not sure- it makes no sense - i mean, the update has the word “content” in the name. ????

Right. So I should qualify that this was only for some of the sites what actually do have helpful content and were hit - for them it wasn't their content apparently.

check out this new write up - jeez

Ugh.

maybe the algo is getting the content wrong

Yes, that's my take on it. I'm guessing that any fixes they've tried have had consequences resurfacing undesired content so they are still in the "we don't know" phase.

that GFR article is rough: _“Undeterred, we then asked the only question that mattered: Why has Google shadowbanned our sites? Google’s Chief Search Scientist answered this question using a strategy based around gaslighting and said they hadn’t. Google doesn’t ever derank an entire site, only individual pages, he said. There is no site-wide classifier. He insisted it is only done at the page level._

_Many of the shadowbanned site owners attempted to politely push back and point out that the reason all 20 of us were there was specifically because our entire site was deranked from Google in a single night._

_He continued insisting this didn’t happen and then looked confused that anyone would disagree with him.”_

Personally, I tuned out immediately upon reading the word "shadowbanned".

Did the search scientist really say "There is no site-wide classifier."? It's hard to say, because I can't believe anyone who uses the word "shadowbanned" to discuss a ranking decline.

yeah that caught me offguard too, like who uses that term in this case?

but also GFR is very clickbaity haha

so the language they use is always reactionary

lol. Funny she’s in charleston, so am I! (South Carolina)