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Personally, Not sure what’s going on this week but I’ve got one site that got a weird little indexing burst and then traffic just fell off a cliff two days later. Same pages, same links, nothing dramatic changed. Google just seems to love doing this nonsense now. Anyone else seeing that pattern? It’s like it indexes a bunch of junk first, then the real pages start wobbling around for no reason. I’m half convinced the whole thing is just random at this point.
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Kind of feels like from what I see, Yeah, I’ve seen that before. Usually the indexing “burst” is just Google finally crawling a bunch of stuff it was already half-aware of, then the actual rankings/traffic settle weird for a few days after. If nothing changed on-page, I’d be looking at: – crawl spikes on low-value URLs – cannibalization getting worse after more pages get indexed – some template/plugin thing making pages heavier or inconsistent – internal links shifting because of a WP plugin update or sitemap weirdness I had one site do this after a theme/plugin combo update and it turned out a bunch of thin tag pages got indexed first, then the decent pages started wobbling. Super annoying. Google really does love making it look random when it’s probably just reprocessing junk first. At least from what I’ve seen.
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Yeah, I’ve seen that crap too. Usually it’s not some mystical “Google randomness” thing, it’s them surfacing junk URLs first and then the site gets dragged around while they recalc the rest. If the burst was mostly garbage pages, I’d be looking there before blaming the money pages. Not entirely sure, but Also wouldn’t ignore a filter hit right after…
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Seriously, that’s not really accurate. from what I’ve seen, yeah, I wouldn’t call it “random” either, but I also wouldn’t jump straight to some mystical filter hit every time. If the burst was mostly junk URLs getting picked up, that can absolutely shove the site around for a bit while Google re-evals the whole mess. Seen it plenty of times on crappy WP setups where tag pages, parameter junk, or thin archive stuff suddenly gets attention and then the real pages start wobbling. What I’d check first: – which URLs actually got indexed in that burst – whether traffic dropped sitewide or just on a cluster of pages – if internal links changed at all from some plugin/theme nonsense – whether Search Console is showing a bunch of low-value pages getting impressions If it’s just a few days of weirdness, I’d honestly wait before freaking out. If it keeps sliding after the junk pages settle in, then yeah, something’s off and it’s kinda not “just Google being Google.” In my opinion,
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Kind of feels like in my opinion, Well, yeah, I’ve seen that too and it’s annoying as hell. Usually when I get that weird indexing burst + traffic drop, it’s some junk URLs getting picked up first and then the decent pages get a bit wonky while Google reprocesses everything. I’d check what actually got indexed, not just the spike itself. If it’s tag pages, thin archives, weird parameters, whatever… that’s usually the mess. Just my experience.
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In my opinion, Seriously, from what I see, Realistically, yeah, seen it. Usually it’s not some magic penalty, it’s Google chewing through crap URLs first and the real pages get tossed around for a bit. If the indexed burst was mostly junk, I’d ignore the panic and check what actually got in. If it’s legit pages and traffic still tanks after a few days, then yeah, something else is off.
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Personally, From what I see, Yeah, but “Google chewing through crap URLs” isn’t always the whole story. I’ve had a couple times where the burst was legit pages too and it still got weird for 48-72 hours. Usually some crawl/indexing shuffle or internal link nonsense, not some grand mystery. If the drop lined up dead-on with the spike, I wouldn’t just shrug it off.
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Yeah, I’ve seen that pattern a few times and it’s usually not “random” random. When Google suddenly indexes a bunch of stuff, it’ll often reshuffle crawl priority for a bit, and if the burst includes junk or near-duplicates, the real pages can get dragged around too. I’d check logs / GSC and see what actually got picked up in that window — if it was mostly thin URLs, that’s typically your answer. If the indexed burst was legit pages though, then I’d look at internal linking and canonicals first. That’s usually where the mess starts. Just my experience.
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From what I’ve seen, yeah, I’ve seen that too — and honestly it’s usually not “random” random, it’s Google doing some dumb reshuffle. If the burst was mostly junk URLs, I wouldn’t read much into it. If it was legit pages and the drop hit right after, then yeah, that’s when I start checking canonicals/internal links/crawl patterns because something’s getting shaken loose. That’s how I look at it.
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Yeah, I’ve seen that exact pattern and it’s annoying as hell. Usually when the burst is followed by a drop, I look at *what* got indexed, not just the count. If it was a bunch of thin/tag/search/filter crap, Google’s basically just wasting cycles and the real pages can get shuffled around for a bit. If it was actual money pages though, then I’d be checking canonicals, internal link changes, and crawl logs before blaming “randomness.” Sometimes it does settle back down after a few days, but not always.
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To be fair, honestly, yeah, I’ve seen that too, and it’s usually the part where I start muttering at GSC for no reason 😅 If the spike was mostly junk URLs, I don’t read much into it. If it was real pages though, that’s when it gets annoying because the drop *feels* connected even if Google pretends it isn’t.
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Personally, Yeah, I’ve seen it. Usually means Google indexed a pile of crap first and then started second-guessing the whole thing. If the drop lined up right after the burst, I’d be looking at what got pulled in, not the raw spike number. Google loves this stupid little wobble where nothing “changed” and traffic still tanks anyway. That’s how I look at it.
