Data from Sistrix, an SEO software company, suggests that in 2022, the prominence of news websites in Google search results had significantly decre

Report: Google has further reduced the prominence of news websites in search results

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2023-02-04 18:30:05

Data from Sistrix, an SEO software company, suggests that in 2022, the prominence of news websites in Google search results had significantly decreased.

Press Gazette (an online source for UK-based media practitioners) analyzed those figures. 45 of the 68 news sites reviewed saw a decrease in ranking in UK Google search results from January 2022 to January 2023. There was also a 20% decrease in overall visibility for these 68 sites. Mylondon.news, irishtimes.com, and inews.co.uk were the next greatest losers in terms of relative visibility, each seeing a 60% and 61% decline.

Last September, a Google core algorithm update rollout occurred and this could partially explain a deemphasis in certain types of news content. Evidently, such is part of a long term trend.

According to the Sistrix data, news publishers that are increasing the non-news content they offer online, such as games, recipes, and reference material, have contributed to their improved exposure (e.g. The New York Times acquiring Wordle).