI updates or due to any Google Search Ranking Algorithm update.