Did Google get upset with me? Or am I just tripping?

SashaPavelMisha · Feb 2, 2025

simple situation. website was getting 1st spot in google (in Hungary).. i was making good money maybe up to $100/day with adsense. so recently google started trying all those 3rd party ads, which literally slashed nearly 80% of my income from this site, i don't know, maybe 3rd parties don't like placing ads in HU, maybe Hungarians don't like 3rd party ads, maybe google doesn't pay enough for those, i don't know the real issue here..

in any case, i decided to try and run redirects and popups for 1 day (instead of adsense, which i turned off by removing the js tags). pops would only activate in "deep web" state, on pages that google doesn't have access to. so if even a person at google would follow up on why no ad traffic, they'd just see a clean site, like any other visitor..

well, that's it.. popups did pretty much as good as adsense would, but obviously UX is better with adsense, not pops and redirects.. so i returned adsense less than 24hrs after taking it off.

and somewhere during this 24hrs google cut off 100% of search traffic to this site. 5k daily search visits - gone..

so did google get upset with me somehow? or is it just some kind of fluke that managed to coincide with this change i did?

there's nothing in search console, no manual actions or whatever other stuff there, no safesearch removal requests, nothing (that i know of to check in such case)..

anybody has any ideas? site is still indexed in google, it only pops up if i search for domain name, none of the keywords even with domain name included, produce the said domain in SERPs.. it is sooo freaking weird..

Simonsim89 · Feb 3, 2025

Let’s break this down. First off, Google doesn’t “get upset” like a person, it’s all algorithms, so no hard feelings. But here’s the thing: your timing is SUS. When you yanked adsense and swapped in popups/redirects (even on “deep web” pages), Googlebot might’ve sniffed something. Redirects/pops are major UX red flags, and Google hates that, even if hidden. Their crawlers are sneaky; maybe they caught a whiff of sketchy behavior during that 24hr window.

Also, ditching adsense tags could’ve messed with your site’s structure or speed, which Google uses for rankings. Even if you reverted fast, the algo might’ve panicked and de-ranked you temporarily. Check Search Console again, look for “coverage issues” or mobile usability errors. No manual action doesn’t mean you’re safe; core updates or technical glitches (like accidental noindex tags?) can nuke traffic overnight.

Hungary’s ad market is smaller, so 3rd-party ads paying less makes sense. But nuking your traffic? That’s harsh. So wait a few days, sometimes rankings bounce back if it’s a glitch. If not, audit your site: speed, mobile-friendliness, content quality. Maybe throw in some backlink love. Chill for now, avoid rash moves, Google’s mood swings are wild, but patience pays.

Frederik Michiel · Feb 3, 2025

Its about the redirects. When you have replaced them, just wait.

india · Feb 3, 2025

If your domain only appears when searching for the exact domain name but not for relevant keywords then it might be having some kind of penalty or it might be the redirect issue. Wait for a couple of days and see if it resolves. Keep en eye on Seach console.

eric968 · Feb 3, 2025

google is going to rank only reddit and quora on top. they are going to penalize small blogs manually as decided in board room. they are going to prefer biggest media and news websites. all manual penalty action

whatastory2025 · Feb 3, 2025

SashaPavelMisha said:
simple situation. website was getting 1st spot in google (in Hungary).. i was making good money maybe up to $100/day with adsense. so recently google started trying all those 3rd party ads, which literally slashed nearly 80% of my income from this site, i don't know, maybe 3rd parties don't like placing ads in HU, maybe Hungarians don't like 3rd party ads, maybe google doesn't pay enough for those, i don't know the real issue here..

in any case, i decided to try and run redirects and popups for 1 day (instead of adsense, which i turned off by removing the js tags). pops would only activate in "deep web" state, on pages that google doesn't have access to. so if even a person at google would follow up on why no ad traffic, they'd just see a clean site, like any other visitor..

well, that's it.. popups did pretty much as good as adsense would, but obviously UX is better with adsense, not pops and redirects.. so i returned adsense less than 24hrs after taking it off.

and somewhere during this 24hrs google cut off 100% of search traffic to this site. 5k daily search visits - gone..

so did google get upset with me somehow? or is it just some kind of fluke that managed to coincide with this change i did?

there's nothing in search console, no manual actions or whatever other stuff there, no safesearch removal requests, nothing (that i know of to check in such case)..

anybody has any ideas? site is still indexed in google, it only pops up if i search for domain name, none of the keywords even with domain name included, produce the said domain in SERPs.. it is sooo freaking weird..

Interesting point of view.

SashaPavelMisha · Feb 3, 2025

whatastory2025 said:
Interesting point of view.

way to beef up those post numbers, bro!!

Builder Dave · Feb 3, 2025

I'm sure it's not because you removed AdSense. Most probably it's because of the spammy advertising which they have detected.

Have you tried some local AdSense alternatives? I know for certain there are some. You can probably figure out a solution where their ads will be shown instead of AdSense only if they can offer better return.

Have you tried to go into AdSense's settings and to turn off the third party ads that Google is pushing somehow? I haven't dug into the controls recently, but I'd expect that you would have some control.

Another piece of advice I usually give when ad CTRs fall is to play around with the ad placements or even the whole layout of your site. If you are getting repeat users, with time they learn to ignore the ads - their brains filter them out automatically as they know where they are. But when you change the layout, they start seeing the ads again which results in more clicks.

Did Google get upset with me? Or am I just tripping?

SashaPavelMisha

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