Gobble, Gobble – The November 2019 Google Algorithm “Turkey” Update: Have You Been Hit?

What we’re seeing first half of November…

• Many people noticing significant changes to rankings across a variety of industries in the past week — Monday, November 4th to Sunday, November 10
• Drastic ranking changes also occurring in local map packs
• On Tuesday, November 12, Google Search confirms multiple updates
• Google says they didn’t make an announcement because the updates were “not broadly noticeable”
• Many disagree

November 12 Update: Google Search Confirms Multiple Updates

After much anticipation, Google Search announced that they had several updates in the first week of November. The leading search engine added that they regularly update the algorithm.

Some have asked if we had an update to Google Search last week. We did, actually several updates, just as we have several updates in any given week on a regular basis. In this thread, a reminder of when and why we give specific guidance about particular updates….

— Google SearchLiaison (@searchliaison) November 12, 2019

In following tweets, Google reminded webmasters that they will usually announce (and preannounce) updates when it’s broadly noticeable, in that many sites will notice a difference.

Google concluded the series of tweets by reassuring webmasters, “…we have updates that happen all the time in Google Search. If we don’t share about them, there is no particular actionable guidance to follow nor changes to make other than to keep focused on great content…”

Webmasters who felt the update was indeed broadly noticeable answered with retort.

The change of last week wasn’t a normal change! Could you fix it please? 😅 pic.twitter.com/VRacpABKL8

— Angel Ayach (@angel_ayach) November 12, 2019

When you cause sites across the board to lose 30-40% of their traffic for no ostensible reason, I think that always merits an explanation. People lose their jobs and livelihoods because of those types of decisions.

— Jim Malec (@JimMalec) November 12, 2019

Google’s Danny Sullivan responded to the sentiment, “Our job is to provide the best results we can. If we do an update, it may mean some sites get less traffic than before. Other sites that perhaps might have been under-recognized may do better.”

Still, several cases have emerged where long-term rankings suddenly sank for websites that had great content and followed all the rules.

One person commented:

The recommendation to create better content is fine, but then I see that I have lost positions with a website with good white hat content and where I was there are sites that do not respond to the intention of search and with spin content. Is this an update or an a rollback?

— Dra. Raquel (Cuenta Oficial) (@AntonioGoBe) November 12, 2019

November 11 Update: Signs of Unannounced Google Search Update

Our Observations

On a week over week comparison of Monday, November 4th to Sunday November, 10 we’ve noticed some changes to our clients’ organic traffic.

One ecommerce client is seeing an organic traffic increase of nearly 17%.

 

Another client (also ecommerce) is seeing an organic traffic increase of 29%.

 

A client in the behavioral therapy space (services nationwide) is seeing an increase of 44%.

 

Several other clients have also seen a lift, although not as significant as the clients above.

One client who specializes in corporate training has seen an increase of nearly 11 percent.

 

While another client in the fitness space is seeing an organic traffic increase of nearly 8 percent.

 

We’re also seeing an upward trend across websites focused on local SEO.

A credit repair company is seeing gains of nearly 25 percent.

 

Another organization in the cannabis space is seeing a lift of 55 percent.

 

While a jewelry store saw an increase of nearly 16 percent.

Others’ Observations

We’re not alone in our observations. The SEO community is buzzin’ about signs of an unannounced Google update rolling out.

Unofficially dubbed the “Turkey Update” or “November Update,” the impact appears to be wide-reaching, affecting websites across multiple industries. It’s been favorable for some, but many have suffered great losses.

One SEO reported gains and losses across a variety of industries.

I monitor 47 sites

Mental Health Knowledge base & Directory – up 20%
Travel booking – up 14%
Travel booking – up 25%
Recipes – up 12%
B to C eCom – up 20%

Tech news – down 20%
Skin care affiliate – down 48%

Alternative health – not impacted
Other Recipe sites – not impacted

— Alan Bleiweiss (@AlanBleiweiss) November 10, 2019

Another tweeted that multiple food and lifestyle blogs are seeing traffic drops of over 30 percent.

BIG unannounced Google Update starting yesterday? I have had MULTIPLE food & lifestyle blogs reach-out reporting 30%+ traffic drops when doing a 11/8 to 11/1 week-over-week comparison. Example drop below. cc: @rustybrick @martinibuster @Marie_Haynes @jenstar – ouch! 1/2 pic.twitter.com/Xri8JXjLVm

— Casey Markee (@MediaWyse) November 9, 2019

Owners of high-traffic travel websites have also reported drops:

Yeah, I got nailed really bad. My top keywords went from #1 -3 to second page. Ouch.

— steve hutchings (@hutsteve) November 11, 2019

 

The local SEO community is also reporting volatility. Members of r/bigseo have reported changes to the local SERPs. Likewise, several members within the Facebook groups that ENDURANCE participates in have also seen major drops.

This has been confirmed by BrightLocal’s SERP monitoring tool, RankFlux, which has detected volatility in the last week. They reported seeing “fluctuation across all industries…the possibility of changes to the local algorithm.”

We will keep you up to date as this unfolds. Stay tuned.

 

If your website has been affected by the recent update, contact us for a consultation.