An interview with Google’s SearchLiaison offered hope that quality sites hit by Google’s algorithms may soon see their traffic levels bounce back. But that interview and a recent Google podcast reveal deeper issues that may explain why Google seems indifferent to publishers with every update.
The interview by Brandon Saltalamacchia comes against the background of many websites having lost traffic due to Google’s recent algorithm updates that have created the situation where Google feels that their algorithms are generally working fine for users while many website publishers are insisting that no, Google’s algorithms are not working fine.
Search ranking updates are just one reason why publishers are hurting. The decision at Google to send more traffic Reddit is also impacting website owners. It’s a fact that Reddit traffic is surging. Another issue bedeviling publishers is AI Overviews, where Google’s AI is summarizing answers derived from websites so that users no longer have to visit a website to get their answers.
Those changes are driven by a desire to increase user satisfaction. The problem is that website publishers have been left out of the equation that determines whether the algorithm is working as it should.
Google Historically Doesn’t Focus On Publishers
A remark by Gary Illyes in a recent Search Off The Record indicated that in Gary’s opinion Google is all about the user experience because if search is good for the user then that’ll trickle down to the publishers and will be good for them too.
In the context of Gary explaining whether Google will announce that something is broken in search, Gary emphasized that search relations is focused on the search users and not the publishers who may be suffering from whatever is broken.
John Mueller asked:
“So, is the focus more on what users would see or what site owners would see? Because, as a Search Relations team, we would focus more on site owners. But it sounds like you’re saying, for these issues, we would look at what users would experience.”
Gary Illyes answered: