My Google Traffic Has Fallen to Zero • Hacker News Board

Re: My Google Traffic Has Fallen to Zero

#321

Post by bserge » Tue, Jan 05, 2021, 1:00 PM UTC

grecy wrote: post #54

jjcon wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> My mom forgot her gmail password and no longer had the same mobile number for a reset, the secondary reset option was set to my email but would not send a reset despite this. I’m in a similar position except I know my password. Google decided for whatever reason that my location was too different and now requires that I verify via a phone number I no longer have. I have access to the recovery email and even get ‘su…

Yikes. I've logged into my gmail account from 55 different countries, and I've never had a problem. Some of those countries must have set some flags - Nigeria, Sudan, Mali, Rep. Congo, Bolivia, El Salvador. Maybe I'm on thin ice..

Android devices get a pass. I'm guessing Google verifies some ID on the phone.

This, btw, is what I think caused me to lose a Google account.

It was an old one I was checking very rarely, someone reset my (strong!) password from a phone. I reset it again, along with the questions, thought I was fine.

They once again reset it and then Google's recovery page was not letting me do anything, apparently I was the suspicious person. Oook Google.

Re: My Google Traffic Has Fallen to Zero

#322

Post by johnwdefeo » Tue, Jan 05, 2021, 1:00 PM UTC

reactchain wrote: post #250

There is a recurring lesson with these type of threads: don't build a business that is dependent on an unstable, black-box algorithm of a mega-corp. If your business is so fragile that an algorithm update by Google causes you to have no customers, then you should have built a business with a bigger moat, brand recognition, etc. It sounds like this business was more of an SEO hack.

Even with brand recognition, it's hard to build a product review business that doesn't rely on Google. Until 2018, I was the head of insights at one of the largest online publishers in the U.S. 90% of the company's revenue was tied to organic search. Sure, branding helped to prevent huge impacts like the one that I saw, but plenty of our competitors suffered big drops that resulted in 100s or 1,000s of layoffs.

Re: My Google Traffic Has Fallen to Zero

#323

Post by johnwdefeo » Tue, Jan 05, 2021, 1:02 PM UTC

ClumsyPilot wrote: post #31

this is terrible, and the lack of accountability is astounding. However, working with what we've got, has the author considered: Creating a second domain that's basically a mirror to see if it's related to the domain Attempt to 'recreate' the same content a standard platform like workpress to see if it's something about the presentation / etc. that the search engines are hating I wish you all the best

Thanks, I appreciate the support.

I haven't mirrored the content, but I did republish/redirect a few pieces elsewhere and they fared much better. The issue is tied to the domain.

Re: My Google Traffic Has Fallen to Zero

#324

Post by bserge » Tue, Jan 05, 2021, 1:02 PM UTC

FreshFries wrote: post #266

hsbauauvhabzb wrote: post #8

I’ve had similar experiences with other google products: My mom forgot her gmail password and no longer had the same mobile number for a reset, the secondary reset option was set to my email but would not send a reset despite this. We had a live session via thunderbird but there were no channels of support. Luckily we were able to register her old mobile number to achieve a password reset, thanks to a helpful phone p…

There there is me: lost access to my gmail account (and reset telephone number) and all it took was a couple of emails & phone calls over a couple of days and I had the best customer experience for a free service ever. I was very happy with the proceedings. This happened twice over the last 10 or so years. Kind, professional, knowledgeable & acting according a strickt rulebook that tries to prevent social engineering…

We need to know the 10 minute work hours of this fantastic support :D

Re: My Google Traffic Has Fallen to Zero

#325

Post by jgilias » Tue, Jan 05, 2021, 1:03 PM UTC

I used to run a content website many moons ago. No spammy articles, focused onto a single tech topic, a moderate amount of ads (Google), well researched articles. Then one day my organic Google traffic fell by some 80%. If I remember correctly it bounced around very wildly during the following months as Google updated their algorithms.

At the time I was very much not happy about it. Now I'm happy it happened before I had scaled it too far and come to depend on that income too much. It made me realize that it's not only my work that my income depended on, but the whims of a single giant company. And that that's a position I don't want to find myself later down the road.

It's a sad truth that any internet business that's not yet a strong brand in itself is reliant on Google and their AI in a very unhealthy way. I have no idea how to fix this.

