Sept. 2005 Yahoo Changes

[Marcia]

For some searches/sites I've checked so far there's been a major shift in position, and in a few cases it looks like sites that have Directory listings have gained some serious position increases.

This definitely needs more checking out, but it looks like more than a minor shift of a place or two.

[Robert_Charlton]

Marcia - I generally haven't watched Yahoo closely, but since the update in late July, where many inside pages dropped like rocks, I've been following some selected niche searches. My thought at the time was that there was some sort of "filtering" in place (and I'm probably using the word inaccurately), much like there was after Google's infamous Florida update.

What seemed to affect some searches and some sites didn't seem to affect others... there was talk of over-optimization penalties... and results just didn't feel right. After Florida, I felt that Google would have to fix it, and eventually they did. I've felt that about Yahoo since the July update, but it hasn't happened yet.

Originally Posted by Marcia

...it looks like more than a minor shift of a place or two.

On most searches, I'm not seeing any movement at all. Where I'm noticing shifts, they're sometimes fairly dramatic for the oddest kind of stuff, and they're not in any way improving things.

I'm seeing a site, eg, that has never been in the top 100, which moved up to #10 on the last update, now up there at #2. I happen to know the site because it belongs to a consultant that happens to use a product made by one of my clients. We provide its only inbound link on the entire web.

I'm seeing seriously out-of-date pages from Bangladesh with zero content that I've never noticed before up at the top on very competitive searches. I'm seeing clients' home pages rank for things they're not relevant for, and their relevant inner pages banished to page two or three.

The Yahoo serps are Florida-like in one respect that I haven't seen discussed... nonsense exclusion strings in the search query seem to return to search to an approximation of pre-July normalcy. Add -asdf to a search a bunch of times and you'll see what I mean.

I know that the Yahoo search team is working hard, and in the past I've respected their efforts. I'm hoping this is all an intermediate step towards something better, but I'm not seeing any glimmers of hope yet.

A PS to this... I'm wondering how the rustysearch comparison engine's Yahoo ratings have been doing for the past couple of months.

[Carlos Chacón]

Originally Posted by Marcia

.... it looks like sites that have Directory listings have gained some serious position increases.

I’m completely agreeing with this.
Is really common to find sites on the first result page reading with the text below: Category: Country > Location > Language…

Since I remember some time ago, the Yahoo! submissions express websites were located only on the Directory section, but maybe thinks has been changed now and we’re getting more “sponsored” results on the organic listings.

My thoughts: Yahoo Search Marketing is changing the “Sponsor Business” on Yahoo!

[patchak]

Yes I've also seen more and more directories even ODP and the google ODP version are ranking very high. I've also seen a couple of ODP clones go up in the serps.

I think they might be in the middle of an update right now.

[jestep]

I'm seeing seriously out-of-date pages from Bangladesh with zero content that I've never noticed before up at the top on very competitive searches. I'm seeing clients' home pages rank for things they're not relevant for, and their relevant inner pages banished to page two or three.

I couldn't agree with this any more. Seeing some of the most competitive SERPS clouded with craigslist posts and very old forum topics from unrelated forums, is upsetting.

[Robert_Charlton]

Originally Posted by Marcia

...in a few cases it looks like sites that have Directory listings have gained some serious position increases.

For reasons of the flotsam and jetsam type page examples cited above, I don't think that Directory listings have anything to do with the changes. I've always felt that Yahoo would strain to avoid this kind of connection.

One thought... I remember that there was a period, as Google was trying to correct its Florida update, when a lot of obvious junk came to the surface. Possibly, this is the kind of thing that engines have to go through in making these corrections.

Again, I'm very curious about the feedback that rustysearch is getting.

[Mel]

For some of the sites that I have reviewed today the current Yahoo index is at least six months to a year out of date.

As an example one site which previously had 82 pages indexed in Yahoo (with many top 3 rankings) now has only ten pages indexed, and due to a recent update (with proper 301s in place) the only page listed by Yahoo which is not a 404 is the default page.

[Manpasand]

Originally Posted by Mel

For some of the sites that I have reviewed today the current Yahoo index is at least six months to a year out of date.

As an example one site which previously had 82 pages indexed in Yahoo (with many top 3 rankings) now has only ten pages indexed, and due to a recent update (with proper 301s in place) the only page listed by Yahoo which is not a 404 is the default page.

I agree.

Some sites have been listed in Y! directory & ODP too even though now only 5-6 pages have indexed and also reduced the backlinks. These sites has lost there top positions with competitive keywords too.

[Carlos Chacón]

Originally Posted by Mel

...As an example one site which previously had 82 pages indexed in Yahoo (with many top 3 rankings) now has only ten pages indexed, and due to a recent update (with proper 301s in place) the only page listed by Yahoo which is not a 404 is the default page.

I’ve the same situation here.
One site has been disappearing from the Yahoo index this week. It’s hard to believe it… but it is true. Will this be something temporary?

