Google’s Mueller Discusses Site Demotions via @martinibuster

A publisher with a long list of reasons why their site may have been demoted asked why the site was demoted in Google search results. John Mueller explained why the issues the publisher suspected weren’t necessarily the reason why the site was demoted.

Why is My Site Demoted?

The question that was asked noted several reasons why the site may have lost rankings, including competitor sabotage.

This is the question:

“My site is no longer appearing in search results. There are no violations on my site and it stopped appearing completely from March 12th. It’s a Google News approved site.

I received over 3,000 bad backlinks from my competitors and over fake DMCA complaints from my competitors which I have countered them and am awaiting Google’s response.

Why is my site de-indexed, demoted in Google when there is no violation on my site?”

Difference Between De-indexed and Demoted

Mueller began his answer by clarifying the difference between a demotion in rankings and being de-indexed. I’m not sure if “demoted” is a term used at Google. But it’s a descriptive word for communicating that a site lost rankings.

I think nowadays a site is either relevant or not relevant, rather than demoted or promoted.

Here is John’s explanation of the difference between de-indexed and demoted.

“It’s really hard to say without a site.

From our point of view there’s a really big difference between a site that’s de-indexed and a site that is demoted.

So de-indexed would be not appearing at all. It’s not indexed at all which oftentimes is either due to a very significant web spam issue or a technical issue.

And so… if it’s really de-indexed that’s something where oftentimes they’re really clear paths to resolving that.”

By a clear path Mueller probably is referencing the fact that Google notifies publishers via the Google Search Console if there’s an issue that results in being removed from Google’s index.

Mueller Explains Site Demotions

Now Mueller’s explains a site demotion:

“Whereas if it’s demoted where it’s not ranking as well as before then that’s a lot trickier because that can be due to a lot of different reasons, with regards to the quality of the content, kind of the general set up of the site, all of that can kind of play a role there.”

Negative SEO Links

Mueller downplays the effectiveness of bad backlinks pointed by competitors at the publisher’s website. Mueller doesn’t tell the publisher to file a link disavow, which is interesting because it affirms that Google has a handle on these kinds of links and doesn’t need a link disavow file because the links are not the reason for the site losing rankings.

One would think that if link disavows were important to solving these negative SEO problems Mueller would have recommended their use. But Mueller did not recommend link disavows for solving a negative backlink attack.

In fact, he said not to worry about those links because in his opinion Google very likely is ignoring them. So if Google is ignoring negative SEO links, then those cannot be the reason why a site lost rankings and filing a link disavow is trying to solve a problem with the wrong tool.

The solution for fixing a site demotion lies elsewhere.

Mueller on Links and DMCA:

“In general, I wouldn’t worry too much about these 3,000 bad backlinks from competitors. Our systems are pretty good at recognizing those kinds of things and ignoring them.

So that’s something I wouldn’t focus on too much.

With regards to DMCA complaints, obviously responding to them if they’re invalid is the right approach there…”

Takeaways

In order to understand what happened to a site, a publisher needs to understand what kinds of issues actually cause site demotions. The obvious reasons like bad links aren’t always the answer.

When a site is losing rankings and it’s difficult to find a reason why, it might be time to have someone with experience and an open mind to take a look at it.

There’s a related article that offers more insights from Google’s John Mueller:
Google Offers Reasons for Significant SERP Changes

 

https://www.businesscreatorplus.com/googles-mueller-discusses-site-demotions-via-martinibuster/

Google Offers Reasons for Significant SERP Changes via @martinibuster

On a Google Webmaster Hangout, Google’s John Mueller answered the question of how to get a site that lost rankings back on track. Mueller responded that it’s not possible to give specific advice without reviewing the actual site.

But he did offer some general tips for explaining what could be going on.

Question About Significant Changes

The person asking the question said there had been changes in the search results (SERPs) and wanted to know how to get the site ranking again.

“There seems to be a very significant change that took place on January 14th. My traffic and revenue have been negatively affected despite no penalty or notification of any problems.

While I’m used to ebb and flow of traffic and revenue… are you able to give any advice on specific things to focus on to get back on track?”

January 14, 2020 Update?

