Google’s November 2021 Core Update Hit Fast and Hard: Insights from Data Providers

On November 17, 2021, Google began rolling out the November 2021 core update, which came about four and a half months after the July 2021 core update, following the June 2021 core update. So, there were a total of three broad Google core updates in 2021.

We asked several data companies that track Google’s search results to send us impressions of this update. The results showed that this rollout hit hard within the first 24 hours of the announcement and then slowed quickly. Keep in mind, Google has not confirmed the completion of this update yet. Most reports indicate that the November 2021 update was more substantial than the July 2021 update.

Data providers on the November 2021 core update:

Semrush. Semrush data showed that the November 2021 core update was intense but then quickly slowed in terms of its volatility tracker.

“This is similar to how the July update rolled out but the return to ‘normal’ levels of fluctuations was even more dramatic here (i.e., less of a ‘slow down’ period compared even to July),” Mordy Oberstein from Semrush stated.

The November update was “far more volatile” than what was seen in the July core update. Specifically, the November update was 12% more volatile than the July core update on desktop search results and 23% more volatile on mobile search results. It’s important to analyze mobile results as well as desktop results when assessing this update.

Here is a chart plotting the difference between the November and July 2021 core updates by sector:

The health sector saw 41% more volatility on both desktop and mobile in the November 2021 core update than in the July 2021 core update. The health sector often experiences more significant impacts from core updates than other sectors.

Even more so, 16% of the top 20 results were not listed in the Google Search results before the November update. This means that 16% of the ranking URLs between positions 1-20 were ranked worse than position 20 before the update, according to Semrush.

RankRanger. The RankRanger team also analyzed the Google search results after this November core update rollout. They discovered that this update rolled out quickly, although it may not be done yet. “This update shows similar levels of fluctuations to the July Core update,” RankRanger’s Shay Harel said. However, the top five results showed substantially higher fluctuations. RankRanger also noticed that, with regard to the average changes in the top 20 positions, there were slightly lower levels than the July core update.

Also, if you look at the health, finance, retail, and travel niches, RankRanger shows fairly even fluctuations, with the exception of the retail niche. It appears that retail saw greater fluctuations in the top three and top five positions.

SISTRIX. The folks at SISTRIX, another data provider that tracks changes in Google’s search results, sent their top 20 winners and losers for the November 2021 core update.

Here is a comparison chart of some of the websites competing in the dictionary space that saw significant gains with this update:

seoClarity. Mitul Gandhi from seoClarity mentioned a large amount of fluctuation lasting a few days, which is common with most Google core updates. The seoClarity team shared some standout changes across major brands.

For instance, in the e-commerce niche, Wayfair and eBay initially experienced significant drops in search visibility from November 16th to November 18th but bounced back shortly after. Similarly, Walmart and HomeDepot saw their keywords in the top three positions in Google Search increase by 10% and 19%, respectively. Bed Bath and Beyond saw a 45% jump in their top three positions. However, notable drops were observed for footwear retailers, with Zappos losing 23% and DSW losing 25% of their top 3 rankings.

In areas outside of e-commerce, Booking.com saw significant improvements in rankings, ranking for around 18,000 more keywords in the top three positions. Conversely, Skyscanner experienced a notable decline, losing 23% of its keywords in the top three positions. Additionally, SnagaJob.com lost 60%, SimplyHired.com lost 19%, Car and Driver lost 11%, and Pinterest lost 13% of their top three rankings, while Etsy gained 19% in the top three positions.

“Don’t panic! Initial fluctuations are not where many will end up, as Wayfair and eBay have shown,” Gandhi advised.

More on the November 2021 core update

The SEO community. The November 2021 core update was felt fast and hard in terms of ranking impact and timing. The community’s reaction includes some early chatter, ranking charts, and social shares from various SEOs.

What to do if you are hit. Google has provided advice on what to consider if negatively impacted by a core update in the past. There aren’t specific actions to take to recover, and a negative rankings impact might not signal any issues with your pages. However, Google has offered a list of questions to consider if your site is affected by a core update, with some potential for recovery between updates but more significant changes usually following another core update.

Why we care. It can be difficult to determine what steps to take to reverse an algorithmic hit your site may have experienced. Google core updates are broad and cover many quality issues. The data and past experiences suggest these updates are comprehensive, so if your site was affected by a core update, it’s often recommended to take a broader look at your overall website and consider improvements holistically.

We hope you, your company, and your clients fared well with this update.

More on Google updates

Other Google updates this year. This year we’ve seen several confirmed updates from Google. In chronological order: The July 2021 core update, Google MUM rollout in June focused on COVID names with some expansions in September, the June 28 spam update, the June 23rd spam update, the Google page experience update, the Google predator algorithm update, the June 2021 core update, the July 2021 core update, the July link spam update, and the November spam update.

Previous core updates. The most recent prior core update was the July 2021 core update which rolled out quickly similar to this one, followed by the June 2021 core update which was slower but significant. Before that, the December 2020 core update was substantial, bigger than the May 2020 core update. Prior updates include the January 2020 core update, the September 2019 core update which felt weaker to many SEOs and webmasters, and the November update focused on local rankings.

You can read more about past Google updates as well.