I think Google is at it again!

1. 86

   TIMETRAVELER2posted 9 years ago

   I had heard there was a big update coming around April 15, and now I have noticed a good sized drop in views.  Anybody else having this issue?  If so, we may be in the middle of another animal update!

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      sallybeaposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Yes, have not had it so low for a long time.  Three days ago it was at a personal high and now this!

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      colorfuloneposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Yes, I am experiencing a drop in views.

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      TIMETRAVELER2posted 9 years agoin reply to this

      It turned out that my numbers didn't drop as much as I thought they would.  So far so good!

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      LuisEGonzalezposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      If my views keep going the way they have been for some days now, pretty soon I'll reach the magical 0. At least I'll know then they couldn't go any lower....lol

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      Ben Aidooposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      I'm wondering what Google is actually doing to decrease Hubbers traffic. Is Google knocking off Hubbers articles from page 1, so that visitors won't see them, or are visitors simply not clicking on the articles because they are not sure HP is an authoritative source? Perhaps, if we can figure this out we would avoid being stressed out by these endless Google animal updates.

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         Marisa Wrightposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         Think about it.  When you are searching, do you read the names of the websites before you click on the links?  I don't, I just look at the result and see if it sounds like what I'm looking for.

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            WriteAngledposted 9 years agoin reply to this

            Actually, I do look at the name of the website! I immediately discard Youtube results because I hate videos as a source of information. I do not click on anything from Wikipedia, because I do not consider it a trustworthy source of information, despite the fact Google shoves it down our throats in the first pages of most searches. I also do not bother to click on any sites with spammy sounding names which will try to sell rather than inform, as well as on anything from crappy places that provide dumbed down factoids for the masses, like Yahoo Answers, Wikihow, Buzzfeed, Huffington Post and the like. Often I need to trawl through 10, 20 or more pages of search results before I find a link I consider worth following through.

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               paradigm searchposted 9 years agoin reply to this

               Same here.

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               Land Striderposted 9 years agoin reply to this

               I too look at the website first and dismiss Wikipedia and apparent "factoids for the masses" I like that description. Just earlier tonight I was looking to find information on Kansas and the headlining facts were mostly about population and race statistics. It even had a chart of "most popular" cities in Kansas. Most popular to whom? Anything involving opinionated information gets point deductions from me.

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            eugbugposted 8 years agoin reply to this

            I do, and try to avoid certain websites such as eHow, which although high ranking are low on detail (to say the least!). I also avoid WikiHow on principle because of the way submitted articles can be metamorphosed  and "improved" and eventually bear no resemblance to original content.

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      2. 31

         Writer Foxposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         Google just made a change about how URLs are displayed for search results for mobile users.  You may read about it here:
         http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot. … earch.html

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            paradigm searchposted 9 years agoin reply to this

            Can someone with a mobile tell me if this means "HubPages" or "paradigmsearch" will be displayed. I'd also be curious as to how my infamous www . websitewithnoname . com is displayed.

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               Writer Foxposted 9 years agoin reply to this

               Just put the URL in the search box on this site to see how it displays on various mobile platforms:
               http://quirktools.com/screenfly/
               
               If you want to see search results, enter the URL for the search results page.

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                  paradigm searchposted 9 years agoin reply to this

                  All I'm seeing is a blank screen with the URL reprinted at the bottom, both desktop and mobile. I tried the google homepage, a google search results page, and a NOAA weather page.

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   6. 85

      Lady Loreleiposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      I missed the high that others are talking about so my stats have not really changed much. They seem to still be fluctuating 20 to 50 points daily but not much difference. Maybe what everyone is seeing is an adjustment from whatever caused the traffic surge?

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   7. 96

      eugbugposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      My weekly viewing figures are down 36% since the start of April. This is really annoying because most of my hubs are gardening/tool/DIY related and the trend of pageviews had started to climb after March as per usual, with people out and about doing stuff in early spring.  So after an initial 300% increase from previous months, my weekly figures are down to mid March levels.

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2. STAFF

   Paul Edmondsonposted 9 years ago

   Traffic can vary from Hubber to Hubber, but the site's overall Google traffic has been trending up the last few weeks.  Today is stronger than last Thursday from Google.
   
