Google implemented significant alterations to its search algorithm and spam filters earlier this year with the aim of eliminating low-quality content. However, these changes have had a severe impact on some smaller websites.
Following Google's extensive updates in March and April, which led to significant declines in traffic, many online businesses are now contemplating layoffs and even site closures. Gisele Navarro, a 37-year-old Argentine, is among those affected. She runs the HouseFresh website with her husband, specializing in product reviews for air purifiers since 2020. The site was known for its honest reviews without ads or product placements.
Navarro's site, which previously ranked first due to its unique reviews, now doesn't appear in search results at all. The number of referrals from Google search has plummeted from around 4,000 to just 200 per day. This drastic drop has led to suggestions that she should shut down the site and start afresh with a new domain.
The lack of transparency regarding Google's ranking methods is a source of frustration for Navarro and many others. Google's algorithms are highly secretive, leading to the development of a whole industry focused on manipulating these algorithms to increase clicks. The recent update has left SEO experts scrambling to understand why some sites have improved while others have been demoted.
Google stated that its update was intended to provide users with fewer results that seemed designed for search engines. However, Navarro's blog post in May highlighted that searches for product reviews were increasingly returning ads and content that appeared to be AI-generated or optimized for SEO. Other content favored by Google's update included user-generated content from platforms like Reddit and Quora.
Despite Google's defense of its approach, some European news websites have reported that their articles are now frequently outranked by less relevant content from Reddit. One publisher, who requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue, noted a 20 to 30 percent drop in Google referrals, indicating inevitable cutbacks.
In response to these challenges, businesses are urgently seeking alternative ways to attract audiences, such as through newsletters, podcasts, or other methods. A fintech news outlet's boss, speaking anonymously, noted that competitors using SEO firms to buy traffic did not suffer as much. Navarro, who has had to significantly reduce her staff, is now focusing on video reviews and newsletters to reconnect with her audience.
Despite her difficulties with Google, Navarro remains optimistic about the web. She has been encouraged by the support and an increase in referrals from alternative search engines like DuckDuckGo. She believes that the collective knowledge of humankind available on the web is valuable and worth preserving, despite Google's issues.
