When Impressions Drop, Yet Rank Stays

ThopHayt

Elite Member

Jul 25, 2011

7,012

2,864

• Mar 7, 2015

• #1

I've been seeing multiple situations where in G a site's rankings stay good, but the G impressions and clicks that the site gets drop dramatically.

We're talking a drop of impressions by 75% while rankings actually appear to gain slightly. Does anybody know what this may mean and what may be the cause behind this?

 

Ventio

Regular Member

Nov 22, 2013

458

146

• Mar 7, 2015

• #2

ive noticed something similar. most weekends my traffic from google severely drops but it looks like my rankings are the same. maybe it's a niche/time of week thing

 

nakamura

Elite Member

Executive VIP

Jr. VIP

Mar 22, 2013

6,296

10,997

• Mar 7, 2015

• #3

I experienced the same a few times. But it wasn't so dramatically, maybe dropped 35%.

 

ThopHayt

Elite Member

Jul 25, 2011

7,012

2,864

• Mar 8, 2015
• Thread Starter Thread Starter

• #4

Is there any possibility that its linked to Google trying to crack down on fake traffic or clicks?

 

A

adultwebmasterdesign

Junior Member

Mar 16, 2009

172

23

• Mar 8, 2015

• #5

Think about the currents in the ocean. Interest is like that. Just as the moon influences the tide so too interest and traffic is effected by many things.

 

D

diesel1

Senior Member

May 22, 2013

933

227

• Mar 8, 2015

• #6

ThopHayt said:

Is there any possibility that its linked to Google trying to crack down on fake traffic or clicks?

Click to expand...

Yes, I think so, the bots are busy

 

RuthSam

BANNED

Mar 19, 2010

3,804

1,014

• Mar 8, 2015

• #7

Exact same thing here.. see it allthe time, never worried about it.

 

ThopHayt

Elite Member

Jul 25, 2011

7,012

2,864

• Mar 8, 2015
• Thread Starter Thread Starter

• #8

The only thing that is worrisome is that it just started happening recently. Unless this is some new type of behavior from Google...

 

antichrist

Elite Member

Aug 21, 2012

1,954

2,632

• Mar 8, 2015

• #9

I am seeing a decrease in impressions, a small decrease in rankings.. but my traffic has doubled and i have no idea why... great.

 

ThopHayt

Elite Member

Jul 25, 2011

7,012

2,864

• Mar 8, 2015
• Thread Starter Thread Starter

• #10

It honestly makes me wonder if the impressions we are being given are even accurate from Google. I've never seen something like this in all my years in SEO.

 

S

seapunk

Registered Member

Dec 28, 2014

85

20

• Mar 8, 2015

• #11

# searches for the keyword decreasing, perhaps?

 

bartosimpsonio

Elite Member

Executive VIP

Jr. VIP

Mar 21, 2013

24,792

31,568

• Mar 8, 2015

• #12

There are a flood of new bots whose traffic appear on Analytis, Adsense and so on. That'd be my first guess : your niche is being heavily botted.

 

praetserge

Elite Member

Executive VIP

Jr. VIP

Apr 4, 2014

6,500

4,883

• Mar 8, 2015

• #13

Yeah, I have noticed the change in impressions and clicks on occasions even if the rankings are the same or slightly better... I personally attribute it to the external circumstances (for example, when the day is really nice, I don't expect people to sit at home and google (I'm sure most of us get less traffic on specific days)... there're plenty of other examples).

 

Aleksandrius

Regular Member

Jul 26, 2013

204

155

• Mar 8, 2015

• #14

When Impressions Drop, Yet Rank Stays
The Niche itself away it Sways...

 

ThopHayt

Elite Member

Jul 25, 2011

7,012

2,864

• Mar 9, 2015
• Thread Starter Thread Starter

• #15

It is totally possible this is happening naturally but given the violent swings I am 95% sure that it is Google's doing. The only question in my mind is if it is targeting my site specifically due to X reason, or if it is something happening across this niche as a whole. 75% shifts in impressions in a handful of days is definitely not natural. I'm leaning toward thinking that I've aroused Google's eye with something I've done, but this is not quite a penalty. Perhaps its double blind testing. I have no idea.

 

TeKn1qu3z

Senior Member

Jul 26, 2012

1,008

280

• Mar 9, 2015

• #16

It happens all the time, because of ranking factors in SERP's and few people may blindly click other people websites.

I would suggest to you monitor your site, may be the hosting problem. If impressions are dropping, then your articles aren't visible to those searchers or they are not searching for the keywords.

 

D

diesel1

Senior Member

May 22, 2013

933

227

• Mar 9, 2015

• #17

ThopHayt said:

It is totally possible this is happening naturally but given the violent swings I am 95% sure that it is Google's doing. The only question in my mind is if it is targeting my site specifically due to X reason, or if it is something happening across this niche as a whole. 75% shifts in impressions in a handful of days is definitely not natural. I'm leaning toward thinking that I've aroused Google's eye with something I've done, but this is not quite a penalty. Perhaps its double blind testing. I have no idea.

Click to expand...

Nope, Google doesn't target your site specifically, it's also happening with other sites.

The bots are busy on more than a few sites

 

B

babylondiza

Newbie

Mar 9, 2015

9

0

• Mar 9, 2015

• #18

Yes, this often happens. It could be many things, including keyword trends, niche interests, IP specific results and many many other factors.