John Mueller denied that any special update occurred on January 14th and offered a caveat.

“So first of all I’m not aware of anything specific that happened on January the 14th. So I don’t really know exactly what you’re pointing at there.

I also don’t know your site so it’s really hard to say what might be involved there.”

Mueller Comments on Significant SERP Changes

Mueller now states that there are multiple reasons why search traffic may undergo significant changes, not all of them related to an update. So, he’s trying to get the publisher to step back and widen his perspective on the multiple reasons that can explain why search traffic patterns can vary significantly.

It’s Not Your Site, It’s the Searchers

This is Mueller’s response:

“In general I think there are a few things to keep in mind. On the one hand there are lots of sites in the search results so it’s never the case that everyone is demoted and like no longer visible in search because there are always sites that come up as well. It’s not that we don’t show anything in search.

So these kinds of changes are generally pretty normal and they can come and go and that can be due to changes in our algorithms, they can be due to changes in the way that people search.

So if a topic suddenly is no longer as interesting then maybe you’ll start to have less traffic for those kinds of queries just because it’s something that people don’t search for anymore.”

It is Your Site

Next Mueller suggested that the reason a site can lose traffic could be from a change in site quality (something the publisher changed on their website) or a change on Google’s side where they changed how they identify quality.

This is Mueller’s response:

“It can also be due to changes in quality on the website or the perceived quality of a website based on our algorithms.

But all of these things are really kind of hard to guess at without knowing your website.”

Takeaways

SERPs Change

The search results (SERPs) are in a state of change. Sometimes this could be because a competitor is becoming more active online. Sometimes it’s because there are new competitors.

Don’t expect the search results to stay the same.

Searchers Change

If search habits change, then search traffic will change.

In the offline world, for whatever reason, many supermarkets aren’t carrying soy milk but are stocked with multiple brands of oat milk. It’s possible that “traffic” to the supermarket for “soy milk” has declined. So they stopped carrying it.

Here is a 12 month Google Trends graph showing the relative popularity of soy milk versus oat milk. As you can see, there has been an explosion of search activity for oat milk, double the the search trends for soy milk.

The supermarket responded to consumer demand by providing more oat milk.

Similarly, you should always try to keep an eye on consumer use of keywords. It could be that consumer popularity has changed. If tastes change then it may be time to update to what users are interested in. This can most definitely cause a negative change in search traffic.

Site Changes

Sometimes a change on your site can cause Google to understand it less. As a hypothetical example, if a business card site begins publishing marketing related content, it’s possible that Google might begin to see the site as being less authoritative about business cards.

Google Changes

Sometimes Google changes how it interprets search queries and web content. This is something that has constantly been changing for the past couple years (Rank Brain, BERT, etc.).

Always check the search results to try to understand why the winners are winning and you are not. And don’t seize on the most obvious reasons as those could be red herrings.

 

https://www.businesscreatorplus.com/google-offers-reasons-for-significant-serp-changes-via-martinibuster/

Sellers start feeling the strains on Amazon’s fulfillment systems

Changing consumer behaviors due to the coronavirus outbreak are straining the retail ecosystem and causing sellers to rethink their near-term inventory, fulfillment and advertising strategies on the platform.

Amazon, which accounts for more than one-third of all e-commerce orders in the U.S. according to eMarketer, announced Monday that it intends to hire 100,000 fulfillment workers to manage the spike in orders. On Tuesday, the company notified FBA and 1P vendor sellers it is suspending shipments of non-essential products to its warehouses through mid-April to help prioritize inventory of key products such as household staples and medical supplies.

“Levels like Black Friday or Prime Day”

“We are seeing increased online shopping, and as a result, some products such as household staples and medical supplies are out of stock. With this in mind, we are temporarily prioritizing household staples, medical supplies, and other high-demand products coming into our fulfillment centers so that we can more quickly receive, restock, and deliver these products to customers,” the company wrote.

For those with inventory, sales have risen across a wide range of products over the past week “We’ve seen a significant boost in sales on Amazon . . . levels like Black Friday or Prime Day,” said Greg Mercer of Jungle Scout, an analytics tool for Amazon sellers. “From Amazon’s perspective, that would have been impossible to forecast.”