   It's been a really long time since we've seen a Panda update, but I have seen Hubber specific traffic fluctuations that look like a Panda update.  Not sure what causes them, although we know Google runs several algorithms.

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      TIMETRAVELER2posted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Paul:  I've been doing a bit of research and the gurus all seem to agree that Google definitely has something going on that started perhaps a few days ago.  I heard awhile back that something would be going on around April 15.
      
      I know that fluctuations happen, but as with some of the others who have posted here, I was really starting to see a major jump in views.  Today, not so much, but of course, the day is not over yet but, in my case, Friday and Saturday are always pretty good.
      
      I sure hope I don't take another hit like I did last year when I lost 90% of my views overnight.  I dumped 47 articles, created a pure niche, added maybe 20 new articles, made everything mobile compliant and brought my views up to more than 220,000 as of today.  Am still working on updating, correcting, resizing and replacing images.
      
      Keeping my fingers crossed.

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      1. 96

         susi10posted 9 years agoin reply to this

         It must be Google's new mobile algorithm update. I expect that HubPages will get an increase in traffic once this new algorithm update fully hits. Because our site is mobile optimized, we can definitely expect a boost in mobile search results.

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            jansharesposted 9 years agoin reply to this

            Yes, I expect the same, susi10. It's exciting. But I just read the link below from paradigm search which states that this algorithm assesses each webpage individually which is why it's important for each hubber to work on their hubs to make sure their subdomains contain mobile-friendly articles. It will help the site as a whole.

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3. 54

   janderson99posted 9 years ago

   The mobile algo update was scheduled for April 12. Have not heard much about its effect. My main decline has been with Pinterest - not sure why?

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      rebekahELLEposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      The mobile algorithm update is 4/21.
      
      TT2, you might be interested in this article if you haven't seen it already.  It discusses how Panda and Penguin don't run as was initially stated. http://searchengineland.com/google-pand … ime-218407

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         TIMETRAVELER2posted 9 years agoin reply to this

         Thanks Rebekah:  that was interesting but also kind of depressing.  One would think that if Google really wants good articles they would do all possible to help people improve their work.  The way this article states things, Google doesn't even seem to know what its doing half the time (or more lol!).
         
         I do think they should update more regularly and let people know if they've taken a hit and why.  That is what's fair, but I guess Google doesn't have to play fair!  It's their ball and their court.  Sigh

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4. 70

   makingamarkposted 9 years ago

   Google announced two days ago that starting 21 April, Google Search will be expanding its use of mobile-friendliness as a ranking signal (as in this was in an official email to account holders)
   
   I'd hold off wondering what's up until after April 21st

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      TIMETRAVELER2posted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Well, I just finished making every single hub mobile friendly, so if that's what they'll be ranking on, I ought to be OK.  Thanks.

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      Snakesmumposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      This is why I'm not so active at the moment on HP !     Got an email from Google about one of my sites not being mobile friendly, and am currently updating it.    Takes forever, but hopefully it will be worthwhile.   Not that I'm going to finish it by 21st April, but at least what is there will be mobile friendly.
      
      Big G seems to have too much power over us all.....sigh........

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         WriteAngledposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         I was lucky because my sites are Wordpress. I just bunged on a plug-in and immediately got a five-star Google pat on the back for mobile-friendliness.

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            Snakesmumposted 9 years agoin reply to this

            Yes, Writeangled, my sites are WP also, except for the one I got the message about!   That's why it's taking so long to update, but hopefully will be back on HP as usual in a week or so.  :-(

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5. 95

   littlethingposted 9 years ago

   Huh. Mine have actually gone up.

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      jansharesposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      +1

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6. 54

   paradigm searchposted 9 years ago

   My traffic is doing just dandy on my other account. As for this account, I might as well just close it. Oh, well.

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      Barbara Kayposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      paradigm search, You've just got one hub left on this account. Write some more and you'll do better.

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         paradigm searchposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         The usual, eternal topic search continues...

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7. 84

   Good Guyposted 9 years ago

   Mine has been a very gradual upward trend.  Looks positive and encouraging.

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      sallybeaposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Talk about ups and downs, yesterday my visits were at their highest, looking good.

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         LongTimeMotherposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         I don't know how my hubs are at the moment ... it is 30 hours since the last update to stats.  The weekend is over in my part of the world, but I guess we'll be waiting until Monday in the US. Yawn.

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      2. 86

         TIMETRAVELER2posted 9 years agoin reply to this

         Mine went back to normal yesterday according to Google Analytics.  It would be so helpful if the team would update as often as they used to.  Now we have to wait a day or longer, and this does affect how we work with our articles.

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8. 92

   FatFreddysCatposted 9 years ago

   Mine seem to be "steady as she goes, Cap'n" for the time being.... although it would be nice if the F'n stats would update more than once every 47 F'n hours so I could tell for sure.

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9. 54

   janderson99posted 9 years ago

   Sadly, traffic has returned to the HP Quota that has applied since the start of 2015, about 800-900K US pageviews.
   
   

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10. 84

    rebekahELLEposted 9 years ago

    I haven't noticed a big change in the mobile SERPs.  Domain names still show up on many results.
    Paul E. posted this in the topical forums but I don't think many hubbers that frequent this forum have seen it. http://hubpages.com/forum/topic/130013#post2725758 
    
    I use the Open Site Explorer tool on my browser which has different metrics, one of them being Domain Authority.  I look at it when search results show and if a site has a low DA, I don't click.  HP dot com has a decent ranking of 88.  I don't have it on my mobile phone. I don't know it if works on mobile.

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11. 54

    paradigm searchposted 9 years ago

    Another article about tomorrow's doomsday, http://www.businessinsider.com/google-m … don-2015-4 But as we already know, for HubPages it could be a very good day indeed. I am awaiting with optimism, both as to HP and my main website on Google's beloved Blogger platform.

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       colorfuloneposted 9 years agoin reply to this

       I love that image of Larry Page.

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       jansharesposted 9 years agoin reply to this

       Thanks, paradigm. I just emailed the author and asked her to look at my business website and give me a 'yes' or 'no' re: my readiness. I'm feeling good about HP, too. Good luck to us all tomorrow.

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          paradigm searchposted 9 years agoin reply to this

          Wouldn't it be nice if the mobile plus bias offset the seasonal summer negative bias? I know, I'm dreaming again...

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          jansharesposted 9 years agoin reply to this

          She replied right away, she did the Google mobile- friendly analysis on my site which was so generous and helpful. She actually gave me advice about what I could do to improve my site. Glad I reached out. She's a keeper as a resource.

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          rebekahELLEposted 9 years agoin reply to this

            I think it's a huge plus that HP got on this so early.  I checked out a few of my keyword phrases to see the search results on my mobile device and I was surprised to see the number of high ranking sites that aren't showing as mobile-friendly. They may be in for a big surprise tomorrow if their sites aren't ready.  From moz - 9 Things You Need to Know About Google' … dly Update

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12. 58

    Land Striderposted 9 years ago

    I just joined hubpages today. I've never joined a forum and rarely surf the internet outside of research and Amazon so I'm unfamiliar with most of the internet terms many are describing. I chose this article because the title immediately grabbed my attention. I was however disappointed that it's about ratings and not the Google corporation itself. I've noticed many questionable things about the workings of Google. I have done some research into the information about themselves that they provide through links and policies and things like that. I've read their privacy policies and disclosures and some things seem to be saying "you don't have to use us and if you do its our way or the highway" which is commendable to an extent. I just feel like they take advantage of their users and don't really care if they don't get quality service. I discovered numerous facts. SOME of these facts are not supported by explanation. Like why there is a picture of a map with" time stamps" linked to my phone number in places in my area I never went to or even near. Pretty fishy. Money makes the world go round and knowledge is power. Some times the two should not be combined.

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       Land Striderposted 9 years agoin reply to this

       How rude of me to rant about myself without commenting on the original topic. From what I've learned the Google searches give you links to topics most frequently searched and the search results are displayed according to first and foremost of course paid advertising and then provably by popularity?

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          LongTimeMotherposted 9 years agoin reply to this

          Hello Land Strider. Welcome to HP.
          
          This is a thread that is part of an on-going conversation about the effects of google updates on hubbers' stats. When you've been here for a while you'll find it easy to slot into conversations like this one. 
          
          Yes, you're right. Paid advertising and then popularity and/or 'worthiness' (as defined by google.)