[tors]

I had over 1600 links when I searched
for the links pointing to my site in Yahoo.
Now today it shows only 11 links.Can this only be a
temporary effect while yahoo updates their listings?

[Jeff Martin]

I think we are seeing an incomplete roll-out. I would venture a guess to say they may even be having problems with this update.

Case Example:
I run VeriClix.com which has had respectable rankings in Y. I had recently made some changes (2-3 weeks ago) and in Y was ranking #3 for "free click fraud software service" and in the top 10 for "free click fraud service" and "free click fraud software" (which doesnt speak to well for their relevancy since VeriClix is the only free service...but I digress). The site started to level out with around 1,490 BLs after the roller coaster BL #s everyone saw in the past.

On my last check a search for "vericlix" yielded 14 documents - instead of in the thousands.

BLs were at 2 last night and 6 now - instead of the 1,490 average.

site:www.vericlix.com yields 1 document - a blog entry - instead of the 70+ pages that were indexed.

I'll keep you updated, but I think it's highly unlikely this is what we are meant to see as a complete rollout.

[Webvisitor]

My weblog has been appreciated by Yahoo as one would expect when your site is the authority in its niche. Yahoo has now deemed my site to be unworthy for listing at all.
My real concern after seeing this is what to make of the entire search engine business. It is true that 'spot on' keywords and content is not enough. Someday maybe the SEs will get it down. Until then it is a crap shoot.

[Carlos Chacón]

Originally Posted by Webvisitor

...My real concern after seeing this is what to make of the entire search engine business. It is true that 'spot on' keywords and content is not enough.

No doubt. What about SEM & SEO firms who are managing many clients?
The stats will be dropping significant positions … and who are the responsible?

[tors]

Hi
My links are back
And now I have 1760 links in Yahoo.
But this might fluctuate a bit for the next week or so.

[Robert_Charlton]

Originally Posted by Jeff Martin

I'll keep you updated, but I think it's highly unlikely this is what we are meant to see as a complete rollout.

Jeff - Thanks... I think you've got it right. Yahoo has taken great pains in the recent past to advise us about updates, and now would be a good time to hear from them again.

Tim, where are you?

Originally Posted by Webvisitor

My real concern after seeing this is what to make of the entire search engine business. It is true that 'spot on' keywords and content is not enough. Someday maybe the SEs will get it down. Until then it is a crap shoot.

"'Spot on' keywords and content" has never been enough, and the search engine business has always been a roller-coaster ride. If, by "someday maybe the SEs will get it down" you mean that maybe someday your rankings will be stable, you have it completely wrong.

In any event, I think it's premature to waste your energy getting emotional about these particular Yahoo changes. It's currently a work in progress.

[Webvisitor]

I was going to rant some more but Yahoo took the spammer down 7 spots and put me back on top. In addition my entire site is indexed now.

Good advice R.Charlton. Thanks Yahoo.

[traveltovietnam]

I own one tourism site http://www.viethoteltravel.com . I check my links on yahoo everyday. But yesterday, it was terrible. Only 10 back links left! What is matter? I loose all placement for my kwds!

[Jeff Martin]

Well things seem to be calming down a bit.

For VeriClix the BLs have drastically reduced but the rankings remain basically the same. Again, the SERPs are not the best results.

Has anyone else seen where their BLs got slashed but the rankings stayed pretty much the same?

Im finding that MSN for my related terms seems to pretty much on. As VeriClix.com has already been around since April there is 0 visibility in G. Interestingly though my internal click fraud blog is doing very well in G's new blog search.

[unrelated]

I am still seeing some pretty wierd wrinkles that seem -to me - to be evidence that Yahoo stinks. I got a new site that Y pretty much ignores. The BL's got wiped out temporily and the current count looks like somone went through and eliminated all the substantial IBL's. I am left now with a small total of bad links. They've ignored all the very good ones and have yet to show the links to my site from directories whose IBL's show up for my competitors. The links directory OBL's are literally on the same page but mine don't show up. They are also reporting homepage links from homepages when the link actually sits buried on the links pages - like they've stripped off the end of the URL. This is all subject of course to my own bitter interpretation, but Y is running a pretty sloppy ship. Particularly for new sites.

[Robert_Charlton]

I'm guessing that the current report of backlinks in Yahoo is also a temporary glitch. They're clearly in the process of rebuilding their database.

Since I'm seeing "current events" pages from 1999 rising to the top of competitive searches, I've got to conclude we're not playing with the full deck, or with a current one (at least I hope not ).

Additionally, Yahoo had announced at SES that they would soon be implementing Yahoo Site Explorer ( http://siteexplorer.search.yahoo.com/ ) to allow, among other things, backlink reports with csv export. So I don't think they'd suddenly be truncating reported backlinks, a la Google, if they're planning to put in this feature.

Again, I think this is an attempt at adjusting the major update that started in July... and, just like Google's corrections during Florida, there's a point where it looks very messy.