Google: Search Ranking Update Coming Soon But HCU Victims May Not Recover

Oct 30, 2024 - 8:01 am 195 — by
Filed Under Google Updates

Google Ripped Paper

Google held that Web Creator summit yesterday at the GooglePlex, where Google told victims of previous search ranking updates including the September 2023 helpful content update, that a new Google search ranking update is coming fairly or very soon, but if they were hit by the helpful content update, they should not expect to recover and they likely should move on to new things. To be clear, "move on" is not something a Googler specifically said but rather a take away from a content creator at the event.

I was not at the event but I saw some posts from site owners who were at the event, these are the same site owners that saw their sites drop significantly due to the September 2023 helpful content update or previous core updates. They were invited to Google to speak directly to the Google Search Liaison, Danny Sullivan, and various Google search engineers, including Pandu Nayak, a VP at Google Search.

I should note that I am quoting people, who are quoting people, and it is very possible some of the quotes are misunderstood by me. So keep that in mind.

Morgan at Charleston Crafted, who was one of those creators, posted on X, saying that Google said, "If you were hit by HCU, do not expect a recovery anytime soon." She added that "they told us repeatedly an update is coming “very soon” and to not expect recovery." Plus, she added clarity that any feedback from this event won't be in that update. She wrote, "If the feedback from this event is taken into consideration, it will not be this update OR the next one, MAYBE the next one."

Morgan went on to write, "If you were hit by HCU & depend on google, MOVE ON. They made it clear SOME of us MAY recover ONE DAY but all would not and who knows when it might be. Build a product. Get new traffic sources. Get a job."

To be clear, Google did not say "move on" specifically:

Here are those posts:

Mike Hardaker, the founder of Mountain Weekly News, wrote up a more detailed recap of what went down at this event. He wrote, I Drank the Kool-Aid at the 2024 Google Web Creator Summit and documented the event in much more detail. Here are some quotes that stood out related to this:

He quoted Pandu Nayak saying:

I have to say I am very very sorry for you, this is not great at all. I can't also give you any guarantees about recovery or not, I think that would not be responsible for me to say this. Because I can't tell what is going to happen. It's just the unfortunate state of how we operate here. We are here listening to you, I think the whole reason we are having this conference at all is for us to hear you out, to get our teams to hear you out.

Our goal is to surface great content for users. I suspect there is a lot of great content you guys are creating that we are not surfacing to our users, but I can't give you any guarantees unfortunately. We are focused on things for our users, that is not going to change.

I have to say that it is exactly the kind of things that drives us forward, I don't see this as a waste, I can see if you don't recover in a certain amount of time I can see you thinking of this as a waste but we find this incredibly valuable to guide the work that we do.

Just one other comment I would like to make is that we do want to say we have a vested interested in having a great web ecosystem. We are very closely tied to the web ecosystem. I think users benefit hugely from a vibrant ecosystem. Now that doesn't answer your question if you will recover or anyone else in the room will recover. But we think having a vibrant web ecosystem is important, and that drives a lot of our work.

He quoted Danny Sullivan as saying:

In August some of the sites saw recovery, but some people are saying I want to be back to where I was in September. I was talking to somebody and I said September is not coming back, the whole format of search results has changed.

One of the biggest thing that has happened, I have seen sites that absolutely believe they were hit by the HCU or other updates, but no you are actually ranked 2 or 3, 4. Your ranking in the top results but going from the 1 to 2 can have a big impact. It's more complicated that. The whole search results have changed, it's possible that maybe things are better down the line.

That's why on the recovery thing it is much more likely that hopefully it's going to be a gradual process. The thing to really watch for is when we do updates. Google will have another update fairly soon, but it probably won't or won't have any updates from what we talked about here because we can't run back and change it that quickly. It kills me because I know that's going to be depressing and I'm also looking forward to the times on X.

Also one other thing was Google saying that his content was not the issue? So what was the issue? Here is that section:

According to Danny Sullivan, my "content was not the issue" when referencing the Mountain Weekly News so don't let the HCU update make you automatically question your content. In fact it was clear all the website creators that were in attendance simply got caught up in an algorithm update, nothing more, nothing less.

You're content doesn't suck, if it did you wouldn't be reading this. Even if you managed to lose traffic during HCU update.

So we lost traffic as a whole, thousands if not hundreds of thousands of publishers and it happened to be during the HCU update, but again it wasn't your content that was the issue, surely not for the heartfelt niche site owners that had the courage to show up to Google and speak face to face with some of the team, perhaps responsible for our current position. But assigning blame won't help. I came to Mountain View, California to look for solutions.

So it seems we should be seeing Google release a new search ranking update very soon. But at the same time, Google is telling those hit by previous updates not to expect to recover from this next update. I guess it is better than Google telling folks to have patience because they are working on promoting this content...

Later on today, Josh Tyler from Giant Freakin Robot also published his notes on this event named I Attended Google’s Creator Conversation Event, And It Turned Into A Funeral - how is that for a headline.

Here are some quotes that stood out to me, well, the whole thing was an excellent read but I want to focus on the content:

Danny, kind and patient as always, assured us there was nothing wrong with our sites and that we wouldn’t have been invited if there had been.

The idea that this might be a funeral, was put forward as a half-joke by one of the shadowbanned attendees during our first Q&A session, in which we asked questions and got no answers. Her funeral joke should have been funny. Only the Googlers laughed.

Most of these site owners seemed certain the funeral they were attending, was their own.

During this small group discussion, I and others tried to get our Googlers to address the biggest problem facing our industry: Google giving big brands special treatment. Each time a site owner brought up the topic, we were quickly steered in another direction.

I kept pushing, and eventually, our Googler (whose name I’m not allowed to tell you) wrote “diversity of results” at the top of the whiteboard he was using, as if to signify I should shut up and move on. Instead of addressing the only topic that matters, I was asked to explain how YouTube works because, somehow, none of the four Googlers assigned to our group knew anything about it.

When our group session was over, I left the room for a break. While I was gone, “diversity of results” was erased from the top of the whiteboard and rewritten at the bottom, in much tinier lettering.

Google’s Chief Search Scientist answered this question using a strategy based around gaslighting and said they hadn’t. Google doesn’t ever derank an entire site, only individual pages, he said. There is no site-wide classifier. He insisted it is only done at the page level.

Many of the shadowbanned site owners attempted to politely push back and point out that the reason all 20 of us were there was specifically because our entire site was deranked from Google in a single night.

He continued insisting this didn’t happen and then looked confused that anyone would disagree with him.

When asked what was wrong with our sites, as if we were jilted lovers in an abusive relationship being kicked to the curb, one Googler actually said “it’s not you it’s me”.

Finally, someone bluntly asked, since nothing is wrong with our sites, how do we recover?

Google’s elderly Chief Search Scientist answered, without an ounce of pity or concern, that there would be updates but he didn’t know when they’d happen or what they’d do. Further questions on the subject were met with indifference as if he didn’t understand why we cared.

And he ended with:

It was then I realized this wasn’t our funeral, it was Google’s.

And if you have a moment, say a prayer for hard-working Danny Sullivan. Pray he won’t be left there at Google, wandering their empty and decaying coffin, all alone, haunted by angry, invisible ghosts.

Here are more of Morgan's posts, but also check out Mike's write up:

Update: Google's Elizabeth Tucker (Not Liz Reid) was there as well.

So if it is not about the content? Well, it seems to be that Google is not getting the content is good on some sites?

Also, it seems Google did pay for some travel - which is surprising to me...

Update: Here is another thread from a creator who went to the event:

Another:

Another:

And now Steve Weber posted his Yesterday's Google Creator Event: An SEO's Take.

I saw the reaction posts of a few other creators who attended the event where they expressed their discontent with the state of search as well as the event (rightfully so). On a more positive note, I think the event was beneficial for both creators and Googlers alike.

Nate Hake posted this from his experiences at this event:

I attended the Google Creator Conversation summit yesterday

About to hop a flight to London. I have a lot more thoughts I'll write up later. I'm still digesting.

But here are my quick takeaways (just my perspective - I know others may have a different one):

1) The creators did a FANTASTIC job representing small independent publishers and speaking truth to power.

2) IMHO, the event was not a PR stunt. I hope y'all know I 100% would say if I thought it was. But there no press, no photographers, no attempt by Google to control the narrative, and everything you've heard about it so far has come from creators

3) It was actually a real conversation -- and not just with Danny, but with engineers, project managers, and even VPs of the Search Team. The creators had a lot of time to talk. I personally probably had the mic 20-30 minutes total, and I spent hours more in one-on-one talks with various Google employees. I talked so much that my voice gave out by the end of the day!

4) We were allowed to speak our minds and we did so. Other creators there can attest I said exactly the same sort of stuff I've been saying on Twitter. I did not hold back or sugar coat it. I even directly and very assertively confronted Pandu Nayak in front of everyone about AI.

5) Collectively, we covered pretty much all the topics I wanted to see covered. That's not to say I heard satisfactory answers to all the topics (I didn't, not by a long shot).

6) Danny is charming and was a great host

7) Danny started the whole thing off with a direct and unequivocal apology to the creators in the room

8) I believe Danny wants better for small independent publishers. And I also believe he is not alone in wanting that among the Search team. I believe the issue is that we have yet to sufficiently penetrate the radar of leadership or other teams at Google.

9) I personally think the event was 100% worth going to and I hope they do it again

10) However, unfortunately I agree with others that it is unlikely Google is going to significantly change its ways anytime soon (at least not without significant further pressure and conversations)

11) I was especially unhappy with Pandu Nayak's response to my question about AI

12) Realistically, as I've said since the spring, I think most creators are best assuming Google will never fix anything and adjusting your business strategies appropriately

13) I learned a lot about Google, but it mostly just reinforced what I already believe is happening

Again, this is just my perspective. Others felt differently

Most importantly, it was AWESOME to meet all the other creators

I have a LOT more to thoughts than the above, a lot of them nuanced

And there is this:

And another write up from Rutledge Daugette named Everything I Learned While Visiting Google HQ For the "Web Creator Conversation Event", a Recap. His write up is a bit easier to read, to see what Google said versus what you felt Google said but who knows.

This stood out to me in his write up:

Danny specifically said, “We don’t want you paying money for SEO audits to try and recover, we should be providing better guidance that removes the need for those outside of instances like site migrations or more complex changes.” We touched on this further in the breakout sections.

Here is another write up, this one from Kylie who wrote Gaslit By Google? My Thoughts On The 2024 Web Creator Conversation.

“#This is a story all about how my life got flip turned upside down and I’d like to take a minute just sit right there and I’ll tell you about…how Google destroyed my traffic in a year#”. I have to laugh about it, otherwise I’ll cry. Honestly, I accepted it all a while ago.

Here is another:

And another:

Here is a video interview of this:

Classic Google:

Forum discussion at X.

 

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