Initial Google August Core Update US Impact Shifts Analysis and Poll Results
Survey
[Updated on September 8, 2024]
After a few days going through the latest Google Core August Update rankings and organic search traffic changes, and I would like to highlight some major shifts from the US market (I’ll be sharing more in the next SEOFOMO newsletter, so if you haven’t yet subscribed, this is the time for you to do it) with the data I see through tools like SimilarWeb and Sistrix (used for the screenshots below):
Overall Organic Search Traffic Shifts USA
When taking a look at the top sites attracting organic search traffic in the US market, we can see some important ups and down in their MoM organic search traffic in August -correlating with these main players’ organic search visibility shifts during the August update-, among them:
- Reddit continues to grow despite users negative feedback from users about the quality of its results
- However, other big UGC platforms such as LinkedIn and TikTok, sharing some of the same issues as Reddit, have had a slight decrease in organic search visibility
- Amazon has decreased in organic search traffic and visibility across some verticals where Google is now showcasing more “specialized” retailers and brands
- Google itself has lost organic search visibility (and traffic) from the update
Major Organic Search Visibility from Previous Updates
A few sites (many of them informational) that had been hit by previous Google Updates (or a variety of them) in the last few years recovered a non-trivial share of their previous visibility (at least partially).
I’ve also gone through the major shifts across top verticals, focusing on the ups and downs in organic search traffic of major players for the most popular 200 terms, to identify patterns among winners and losers. Let’s go through some different verticals:
Top Supplement Sites Organic Search Shift in the US: Major Generic Retailers Down, Informational Specialized Sites Up
Going through the top sites rankings for the most popular 200 supplements related queries, we can see how major generic online retailers, such as Amazon or Walmart lost organic search traffic in August coming from these top supplement rankings, as well as the generic YouTube platform ranked for many of these terms. More informational but specialized sites like WebMD, Mayo Clinic or Very Well Health, increased their organic search traffic coming from these terms.
Top Headphones Sites Organic Search Shift in the US: Informational Reviews Sites Down, Major Brands Up
In the case of the sites ranking for the top 200 headphones terms, we can see how most of the major informational ones decreased in organic search traffic MoM coming from these, such as: Techradar, NYTimes (Wirecutter), CNET, Wired, Zdnet. However, major generic UGC platforms such as YouTube and Reddit improved, along with brands such as Bose, JBL and Skull Candy.
Top Laptop Sites Organic Search Shift in the US: Retailers and Brands Up, Informational Publications Down
Most commercially oriented laptop sites, whether retailers or brands, such as Best Buy, Costco, Walmart, HP or Lenovo improved in organic search traffic, while those informational focused publications such as Techradar, Tom’s Guide, Cnet, PC World, NY Times, The Verge or PC Magazine decreased.
Top Pet Insurance Sites Organic Search Shift in the US: Informational Sites Up, Commercially Focused Sites Down
For the top pet insurance queries, informational publications such as Forbes, US News, Market Watch, SF Gate, Bankrate, Investopedia, Reddit or La Times increased in organic search traffic, while commercially focused ones like Costco, Geico, Statefarm, or ASPCA Pet Insurance decreased.
Top Jeans Sites Organic Search Shift in the US: A mix in shifts, with top brands going up, and generic retailers down
There isn’t such a clear pattern in this case, but in general, brand sites such as American Eagle, Levi’s or Gap went up while generic retailers such as Amazon went down.
As mentioned above, I’ll be sharing more Google August Core Update analysis in the next SEOFOMO newsletter, so if you haven’t yet subscribed, this is the time for you to do it.
What are you seeing? Answer the Google August Core Update Anonymous Poll
So far, these are the results:
1. Have your sites been affected by the August Google Core Update?
Most of those who have taken the poll have been negatively impacted (46%), followed by those who have been positively impacted (34%):
2. What’s the main business model of these sites?
The most common business model of the sites that have been negatively impacted by the Google August Core Update is advertising (29%), followed by direct product/services sales (24%), and then affiliate (18%). Those sites that have seen a positive impact are directly selling product / services (40%), followed by advertising (20%).
3. Have these sites been hit by a former Google Update in the last months?
20.4% of the sites that saw a negative impact from the Google August Core Update hadn’t been negatively hit by recent Google updates, 18.4% had been affected by the March 2023 Core Update, 16.3% were affected by the September 2023 helpful content update and 14.3% by the October 2023 Core Update.
20.69% of the sites that were positively affected by the Google August Core update had been affected by the March 2024 Core Update, 17.24% were affected by the October 2023 Core Update and 15.52% had been affected by the September 2023 Helpful Content Update.
But, what has been the impact in your own SEO processes? Answer the anonymous poll now:
I’ll be sharing the results in the next SEOFOMO newsletter as well as in my social media channels (LinkedIn, X, Threads).
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