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13. 59

    C.V.Rajanposted 9 years ago

    I am lucky to get about 40% extra traffic over the past week. I don't know how far it will last.

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       LongTimeMotherposted 9 years agoin reply to this

       I'll cross my fingers and hope it lasts forever for you, CVRajan!

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          C.V.Rajanposted 8 years agoin reply to this

          Hi LongTimeMother,
          
          You can 'un-cross' your fingers now. My traffic first reverted to the old levels 2 days ago and today, it has declined further!

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             LongTimeMotherposted 8 years agoin reply to this

             Today has been unusually quiet for me, too, C.V.Rajan.
             
             It is a lucky thing we have a lifetime of tomorrows to look forward to.

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             NateB11posted 8 years agoin reply to this

             I noticed my traffic dropping yesterday, down to what it was before the surge that happened I guess a few weeks ago. At first I thought it was unusually low, but it's reverted to old levels, as you say. However, I've had it happen before; up and down traffic happens a lot.

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                jansharesposted 8 years agoin reply to this

                Me too, Nate. I thought it was because it's a Friday but I don't think so. I trust it will bounce back soon.

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14. 94

    Glen Kowalskiposted 9 years ago

    I definitely look at the website name before clicking.  Some sites have proven themselves to be less than useful (for me) and those sites I ignore.  An example is squidoo...even though I wrote there and considered my articles to be of good quality all to often I'd get a squidoo article that was little more than an advertisement.  I actually brought this up on the squidoo forums during all the changes before squidoo bowed out. 
    
    As for my personal google results, in the last month I've seen my google results about double...not that they are very high but a jump from 10 hits a day to 20-25 a day is encouraging, I'm going to have to get back to writing about fishing (but it is so hard when the weather is nice and I could actually GO fishing... ).  The last 3 days have been the first 3 days I have more hits from google than pinterest (someone was kind enough to pin one of my article about redfishing and it took off from there).  While I'm never going to get rich writing here, it is good to know that people are getting good quality information about fishing.

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    Faye Rutledgeposted 9 years ago

    So, how do I make my hubs mobile friendly?

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       Paul Maplesdenposted 9 years agoin reply to this

       There's an HP blog post answering this very question: http://blog.hubpages.com/2015/03/30/goo … m-release/

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    paradigm searchposted 9 years ago

    Everything you could possibly ever want to know about Mobilegeddon, http://searchengineland.com/tomorrow-is … ate-219291 As a side note, my traffic was banner yesterday, but looking grim this morning; I hope it is just because I checked too early in the day.

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       jansharesposted 9 years agoin reply to this

       Thanks!

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17. 0

    Faye Rutledgeposted 9 years ago

    Thanks so much, Paul and paradigm search, for the helpful links.

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18. 60

    Michael-Milecposted 8 years ago

    Declining continues rapidly, my gone  down in two weeks some 20%, then I realized  those are only  a numbers changed for who knows what resin, does not bother me anymore, it just helped me to remain "me" as well as fully understand the meaning "I don't care,"- reaching point of full freedom and peace of mind which passes all understanding.

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19. 78

    Lee Hansenposted 8 years ago

    Google has a far more open kimono than does HubPages. If you are having issues with visibility I would consider the host not the search engine at this point. Just saying. I do have 20 years in SEO ... maybe before some of you were using the Internet/Web or perhaps even born.

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       LongTimeMotherposted 8 years agoin reply to this

       ... and the titles and content.

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       Sherry Hewinsposted 8 years agoin reply to this

       OK, I admit that I had to look up what "open kimono" means. I'm not sure I agree though. Google seems pretty mysterious to me. So, you're saying that you think HP has done something, that they are not telling us about, to cause this sudden drop?

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       makingamarkposted 8 years agoin reply to this

       In the Google vs. Host debate re. influence on traffic, I think the IRON TEST re. what happens to traffic happens if you transfer content from said host to a new website and then look at how it does in Google over a period of time.
       
       I've been doing just that - for hubs unpublished by HubPages (which doesn't like that I write about subjects on my blog and on lens/hubs and cross-reference) - and I'm watching my traffic shoot up.
       
       Google doesn't have a problem with my content - in the same way that it never had a problem with it when it was on Squidoo.

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