Why is Google ranking bad sites after updates, is anyone else seeing this?

Seeking Advice
1

I just need to vent a little here. A competitor’s site in the mortgage business in Toronto is ranking first for a good keyword that brings in decent traffic. The site is just basic WordPress with an exact match domain. There’s no company name, address, or licensing number, which is illegal under regulator rules. The phone number goes to voicemail. It’s honestly a poor-quality site with only 16 backlinks in tools like Moz.

How is Google deciding this is a quality site to rank at the top? It makes no sense.

Meanwhile, my site keeps dropping even though I’ve been working on backlinks and adding content. It feels like a bad joke.

2

I’m seeing the same thing on one of the pages I monitor. There’s a single-page site from 2016 with no SSL. It gives you the security warning asking if you really want to continue. Somehow, it’s in the top three now, and I hadn’t seen it until after this so-called ‘spam’ update.

3

@Jameson
Yeah, exactly what I mean. It’s ridiculous that Google lets sites like that rank.

4

From Google’s side, that kind of site might actually work for them. If people see the warning and click back, it could lead to more ad clicks.

5

Give it some time. If it’s really causing bad user experiences, the next update might correct it.

I get it’s frustrating, but maybe they’re doing something right that you can learn from? Try to figure it out and apply it to your site.

6

@EverylnVinic
I’ve heard some say it’s just strong PBN links propping it up. Their content isn’t impressive, and their backlink count is low in Moz. The domain is also pretty new—only a year and a half old.

7

@Clyde
What URL of theirs is ranking, and which page of yours is competing?

They might be using their homepage, and maybe you’re targeting with a lower authority page.

Run a backlink check. Sometimes even one really solid backlink can outrank you.

8

@EverylnVinic
Yeah, their homepage is ranking and the domain is an exact match for the keyword. I think that’s what’s giving them the edge.

My competing page is not the homepage.

I’m honestly considering registering a similar domain to try the same tactic.

9

@Clyde
This seems to be happening a lot lately. There will always be sites that somehow sneak into the top even though they shouldn’t.

I hope this is just a small glitch that gets fixed soon. It’s really frustrating to have to wait for another update to correct it.

10

If there aren’t any visible backlinks, it’s probably PBNs. I doubt Google randomly ranks sites by mistake, especially for competitive mortgage keywords.

11

Jerome said:
If there aren’t any visible backlinks, it’s probably PBNs. I doubt Google randomly ranks sites by mistake, especially for competitive mortgage keywords.

I’m almost sure it’s PBNs. The domain is new.

12

Whenever there’s an update, they might switch to a smaller model temporarily. When that happens, the results can turn out pretty bad for a bit. I’ve seen it before.

I mean actual junk showing up, not just irrelevant pages. It’s like they drop a bunch of data and the results get messed up.

I’ve noticed this pattern during SEO work. Sometimes, updates mess up search results for a while. It’s frustrating, but Google’s probably just cutting costs. I guess we just have to put up with it or find a better search engine.

13

Stop trying to make sense of it. It’s all about Google hitting their revenue goals, and nothing else.