We usually don’t share these types of articles, but I think this one will catch your interest. Many of Google’s services, such as Google Analytics 4, Google Search, and Google Discover, are not currently working as they should. To make matters worse, Google has released three Core Updates in just four months, which is quite unusual. So, let’s dive in.

Let’s start with Google Analytics 4. Back in July, Google replaced UA with GA4. UA was the previous version of Google Analytics which worked like a charm. To be honest, I really don’t know why Google has replaced it. GA4 is in every aspect worse than UA. Not only that but even in its pre-release period, GA4 had MAJOR issues. And things got way worse when Google discontinued UA. GA4 was never able to provide reliable results. At first, there was a 5% data difference between UA (or other traffic plugins) and GA4. And things have gone downhill since July. For the past couple of months, GA4 has reported 33% less traffic than what we currently have. This is a HUGE discrepancy. Seriously, what’s the point of a traffic measurement tool when it’s unable to provide accurate results? And we are not the only ones that have this issue. This is a universal/global issue that Google has not been able to fix, which is really laughable for a company the size of Google.

Then we have Google Search. I’m pretty sure that a lot of you have spotted some weird results while searching. Since its August Core 2023 Update, Google Search has been providing bizarre results. The Search Engine also appears to favor specific websites. For instance, Reddit and Quora have seen a huge increase in results for all kinds of topics. Then you have tech sites ranking at the first places for “Health” results. What in the bloody hell?

Lastly, we have Google Discover and Google News. Both of them have been a mess for a couple of months. A lot of websites have disappeared from Google Discover for no apparent reason. Google News also reports weird results when searching. Seriously, go ahead and search for “The Division 2 Update” on the Google News Browser Tab and on the Google News App. On the Google News Browser Tab (open your browser, type the search result, and press the “News” Tab) you’ll get accurate results. On the Google News App, you’ll get results for Alexa Jobs or Iran or Louisiana football. The Google News App and Google Discover ARE A COMPLETE AND UTTER MESS right now. I’m shocked at the level of incompetence here.

As a result of this whole clusterfuck, a lot of reputable websites have lost organic traffic. To prove that we’re not the only ones affected by these issues, here are some of our colleagues. As you can see, all of them had a major traffic decrease.

Here are some more. All of them are credible websites that were most likely hit by the Google Discover bug (which took Google a month to fix).
Tagging @searchliaison @JohnMu in case you're interested in these. pic.twitter.com/VGa9yjn4Ql

— DSOGaming – DarkSideOfGaming (@D_S_O_Gaming) November 6, 2023

At the beginning of November, Google stated that it had identified an issue that could affect its Google Discover results. This issue was introduced with the October Core 2023 Update. In short, it took Google a month to fix it. However, two days afterward, Google issued the November Core 2023 Update. And, guess what? The November Core 2023 Update re-introduced this bug. That, or Google never really fixed that initial bug.

All in all, most of Google’s services are currently busted. From GA4 to Google News, everything appears to be in a complete mess. Of course, Google will never publically admit this. However, EVERYONE is currently experiencing what we’ve reported. I also expect to see even more layoffs in the coming months on other websites if Google does not fix these issues. Because yes, things are THAT bad for other websites.