Re: My Google Traffic Has Fallen to Zero

#326

Post by johnwdefeo » Tue, Jan 05, 2021, 1:05 PM UTC

chmod775 wrote: post #306

First off: https://i.imgur.com/GlJqoYf.png 1. Your product seems useful, so useful in fact I bookmarked it. 2. However you hardly had any Google traffic to begin with - maybe Google traffic is not something you should optimize for - except for when people specifically search for your product 3. with which your landing page might not help. Let me expand: 1. I tried a few searches on your site and it generally came bac…

Thanks for this. Good suggestions here.

Re: My Google Traffic Has Fallen to Zero

#327

Post by chewmieser » Tue, Jan 05, 2021, 1:07 PM UTC

hsbauauvhabzb wrote: post #8

I’ve had similar experiences with other google products: My mom forgot her gmail password and no longer had the same mobile number for a reset, the secondary reset option was set to my email but would not send a reset despite this. We had a live session via thunderbird but there were no channels of support. Luckily we were able to register her old mobile number to achieve a password reset, thanks to a helpful phone p…

FYI it could be something like ipv6 causing you to be seen as spam but I figured I'd share this tool (https://www.mail-tester.com/) which I've used successfully many times to get into inboxes (particularly gmail) with custom mail servers.

Re: My Google Traffic Has Fallen to Zero

#328

Post by johnwdefeo » Tue, Jan 05, 2021, 1:08 PM UTC

jgilias wrote: post #325

I used to run a content website many moons ago. No spammy articles, focused onto a single tech topic, a moderate amount of ads (Google), well researched articles. Then one day my organic Google traffic fell by some 80%. If I remember correctly it bounced around very wildly during the following months as Google updated their algorithms. At the time I was very much not happy about it. Now I'm happy it happened before I…

Sorry to hear that. I've heard a saying that "rejection is protection," and the way that you rationalized your experience lends credence to that.

Re: My Google Traffic Has Fallen to Zero

#329

Post by jgilias » Tue, Jan 05, 2021, 1:15 PM UTC

johnwdefeo wrote: post #328

jgilias wrote: post #325

I used to run a content website many moons ago. No spammy articles, focused onto a single tech topic, a moderate amount of ads (Google), well researched articles. Then one day my organic Google traffic fell by some 80%. If I remember correctly it bounced around very wildly during the following months as Google updated their algorithms. At the time I was very much not happy about it. Now I'm happy it happened before I…

Sorry to hear that. I've heard a saying that "rejection is protection," and the way that you rationalized your experience lends credence to that.

I was pretty salty at Google at that time. But in hindsight I'm really happy it panned out that way. I'm now in a lot more comfortable situation with respect to having much wider options of what I can do professionally than it would've been had I stayed on that course.

Re: My Google Traffic Has Fallen to Zero

#330

Post by everdrive » Tue, Jan 05, 2021, 1:19 PM UTC

mrslave wrote: post #200

jjcon wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> My mom forgot her gmail password and no longer had the same mobile number for a reset, the secondary reset option was set to my email but would not send a reset despite this. I’m in a similar position except I know my password. Google decided for whatever reason that my location was too different and now requires that I verify via a phone number I no longer have. I have access to the recovery email and even get ‘su…

I'll echo the sentiments in this thread except for the swear words at Google. Losing access to a Gmail for similar reasons has been a net positive, though at the time it was mildly frustrating. I haven't gotten sucked into their aggressive cross-selling of all their products, and the consequences of always being logged in. Occasionally I can't view or comment on something. You can bookmark 5 YouTube channels without…

>YouTube resembles cable television more and more every day.

That's just the algorithm. There's still some amazing content on Youtube, but the algorithm will always try to offer you junk food. There are various ways to avoid this, but it becomes a problem for ditching Youtube. The positives are too enticing, and don't yet, at least for me, outweigh the negatives.

I generally hate suggesting a browser plugin to solve a problem with a service, but give this a try: https://github.com/SeinopSys/YTMySubs

You can no longer visit the home screen. Any attempt always redirects you to the subscription view. And from there, it simply becomes a matter of only subscribing to worthwhile channels. I've found it improves my Youtube addiction quite a bit.