You might have heard the rumours circulating around the potential shifts in Google ranking. In this ever-evolving SEO landscape, Google is updating its SEO ranking to meet the demands of these present-day issues.
There are speculations of weekend de-ranking bugs affecting websites, causing them to disappear on weekends and then reappear on weekdays.
So, to help understand the online world of how websites ' ranking factors affect SEO ranking, let's dive in to learn more about Google Ranking Bug De-Ranks Sites.
What is Google Weekend Ranking Bug All About?
Google Weekend Ranking Bug is affecting certain websites. It is about those websites' ranking that would immediately be removed from the search results on the weekends and restored on the Weekdays.
To this, Google called it a" very narrow issue."
Are you thinking about which Google Search Ranking impacts websites?
Let's dive in!
Affecting Websites
Are you worried about de-ranking your websites on SEO ranking?
Take a look at which domain is affected by this ranking bug!
Many Google support forums call out on this issue about the de-ranking faced by various websites. So, these Google algorithms are affecting those generic top-level domains (gTLDs) sites.
Are your websites under this?
If your website is, then your site will suddenly disappear from the search engine on the weekends and reappear on Monday.
The website Google ranking bug affects websites considered top-level domains from the ICANN era, such as .academy, .car, and .care.
These gTLDs are facing a complete disappearance of the website from Google's search ranking on the weekend. Moreover, another issue some of these sites face is the inability to even rank for their site names.
The ongoing issue was brought to light in a tweet by Olesia Korobka (@Giridja):
Image Source: searchenginejournal
Why Do We Care?
Imagine the trauma you must undergo with this issue of the site drastically disappearing every weekend.
The question of why we care is because the issue of website Google ranking debunking has been going on since November 2023.
Here is the dropping of website weekend performance from organic Google Search Ranking.
Image Source: Search Engine Land
So, if you are facing a weird ranking performance in your SEO ranking, you are one of those non-standard TLDs impacting your site.
Understand Why Websites are Dropping on the Weekends
Well, the issues have existed since back then. The problems of sites are trapped in a ranking cycle, then returning for a week, then de-indexing for a month, and disappearing entirely. Moreover, some areas do not even rank for their domain name.
The issues have been faced since 2003-2004. And for about a decade, Google hasn't acknowledged this issue until now, calling it a Legacy Domain Penalty.
So, what did Google say about this Legacy Domain Penalty?
Take a look at what Google CEO John Mueller says:
"The other thing that I've very, very rarely seen is that a site gets stuck in some weird in-between state in our systems in that…
…at some point our algorithms reviewed the website and found it to be terrible and uh for whatever reason those parts of the algorithms just took a very long time to be updated again."
Are the Website De-Ranks On Weekends Due to the Quality or the bug?
1. Assessing the Website Quality
Closely examining the Google Ranking Bug reveals a distinctive departure from traditional quality-related problems.
Those issues related to web quality mainly affect search rankings continuously throughout the week and continue for a month.
So, what are the issues?
The issues of website Google ranking are primarily due to the manifestation during weekends, setting it apart from the normal fluctuation and flow of digital performance metrics.
2. Issues Related to Quality
When it comes to SEO ranking, the constant declines or fluctuations in the Google search ranking due to quality-related concerns often affect the visibility and position of a website.
What you need to know is that when it comes to the Google Weekend Ranking Bug, it affects websites only on weekends and is restored on weekdays. You may be questioning the idea of a typical quality issue.
The answer to why the de-ranking on weekends may be due to the website quality. Then, you will likely see the issues on other weekdays instead of a cyclical pattern.
3. Regards to gTLDs
The removal of gTLDs domain websites from the Google search ranking is not because of insufficient content, poor website structure, or other common quality-related issues.
The question remains: is this going to happen on a regular level?
To answer that, let's have a look!
Is Google Ranking Bug De-Ranks Sites On Weekends Repetitive?
To answer this question, is the traffic drying up during the weekend?
There is a possibility. However, the answer is that it is not just about traffic but the actual decline on the weekends, including the name.
So, there is a probability it is likely to de-index every weekend, happening only to specific kinds of generic top-level domains.
The answer is no; this is not a typical weekend traffic phenomenon.
Conclusion
To conclude, it can be agonising when there are no concrete solutions to why your site suddenly disappears from Google Search Rankings. However, what you need to understand is to continue to keep an eye on these changes in the future regarding your business.