Orders for products in-stock will continue to be fulfilled. Sellers that fulfill their own orders will also still be able to do so. Amazon has extended the delivery window on existing orders as well.

Tough timing

“Why this is such a big deal is timing,” said Mercer. The move comes just as production at Chinese factories was picking back up. The majority of third-party sellers on Amazon import their goods from China. Those sellers had planned for factories to be closed for one or two weeks in January for Chinese New Year, Mercer explained. Then coronavirus hit, and factories had been offline for six to eight weeks.

“So sellers are finally starting to get their goods manufactured, now they can’t ship directly to Amazon. I’d say a lot of Amazon sellers are likely going to run out of stock on items — at least Amazon FBA,” said Mercer.

Amazon was not staffed for peak season levels. With the hiring surge, he expects the company will be ready to handle the volume at the end of the four-week hold on most shipments. “Even if the effects of coronavirus last longer than the four weeks, Amazon will ramp up by then.”

Fulfillment decisions

While some sellers are planning to fulfill orders themselves, most FBA sellers are not set up to accommodate drop-shipping direct to consumers. For those that are prepared to take the necessary steps, however, this could be an opportunity to test FBM (fulfillment by manufacturer).

“We recommend having a backup fulfillment method always ready to go in case of drastic market shifts,” said Mike Farrell, senior director of integrated digital strategy at Sidecar, a digital advertising management platform. Sellers need to consider the implications of delivery and customer service issues on their longer-term success on the platform.

“Some Seller Ratings may take an uncontrollable hit during this period of supply chain upheaval. As a result, retailers’ Buy Box eligibility could be affected,” noted Farrel, “If this impact plays out while a retailer is also switching fulfillment methods, that retailer might experience temporary customer service issues.” He’d like to see Amazon consider reducing the long-term impact of any negative ratings acquired during this period.

Advertising curtailed — on and off Amazon

“We weren’t cutting back on Amazon until now, as that is where we predicted to see all the in-store growth move to,” said Anthony Verre, VP of e-commerce at digital agency The Integer Group. “Now that the warehouses are on lockdown? We’ve paused just about everything in order to help ‘conserve’ what supply is left in the warehouses.”

Similarly, Farrell suggested sellers look at redistributing ad budgets to other channels. “Flexibility in ad budgeting is increasingly important as retailers seek to keep their businesses moving amid market changes.”

Amazon itself has cut back advertising on Google Shopping and text ads significantly, according to Tinuiti Director of Research Andy Taylor.

Amazon ad impression share for the agency’s e-commerce clients began declining in late January and is now “nearly nonexistent”, Taylor wrote in a blog post on Tuesday. “Further, Amazon appears to have also essentially turned off all of its text ads after March 11,” he wrote, “and while it maintains a very light text ad impression share against some advertisers in a scattering of categories, it has vanished altogether for many. “

Related reading

 

About The Author

Ginny Marvin is Third Door Media’s Editor-in-Chief, running the day to day editorial operations across all publications and overseeing paid media coverage. Ginny Marvin writes about paid digital advertising and analytics news and trends for Search Engine Land, Marketing Land and MarTech Today. With more than 15 years of marketing experience, Ginny has held both in-house and agency management positions. She can be found on Twitter as @ginnymarvin.

https://www.businesscreatorplus.com/sellers-start-feeling-the-strains-on-amazons-fulfillment-systems/

WordPress 5.5 Will Introduce Auto-Updates for Themes and Plugins via @MattGSouthern

The upcoming WordPress 5.5 update will expand the content management system’s auto-updating capabilities to themes and plugins.

Currently, auto-updating is only available for the WordPress CMS core. Soon, when a stable version of WordPress 5.5 rolls out to everyone, themes and plugins can be set to update automatically as well.

Presumably, the auto-update functionality is being extended to themes and plugins in an effort to prevent site hacks.

Just a couple of weeks ago we published a story about 8 popular WordPress plugins being exploited by hackers. In each instance, hackers were able to gain control of a site by exploiting a vulnerability in the plugin.

