Early Insights into the Google March 2019 Core Update Reveal an Interesting Pattern

Data collected over the weekend from providers monitoring Google search result changes indicates that many who experienced gains with the August 1, 2018 core update faced negative impacts with the recent March 2019 core update. Conversely, those negatively affected by the August 1, 2018 core update saw improvements with the update last week.

To clarify, not everyone experienced these changes, but there were significant winners and losers who saw reversals in their previous gains or losses.

Survey results. Early numbers from a March 2019 core update survey show that nearly 60% of the over 315 respondents claimed they experienced a recovery from a past core update.

Search Metrics Winners/Losers. Search Metrics provided charts of the top 15 winners and losers in terms of visibility changes.

Winners:

• kansas.com: 28.49% increase in visibility.
• updateland.com: 118.22% increase in visibility.
• buzzfeed.com: 35.98% increase in visibility.
• xnxx2.pro: 52.11% increase in visibility.
• techcrunch.com: 19.21% increase in visibility.
• poki.com: 19.87% increase in visibility.
• visitwichita.com: 52.75% increase in visibility.
• allmenus.com: 41.80% increase in visibility.
• hoursguide.com: 113.95% increase in visibility.
• justinbiebermusic.com: 95.56% increase in visibility.
• gossipcop.com: 133.63% increase in visibility.
• everydaypowerblog.com: 18.14% increase in visibility.
• kake.com: 32.26% increase in visibility.
• wichitaonthecheap.com: 48.78% increase in visibility.
• kwch.com: 20.54% increase in visibility.

Losers:

• theatlantic.com: 47.69% decrease in visibility.
• vanityfair.com: 43.69% decrease in visibility.
• newyorker.com: 44.44% decrease in visibility.
• rollingstone.com: 20.47% decrease in visibility.
• wired.com: 24.13% decrease in visibility.
• time.com: 16.92% decrease in visibility.
• harpersbazaar.com: 27.94% decrease in visibility.
• smithsonianmag.com: 16.27% decrease in visibility.
• hbr.org: 41.66% decrease in visibility.
• nymag.com: 15.88% decrease in visibility.
• gq.com: 28.21% decrease in visibility.
• thedailybeast.com: 18.66% decrease in visibility.
• inc.com: 17.68% decrease in visibility.
• esquire.com: 20.57% decrease in visibility.
• fb.com: 22.10% decrease in visibility.

Search Metrics indicated that domains that lost visibility now were mostly winners in the August 1st core update.

Sistrix Winners/Losers. Similar to Search Metrics, Sistrix published UK-specific data showing a comparable trend.

Winners:

• draxe.com: 49.69% increase in visibility.
• raccars.co.uk: 32.57% increase in visibility.
• medicinenet.com: 32.06% increase in visibility.
• newsnow.co.uk: 30.75% increase in visibility.
• buzzfeed.com: 29.65% increase in visibility.
• engadget.com: 26.16% increase in visibility.
• schuh.co.uk: 24.62% increase in visibility.
• silvergames.com: 23.27% increase in visibility.
• bmstores.co.uk: 21.68% increase in visibility.
• helpguide.org: 20.60% increase in visibility.
• rateyourmusic.com: 20.47% increase in visibility.
• medicalnewstoday.com: 19.85% increase in visibility.
• expertreviews.co.uk: 18.26% increase in visibility.
• metro.co.uk: 17.57% increase in visibility.
• digitalspy.com: 17.08% increase in visibility.

Losers:

• complex.com: 24.93% decrease in visibility.
• everydayhealth.com: 22.53% decrease in visibility.
• goal.com: 19.72% decrease in visibility.
• health24.com: 16.56% decrease in visibility.
• hsamuel.co.uk: 13.94% decrease in visibility.
• businessinsider.com: 12.31% decrease in visibility.
• ernestjones.co.uk: 11.71% decrease in visibility.
• netdoctor.co.uk: 11.37% decrease in visibility.
• variety.com: 10.94% decrease in visibility.
• last.fm: 10.76% decrease in visibility.

Sistrix mentioned that many affected domains were also impacted by major updates in 2018.

RankRanger Winners/Losers. RankRanger provided their insights, indicating a similar pattern.

RankRanger commented that the March 2019 Core Update was less aggressive than the August 1st update. They noted substantial rank fluctuations but did not see enough evidence to call it a reversal of the Medic Update.

Word from Google? Google did not confirm if the March 2019 core update was a reversal of the August 1, 2018 core update but suggested that core updates naturally evolve previous updates. This supports some speculation around the update being a reversal of previous changes, including the August 1st update.

A reversal? Instead of calling this a reversal, it’s more accurate to describe it as an update to the previous core updates. Sites impacted by previous updates may see changes, but not all saw relief with this update.

What’s next? Further data collection and analysis will continue to help the SEO community understand the patterns and impacts of these updates.