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Yeah, I’ve seen that. Usually it’s Google poking at a bunch of URLs, deciding half of them are garbage, then the whole thing gets a bit wobbly for a few days. If it was a real burst on actual pages and not some tag/filter nonsense, I’d be looking at crawl logs and canonicals before I blamed the update fairy. Google’s been doing this weird “index first, think later” thing a lot lately.
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I mean, yeah, I’ve had that happen and it’s always so annoying because it makes you doubt your own setup for no reason. Usually when I see a burst like that, it’s some junk getting picked up first and then the real pages get weird for a bit after. Not saying that’s *definitely* what’s happening here, but I wouldn’t trust the spike by itself.
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Honestly, usually, usually, from what I’ve seen, yeah, I’ve seen it. Usually means Google’s just thrashing around on junk URLs first and then the actual pages get caught in the mess for a bit. I wouldn’t call that a “good sign” at all, honestly. If the spike was mostly garbage, I’d ignore it and check what got indexed, not the spike itself.
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Yeah, I’ve seen it. The weird part is it’s not even the spike itself, it’s the lag after where traffic starts doing dumb stuff for no obvious reason. I’ve had pages get indexed, look fine in GSC, then a couple days later impressions just fall over like something got reweighted. Google’s been extra stupid about this lately.
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Yeah, I’ve seen that pattern too, and it’s usually not the “nice” kind of indexing burst. Had a couple sites do the same thing where Google suddenly grabbed a bunch of URLs, then a day or two later impressions/traffic got weird as hell. Half the time it’s some junk pages getting crawled/indexed and the real pages just get shoved around for no obvious reason. Honestly I wouldn’t trust the spike at all unless the pages that got indexed were actually the ones you wanted. Google’s been doing this random thrash thing a lot lately. That’s been my experience anyway.
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From what I see, Personally, yeah, I’ve had the same thing happen and it’s usually not a “nice” burst at all. What I’ve seen is Google will suddenly pick up a pile of URLs, then a couple days later the actual money pages start wobbling while some garbage gets indexed or re-crawled for no reason. Traffic drops right after because the query mix changes, or it starts testing different pages and you get that ugly shuffle. I wouldn’t trust the spike unless it sticks past the first week or so. If the indexed URLs were mostly junk, that’s usually the part that worries me more than the burst itself. Google loves making it look like progress before it turns into a mess.
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Yeah, I’ve seen that pattern too, and it’s usually not some magical “Google likes the site now” moment. Half the time it looks like it’s just shuffling stuff around, indexing junk first, then the real pages get hit with whatever weird recalibration they’re doing. Annoying as hell, but I wouldn’t assume the burst means anything good…
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Honestly, technically, yeah, that’s been my experience too. The burst means basically nothing until it actually settles for a bit. I’ve had pages get indexed in a little wave, then two days later traffic tanks and the same old junk starts floating around again. Google does this stupid shuffle where it looks active but it’s really just stirring the pot. Wouldn’t read much into it unless it holds past the first wobble.
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Honestly, yeah, I’ve seen that too. Usually the burst itself isn’t the win, it’s just Google poking around and making a mess. If traffic fell right after, I’d be looking at which URLs got picked up, not just the count. A lot of times it’s the junk pages, tag stuff, thin variants, whatever, and then the real pages start getting shuffled around for a few days. Honestly, I wouldn’t touch anything immediately unless there was an obvious change. Let it sit a bit and see if the crawl/indexing settles back down. If it keeps bouncing for more than a week or two, then it’s probly not just a normal wobble.
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Honestly, To be fair, honestly, yeah, that’s exactly the kind of thing that makes me roll my eyes at Google. I’ve had the same crap happen where it looks like a little indexing win, then traffic just slides right after like the site got flagged for existing. Usually it’s not even the pages u’d expect either, it’s some random junk getting indexed first and then the real money pages start acting weird. I wouldn’t trust the burst at all unless it actually holds for a bit. Google loves doing these fake little “progress” moves and then undoing half of it two days later. Pretty normal now, which is annoying as hell.
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Personally, yeah, I’ve seen that pattern too, and it’s usually not “growth” so much as Google messing with the index state for a bit. From my experience, If the spike was mostly junk/variant URLs getting pulled in, the traffic drop right after doesn’t surprise me at all. The annoying part is when the real pages get dragged around in the shuffle for a few days like you said. I’d want to look at *which* URLs actually got indexed, not the raw count.
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Yeah, that’s usually not a good sign in my experience. The burst itself means almost nothing if it’s mostly garbage URLs getting pulled in first. I’ve seen that exact thing where Google “discovers” a bunch of crap, traffic dips, then the actual pages start wobbling for a few days after. Real fun. I’d check logs and GSC coverage before assuming it’s random. If crawl started favoring weird variants, parameter junk, or thin stuff, that’s typically the mess right there.
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Yeah, I wouldn’t call that a win either. I’ve had the same dumb pattern where GSC looks “busy” for a couple days and then the actual clicks go sideways like Google just kicked the wrong door in. Half the time it’s some junk variant or thin page getting attention first, like crawl_void said, but I’m not convinced it’s always that neat. Sometimes it just feels like the whole thing gets twitchy for no reason and you’re stuck staring at charts like an idiot. That’s how I look at it.
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