Last night, Google confirmed a bug with the Google October 2023 core update that impacted Discover traffic for “some sites.” The bug was started on October 5th and lasted through October 31st.
Google wrote, “On October 5, we found a bug with how our October 2023 core update was applied to Discover. As of October 31, we fixed the bug. Some sites may see an increase in Discover-related traffic, as a result of this bug fix.” Google only posted this news last night at around 5:30 pm ET.
Google posted on X, “We found a bug with how our Oct. 2023 core update was applied to Discover, which has now been corrected. Some sites may see an increase in Discover-related traffic, as a result. Start and end time for this issue is now on the Search Status Dashboard.”
Yes, Google core updates have a big impact on your Google Discover traffic, we’ve know that for years.
The funny thing is I did receive an unusual amount of complaints about Discover traffic issues after this core update. I chalked it up to the update hurt those sites and not that there was a bug. I was wrong, but can you blame me?
In any event, let me know if your Google Discover traffic returns to normal levels (if there is a “normal” for Discover) for your sites. Also, many of you who were hit by the core update will probably see lower levels of Discover traffic. But if the core update did not hit your site, hopefully you will see your Discover traffic return.
Here are some of the responses from the community:
Worth noting: *Some* and not *All*. 🙂 Time will tell. Discover dropping if a site is negatively impacted by a broad core update is not uncommon. I’m eager to see how this changes things based on the sites that reached out after Discover heavily dropped. https://t.co/nJdkgWXdRN
— Glenn Gabe (@glenngabe) November 2, 2023