Yesterday, Google announced the November 2021 core update. While these periodic algorithm changes are common, many SEOs are questioning the timing of this release right before one of the busiest shopping periods of the year.
The holiday shopping season. The weeks encompassing Black Friday and Cyber Monday already add pressure to businesses aiming to meet customer demand and their own revenue goals. Introducing a core update now could complicate matters further. This timing has led some SEOs to speculate if Google is out of touch with both the business and search communities.
The SEO community response. Many in the search community are questioning the timing of this update. Some marketers responded to Google Search Liaison Danny Sullivan’s explanation, including SEO Rich Missey, who pointed out possible issues that could arise with business stakeholders.
Possibly a different perspective: While I, as an SEO, don’t get “flustered” by updates (usually), senior stakeholders may see the word “update” and have questions.
A.K.A. Freak out.
A.K.A create fire drills.
A.K.A horrible time suck.
And so forth. 🙂— Rich Missey (@richmissey) November 18, 2021
Sarah Blocksidge of Sixth City Marketing noted that while a core update also occurred around this time last year, its timing was a bit more reasonable.
well, they did do one around this time last year as well but at least it was after black friday
— Sarah (she/her) (@SarahBlocksidge) November 17, 2021
However, other professionals, such as Barry Adams of Polemic Digital, took a more cynical view of the update and Google’s core updates in general.
Because they don’t care, and they have an undeserved level of trust (some may call it arrogance) in their algorithms.
— Barry Adams ???? (@badams) November 18, 2021
John Mueller of Google also joined the conversation, asking SEOs how and when they would prefer the company announce these changes.
I’m curious — would you prefer we just mentioned them afterwards, or not at all? I realize there’s an aspect of “never change anything”, but good things go up with updates too. (not being snarky, honestly wondering what your thoughts are, feel free to DM if you prefer)
— ???? John ???? (@JohnMu) November 18, 2021
Why we care. Businesses that made adjustments to their staff and inventory in preparation for the holiday shopping season may face challenges depending on the update’s impact. It’s crucial for SEOs to identify when these ranking changes occurred so they can inform stakeholders and adjust their strategies accordingly. The effects could persist through the end of November, so be prepared to respond to changes in search visibility.