Vulnerabilities, such as those, can be easily patched with a quick update. The problem is that many site owners install plugins and themes and then forget to update them.

When 5.5 rolls out, site owners can theoretically install plugins, forget about them, and still be safe because the plugins will be updated automatically.

Long overdue feature has been in the works for months

This functionality has been in the works since 2019, though it’s arguably much longer overdue than that.

In February, the official WordPress team released a plugin with this exact functionality. Be careful if you download it, however, as it’s still a beta test plugin at the moment.

The plugin notes state that this feature was originally slated for release in 2019. It didn’t ship on time, but it wasn’t forgotten about.

Auto-updating of themes and plugins is now expected to ship with the next version of WordPress (v5.5).

https://www.businesscreatorplus.com/wordpress-5-5-will-introduce-auto-updates-for-themes-and-plugins-via-mattgsouthern/

YouTube Says More Videos Will Be Removed Than Usual For The Time Being via @MattGSouthern

YouTube advises that, with fewer people available to review content during this time, more videos will be removed than normal.

As COVID-19 evolves, YouTube is reducing staffing in certain offices. This is expected to cause disruptions, so the company is relying on automated systems to step in and keep the platform “safe.”

“As a result of the new measures we’re taking, we will temporarily start relying more on technology to help with some of the work normally done by reviewers. This means automated systems will start removing some content without human review, so we can continue to act quickly to remove violative content and protect our ecosystem, while we have workplace protections in place.

More videos removed than usual

An increased reliance on automated systems means more videos will be removed than usual. In other words, YouTube is willing to err on the side of caution to ensure violative content does not get published.

YouTube says, for now, video removals may even include content that does not violate its policies. However, strikes will not be issued against creators except in certain circumstances.

“As we do this, users and creators may see increased video removals, including some videos that may not violate policies. We won’t issue strikes on this content except in cases where we have high confidence that it’s violative.”

If content ends up being removed in error, creators will have the ability to appeal YouTube’s decision. Given that YouTube’s appeal process also relies on human reviewers, there will be delays in this area as well.

Restrictions to search results, home page, and recommendations

YouTube says it will be cautious about promoting content that does not go through human reviewers. So any new content that does end up getting published during this time may have reduced visibility.

If you end up seeing a sharp drop in views over the next few weeks, this could be why:

“We’ll also be more cautious about what content gets promoted, including livestreams. In some cases, unreviewed content may not be available via search, on the homepage, or in recommendations.”

One bit of good news, though, is there will be no changes to monetization. This includes continuing to allow monetization of cononavirus-related content.

See: YouTube Allows Creators to Monetize Content About Coronavirus

No timeframe was given for when things may return to business as usual.

Source: YouTube Creator Blog

https://www.businesscreatorplus.com/youtube-says-more-videos-will-be-removed-than-usual-for-the-time-being-via-mattgsouthern/

Google My Business Optimization Considered the Most Valuable Local Marketing Service via @MattGSouthern

Google My Business optimization, not website optimization, is considered the most valuable local marketing service in 2020.

According to BrightLocal’s annual local search industry survey, on-site optimization is now the second most valuable local marketing service.

The survey of 475 local marketers looks at the business practices, pricing, salary, and services offered by local marketers.

According to the survey, the top 5 most valuable services are:

1. Google My Business optimization
2. On-site optimization
3. Reputation management
4. Citation management
5. Website design

Google My Business optimization is also the most frequently offered service by local marketers, with more marketers offering GMB optimization than traditional SEO.

The top 5 most frequently offered services by local marketers include:

1. GMB optimization
2. SEO audits/analysis
3. On-site optimization
4. Reporting/analytics
5. Citation management

Link building is one of the less frequently offered services, the survey finds, with only half of local marketers offering it. So there’s an opportunity to stand out as a local marketer if you want to differentiate your service offerings from others.

SEO is Best for Attracting New Clients

Although it’s not the most offered service, or considered the most valuable, local marketers say SEO is the best online tactic for attracting new clients. Content marketing, LinkedIn, and PPC were cited as other valuable online channels.

By a large margin, word of mouth is considered the most valuable channel overall for winning clients. Local business groups and industry conferences are also considered valuable ways to gain clients.

Google Rankings Matter Most to Businesses

The local marketing metrics most valued by local businesses are Google rankings. According to the survey, Google rankings are even more important to businesses than new customers and new leads.

The top 5 local marketing metrics valued by businesses are:

1. Google rankings
2. New customers
3. New leads/inquiries
4. Organic traffic
5. Number of new reviews

When preparing monthly reports for clients, focus on the highlighting the above metics.

For more insights on the local marketing industry in 2020, see the full survey here.

https://www.businesscreatorplus.com/google-my-business-optimization-considered-the-most-valuable-local-marketing-service-via-mattgsouthern/

Google Makes Premium Version of Hangouts Meet Free As More People Work Remotely via @MattGSouthern

Google is waiving the fees on the premium version of Hangouts Meet to assist businesses and schools operating remotely.

In a blog post, Google states:

“As more employees, educators, and students work remotely in response to the spread of COVID-19, we want to do our part to help them stay connected and productive.”

The paid version of Hangouts Meet will be free until July 1. Some of the premium features businesses and schools can benefit from the most during this time include:

• An increased limit of 250 participants per call.
• Live streaming with an increased audience limit of up to 100,000 viewers within a domain.
• The ability to record meetings and save them to Google Drive.

This will no doubt assist businesses with holding large meetings online, giving company-wide presentations, and saving meetings for others to view at a later time.

“… as more businesses adjust their work-from-home policies and adopt reduced travel plans in response to COVID-19, we’re helping to ensure that all globally distributed teams can still reliably meet face to face, even if employees are not in the same location.”

These features are typically available only in the Enterprise edition of G Suite, as well as the G Suite Enterprise for Education. From now until July they will be available at no additional cost to all customers.

Source: Google

https://www.businesscreatorplus.com/google-makes-premium-version-of-hangouts-meet-free-as-more-people-work-remotely-via-mattgsouthern/

Google’s John Mueller: We Do Not Use W3C Validation in Search Results via @MattGSouthern

Google’s John Mueller recently stated in a webmaster hangout that W3C validation has no impact on search results.

Mueller was asked whether W3C validation errors could slow down the time it takes to download a page.

In response, Mueller says W3C validation has no impact on the time to download a page, and has no impact on a website in search results in general.

“No, this does not affect time to download a page. Time to download a page is purely the time that it takes from Googlebot asking your server for a URL, to your server having provided that full content to Googlebot.

What is on that page is totally irrelevant, other than maybe if you have a lot of text then maybe it will take a long time to transfer. But HTML errors are totally irrelevant for that.”

As it relates to search results, Mueller says this about W3C validation:

“In general, the W3C validation is something that we do not use when it comes to search. So you don’t need to worry if your pages kind of meet the validation bar or not. However, using the validation is a great way to double check that you’re not doing anything broken on your site.”

Although there is no impact on search results, Mueller does recommend using the W3C validator for other reasons. One reason that Mueller didn’t mention, however, is there are laws around website accessibility in the United States.

Here’s why Mueller recommends using the W3C validator:

“So, in particular, for other kinds of devices for people who need accessibility features, the W3C validator is a great way to kind of get a confirmation that the markup you’re providing is pretty reasonable, and is something that most consumers of markup will be able to understand well.

So I definitely recommend checking out the validator tool and trying it on your pages and seeing what the results are, and then trying to improve things so you’re a little bit more in line with valid HTML.

That generally makes things a lot easier when it comes to displaying your pages, when it comes to understanding the content on your pages for things like screen readers. All of that makes it a lot easier if you have reasonable HTML.”

See: 6 Reasons Why Google Says Valid HTML Matters

 

https://www.businesscreatorplus.com/googles-john-mueller-we-do-not-use-w3c-validation-in-search-results-via-mattgsouthern/

Google is Not Building a Coronavirus Testing Website via @MattGSouthern

President Donald Trump erroneously stated in an emergency address that Google is building a coronavirus testing website.

Trump said 1,700 Google engineers are working on a coronavirus screening site that could be launched as early as this Sunday.

#coronavirus chart pic.twitter.com/d9yR7lAl7C

— Howard Mortman (@HowardMortman) March 13, 2020

On the contrary – not only is the site not ready to launch but it’s not even being developed by Google. The site is being developed by a company called Verily, which is owned by Google’s parent company Alphabet.

Google and Verily are entirely different companies, which Google itself clarified in a tweet:

“We are developing a tool to help triage individuals for Covid-19 testing. Verily is in the early stages of development, and planning to roll testing out in the Bay Area, with the hope of expanding more broadly over time.

“We appreciate the support of government officials and industry partners and thank the Google engineers who have volunteered to be part of this effort.”

Verily provided its own statement to TechCrunch:

“Verily is developing a tool to help triage individuals for COVID-19 testing. We are in the early stages of development, and planning to roll testing out in the Bay Area, with the hope of expanding more broadly over time,” the company said in its statement. “We appreciate the support of government officials and industry partners and thank the Google engineers who have volunteered to be part of this effort.”

Another point Trump left out, as you can read in the statement above, is the site will be rolling out in the San Francisco Bay Area first, with the “hope” of eventually rolling out to other areas.

That’s a fairly important piece of information to leave out in a statement that was broadcast live to the entire United States.

Just for comparison’s sake, read Trump’s statement below:

“I want to thank Google. Google is helping to develop a website. It’s going to be very quickly done, unlike websites of the past, to determine whether a test is warranted and to facilitate testing at a nearby convenient location… Google has 1,700 engineers working on this right now. They have made tremendous progress.”

Based on what we’ve learned since Trump’s statement, here are the key takeaways from all of this:

• Verily is developing a coronavirus screening website, not Google.
• Google and Verily are both owned by Alphabet, but are otherwise separate companies.
• People will be able to visit the website and enter their symptoms to discover if they’re consistent with symptoms of coronavirus.
• The website will help direct individuals to the nearest facility where they can get properly tested.
• Results of in-person tests can later be retrieved on the website.

At this time we still don’t know when the site will launch, or any other pertinent information.

https://www.businesscreatorplus.com/google-is-not-building-a-coronavirus-testing-website-via-mattgsouthern/

Google helping to build pilot coronavirus testing website

The President of the United States announced during a press conference Friday that the White House is partnering with Google to build a website to help people find a coronavirus testing site. The site will give users a symptoms testing quiz and then if the site determines you should be tested, it will direct you to drive through COVID-19 testing clinics. Details have since emerged that this will be a pilot program only and is by an Alphabet life sciences company, Verily.

Being worked on now. President Donald Trump said that there are over 1,000 Google engineers working on this site. The goal seems to be to get this website up and running by Sunday night.

How the site will work. The White House showed this simple flow chart of the screening web site. It offers a login and symptom screening tool. If the user’s symptoms warrant visiting a drive-through testing center, the site will show them where and when to go there.
Coronavirus Testing Website Flow
The testing facilities will be with Walgreens, CVS, Walmart, Target and others.

It appears from the site flow that the test results will be posted to users’ accounts on the site. It’s not clear how much data users will need to enter, how it will be stored and which organizations will have access to the sensitive health data.

Less than initially portrayed. About an hour after the press conference, Google posted a statement from its Alphabet sister company Verily on Twitter: “We are developing a tool to help triage individuals for Covid-19 testing. Verily is in the early stages of development, and planning to roll testing out in the Bay Area, with the hope of expanding more broadly over time.”

This is significantly less ambitious than what was conveyed during the press conference. Google’s involvement appears to be limited to lending engineering help to Verily.

“We appreciate the support of government officials and industry partners and thank the Google engineers who have volunteered to be part of this effort.”

— Google Communications (@Google_Comms) March 13, 2020

This article is being updated with Google’s statement and additional details.

 

About The Author

Barry Schwartz a Contributing Editor to Search Engine Land and a member of the programming team for SMX events. He owns RustyBrick, a NY based web consulting firm. He also runs Search Engine Roundtable, a popular search blog on very advanced SEM topics. Barry’s personal blog is named Cartoon Barry and he can be followed on Twitter here.

https://www.businesscreatorplus.com/google-helping-to-build-pilot-coronavirus-testing-website/