Google Releases January 14th & 15th Update?

If there’s one thing you can expect from Google consistently, it’s got to be their periodic search algorithm updates. On January 14th and 15th, there were several reports of websites experiencing fluctuations in their web traffic, indicating changes in the search giant’s algorithms. 

This came just a few days after reports of similar activity on January 11th. Google has yet to confirm these search ranking updates, but their effects are significant enough to stir the SEO community. The January 14th and 15th update is reportedly more extensive than the one on January 11th, with Google tracking tools showing much higher volatility. 

US Websites Most Affected?

Chatter revealed that there had been gains in web traffic for most non-US websites. Unfortunately, it was the opposite for US-based sites, as there have been reports of significant drops in their traffic over the weekend. 

Traffic volatility seemed to have eased on Monday morning, January 17th. However, it is too early to make any conclusion since chatter amongst web admins is inconsistent. Also, not many of them were able to confirm the status of their sites since it was a US national holiday on Monday. 

Timeline of Google’s Major Search Algorithm Updates

Google is known for constantly updating its search algorithm to provide people with a better user experience and more accurate search results. Here are some of the most notable and impactful updates from the search giant in their chronological order: 

• Google Panda (2011)
• Google Penguin (2012)
• Google Hummingbird (2013)
• Google Pigeon (2014)
• Google Mobilegeddon (2015)
• Google RankBrain (2015)
• Increase in Google length snippets (2017)
• Google Mobile-First Indexing (2018)
• Google Medic Update (2019)
• Google BERT Update (2019)

Meanwhile, there’s no need to panic if you’ve experienced fluctuating traffic following a Google update. A significant decline does not necessarily mean there’s something wrong with your site. However, you can prevent potentially heavy damage by serving your audience the best content you can.