Sensible Niches, do they still work on Google?

I have always used niches in mobile game in various (European) languages without any problems. Up until last September I had managed to create websites in 3 different languages and all of them ranked and are still alive today (all with AI), but since October Google penalizes me with the exact same pattern:

1- I get indexing and traffic almost immediately.
2- I end up in the top positions for some keywords.
3- After a week I lose all positions and after 10 days I am de-indexed.

Some sites are not completely de-indexed, but they still lose many pages. I tried with 15 domains and the pattern is IDENTICAL, it is surgically repeated for every website exactly the same.

I tried changing servers, using cloudflare, changing domain registrar, I tried removing AI or leaving it, I tried publishing 1 post per day or 300, I tried not creating GSC by indexing sites through Reddit naturally and nothing changes, Google always recognizes these sites and penalizes them with the same pattern.

Now I will try to remove the “download button” present on all pages, but I doubt that this is the problem, because I also tried to link with download button to an internal page (no external domain) without success. Don't tell me that the problem is the niche, because I have other sites alive until October 2024 everything worked great. I tried to make two “generic” sites with generic game tips but I was penalized anyway (I did have the “guide” download button in all of this posts). All sites have the important pages “privacy policy, about us, terms, etc.” I don't think it is sandbox, otherwise I wouldn't be de-indexed.

Can you help me?

Misconfigured robots.txt files, rogue noindex directives, or server errors can lead to de-indexing

Sensible niches definitely can still work, but competition is much higher now — especially in YMYL (Your Money Your Life) spaces like finance or health.

To rank in those niches, you'll usually need stronger E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trust) signals, plus high-quality content and legit backlinks.
That said, if you can find a unique angle or sub-niche (e.g., budget finance tips for students), there's still room to grow. It’s not just about the niche — it’s about how you execute.

Until September, I was also getting solid rankings in the mobile gaming niche with AI content in different languages without any issues, but since October, no matter what I do, Google starts de-ranking and then de-indexing all my new sites within 7–10 days. Server, content style, GSC, Cloudflare, AI usage none of it matters; the same algorithmic penalty repeats every time. My older sites are still ranking, but the new ones collapse immediately. I'm currently testing whether the issue is caused by the download button, but overall, it feels like Google has become extremely aggressive towards new content in the mobile gaming niche lately.

I'm experiencing the exact same issue until October, I was getting good rankings with AI content in the mobile gaming niche across different languages, but now every new site follows the same cycle: it gets indexed quickly and gains traffic, then loses rankings and gets de-indexed within 10 days. Server, domain, content style, GSC, or AI usage doesn’t matter — I tested with 15 domains and all were hit the same way. I'm going to try removing the download button, but I doubt that's the real issue. It really feels like Google has started cracking down hard on these types of sites recently.

Emrhnnn55 said:

Until September, I was also getting solid rankings in the mobile gaming niche with AI content in different languages without any issues, but since October, no matter what I do, Google starts de-ranking and then de-indexing all my new sites within 7–10 days. Server, content style, GSC, Cloudflare, AI usage none of it matters; the same algorithmic penalty repeats every time. My older sites are still ranking, but the new ones collapse immediately. I'm currently testing whether the issue is caused by the download button, but overall, it feels like Google has become extremely aggressive towards new content in the mobile gaming niche lately.

Click to expand...

Oh damn, did you do some test about this?

Any other tips?

Yes, sensible (or low-competition) niches absolutely still work — but they’ve evolved. The days of ranking thin content with exact match domains are long gone. Now, it’s all about topical depth, useful content, and trust signals.


If you pick a niche with clear search intent, low keyword difficulty, and build out valuable content clusters, you can still get great results — even without a huge budget. I’ve seen newer sites in micro-niches rank within a few months using just solid on-page SEO and a handful of relevant backlinks.


So yes, they work — but only when done with a real strategy behind them.

BUMP!