Over 50% of UK businesses believe it is unjustified that Google can issue penalties to companies that can be so detrimental, effecting their livelihoods
鈥� 3 in 4聽(73%) UK businesses believe Google聽鈥渉olds too much power鈥澛爋ver the success of their business
鈥� 82% believe Google should become聽more regulated
鈥� Google searches of 鈥淕oogle penalty鈥� are on the rise, despite a supposed decrease in penalties issued by Google
鈥� UK “Google penalty” related searches surpass 2,000 each month
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Google penalties can be a touchy subject. Some businesses are happy that they exist and believe that websites 鈥渄eserve to plummet down the SERP鈥� (as one SME expressed when questioned). On the other hand, other businesses constantly 鈥渓ive in fear of being hit with one鈥�.
Let鈥檚 be clear here, a Google penalty does not necessarily mean a manual penalty is given as a result of breaking Google鈥檚 rules. It can also be an algorithm 鈥減enalty鈥�, as a result of low-quality thin, duplicate and non-engaging content on their website. This is a major issue for SMEs who often fall victim to algorithmic penalties because they simply do not understand what Google wants, or have the resources necessary to compete with large companies.
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Today, Google claims that they are penalising fewer websites. Thus, Reboot Online, penalty recovery specialists, sought to investigate further.
Utilising the Google Trends tool, Reboot Online uncovered that despite the 鈥渄ecrease in penalties鈥�, they are still very much a talking point. The data reveals that there has been a sudden spike in searches of 鈥淕oogle penalty鈥� between the period of December 2018 and April 2019, reaching the highest level since June 2017.
The increase in searches is due, in part, to Google鈥檚 core update in March 2019. However, the trend extends back to December 鈥� revealing a rise in searches well before the update.
* Circled is April 2019. We have chosen to discount May as the results are incomplete.
Further analysis using Google Trends found that the highest interest in Google penalties can be found in these cities around the world:
1.聽 London 100
2. Melbourne 93
3. Sydney 91
4. Los Angeles 88
5. New York 88
6. Toronto 71
7. Singapore 66
8. Chicago 61
9. New Delhi 58
After uncovering that London ranks first in the Google Trends data, Reboot Online sought to investigate the relationship between Google and UK SMEs in more detail. Using the SEMrush 鈥淜eyword Magic Tool鈥�, they found that in the UK alone there are 2,098 鈥淕oogle penalty鈥� related searches each month, and 7,010 in the English-speaking world (Australia, Canada and the US combined). Of all four UK English-speaking countries, 30% of searches about 鈥淕oogle penalties鈥� come from the UK. This suggests that people are still very much concerned about penalties and may be wondering whether they have been issued with one.
Following this, Reboot Online surveyed 981 UK companies to find out more about their views towards Google and penalties. (Please find the full results on the next page.)
Of all SMEs surveyed, over half (64%) believe it is unjustified that Google is able to issue penalties to companies that can be highly detrimental to their business and livelihood. As a result, three in four (73%) of UK businesses believe Google 鈥渉olds too much power鈥� and consequently believe Google should become more regulated to avoid causing too much damage to small-to-medium sized businesses around the UK (82%).
Despite just 6% of SMEs being punished with a Google penalty, a third (33%) of SMEs knew of another business who has received some kind of Google penalty in their lifetime.
The most common reason for being given a Google penalty is building black-hat links to a website (48%), followed by aggressive advertising (26%), duplicate content (12%), offering no valuable or thin content (9%) and keyword stuffing in website copy (4%).
Interestingly, more often than not, Google penalties are the fault of an outside company, such as an agency, for instance. Although very few companies admit to breaking Google鈥檚 guidelines themselves and accepting that it was their own fault 鈥� some people decide to blame this on a 鈥渘egative SEO attack鈥� instead, which is where another company spams their competitor鈥檚 URL onto dodgy websites, to result in a penalty from Google.
MD of Reboot Online, Shai Aharony, comments:
鈥淎s a company who has assisted with penalty recovery for many years, ranging from small family-owned businesses to conglomerates, we have often seen the devastating damage penalties can have on businesses. It is worth noting that a large percentage of businesses we helped have received those penalties through no fault of their own.鈥�
