If SEMRush data is directionally correct, this may be a reason why Yelp is looking to sell. Should rebrand as Yikes! pic.twitter.com/UqplA4ZLSq
— Andrew Shotland (@localseoguide) May 11, 2015
Perhaps SEMRush is still updating but if its organic search traffic graphs are even close to accurate it looks like May is the month that Google took care of all Local family business:
Barry Schwartz noted a Google Webmaster Forums thread on the subject where Google’s Eric Kuan from the search quality team highlighted a post that included the following:
An example of doorways is when you have a website with 200 pages on it, all of which have the same basic text but with place names switched out on each page (“Find a taxi in London”/”Find a taxi in New York City”). The pages are designed to rank separately, catch keyword searches, but funnel all the traffic to one destination.
Jennifer Slegg at TheSEMPost reported last week that Google’s Doorway Page Update is live and is continuously updating. If this data is correct (that’s not always the case with these tools) then there’s a good chance these sites have been Doorwayed.
And Google didn’t even offer these guys a drink first…
21 Response Comments
I doubt a directory could get caught in a doorway page update… more than likely they are getting ht by an algo that was according to Glenn Gabe released May 28/29. It is Panda like which many directories were hit by Panda.
http://www.hmtweb.com/marketing-blog/phantom2-google-update-april-may-2015/
You may be right Terry, but that “Find a Taxi in London” description seems pretty spot-on for local directories
And that Phantom update may also have had the doorway algo baked in.
how about we let May 2015 get a full month of traffic
SEMRush is not reporting “traffic” but rather estimated monthly traffic based on rankings.
got it
For a second I was thinking “Am I an idiot?”
Then I was thinking “Yes, I am an idiot, but that SEMRush data is confusing”
Interesting. I wonder if Google has shoveled away some of the Pigeon poo: I’ve also seen the 7-pack return for terms like “real estate agent,” “real estate,” “DUI lawyer,” and “water damage restoration” – all of which didn’t trigger local packs post-Pigeon.
The increased emphasis on links seems to have stuck, but I wonder if Google has dialed back the most-frustrating parts of the update: the rash of directory results (especially Yelp) and the disappearing packs.
I have been looking and still see multiple Yelp results in a lot of local SERPs.
That said, we have been hearing some reports of some local SERP shake-ups but haven’t seen it on any of our clients yet.
Check out usjunkcars.com – Their pages are as bad as it gets with just changing out the city and state and using the same content on every page.
SEMRush shows them increasing nicely over the last month.
As I am sure you know Todd, for every site that goes down, another goes up. GOOG’s algos are notorious for being leaky sieves.
It is really bad for airline guides as well. “Get the cheapest flights to …” at so-and-so airlines. I hope it isn’t too optimistic to hope that by the end of May, there will be some real differences in actual data, not just predictions. I would like to see a follow-up post after some real test time.
Love the Godfather video tie in! If this doorway algo affects rankings of local directories then would it also affect brands with tons of location pages? Is it too soon to say that this is definitely google’s doing?
In Germany we seem have the same issue on major local directories. Have a look, i have noted and pictured it here: http://webmaster-fragen.de/seo/ist-google-dabei-alle-lokalen-branchenbuecher-zu-killen-20150518.html
Carlton,
You are probably right. SEMRush is showing growth in May for “branded” travel sites like Expedia, Travelocity, Kayak & AirBnB. The lower quality SEO’d sites may be getting flushed.
Dattrax,
It’s always too soon to say this is definitely what Google’s doing.
Viktor,
Sehr interessant
@dattrax only if the tons of local pages do not really have “local stores”.
+1 For Godfather Video. Great Post. Ive made a ton of money on Local SEO…… and will continue to
Good for me as sites like these often clutter the top three positions in the organic search. If they are going down hopefully some of my sites will be taking their place.
Martina,
To me sites like Yelp are useless (as a consumer) I have zero trust for Yelp and like you said they just take up space.
This is an old article but i still think it applies:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/jimhandy/2012/08/16/think-yelp-is-unbiased-think-again/
Very interesting, the bigger winner here may be Angie’s List, they continue to be on the rise. I’ve had them pass up a couple of our high ranking sites recently…while they aren’t “just a directory”, they’re still a directory.
I would consider Angie’s List a “brand” in that they do a ton of on and offline advertising which likely drives brand queries and branded backlinks which in turn could signal Google that the site is different than say a generic IYP.