Google Rankings Ripple Again: November 7th Volatility Sweeps Search Results
In early November 2025, many website owners and SEO professionals began noticing unusual movement across search results — a clear sign of ranking turbulence from Google LLC. The changes appear to have started late on Thursday, November 7, and continued into Friday. Search Engine Roundtable+1
What’s going on?
According to Search Engine Roundtable’s editor Barry Schwartz, based on community chatter and data from third-party tracking tools, it looks like Google initiated a wave of ranking fluctuations — unofficially dubbed the “November Update”. Several site owners posted comments like:
“I see I am 15 % down yesterday … it is getting insane.
“Lots of Google zombies yesterday and today traffic just died completely.”
These responses suggest that whatever this shift is, it had real impact on traffic, especially for activity-driven sites.
What data is backing this up?
Tracking tools such as SEMrush, Mozcast, Sistrix and others are showing spikes in volatility metrics this week. While Google hasn’t officially confirmed a formal core update, the signs are consistent with past algorithm-roll-out dynamics.
In Search Engine Roundtable’s update archive, this November event follows other recent fluctuations — such as the “Halloween Update” in late October and earlier shifts in October 15-17.
Who appears to be affected?
- Some site owners report large traffic drops (20 % or more) for pages lacking strong fundamentals (for example thin location pages with no physical address).
- Others appear to have improved their rankings — for instance, one user noted they “somehow overcame a long-term plateau.”
- The disruption appears across categories, but the greatest movement seems to hit sites vulnerable due to weak SEO elements (content quality, backlinks, site architecture).
What this means for you
If you saw sudden ranking or traffic shifts this week, it’s likely related to this wave of volatility. Now is a good moment to audit your site and strengthen your SEO fundamentals, rather than panic and radically overhaul everything.
Key areas to check:
- Content quality: Ensure pages meet user intent, are updated and not thin or duplicate.
- Technical SEO: Look for crawl errors, slow page loads, mobile-usability issues.
- Backlink profile: Review for spammy links, build authoritative links.
- User experience: Engagement metrics like bounce rate, dwell time, CTR matter more when Google’s algorithm is shifting.
What to do next
- Monitor your key pages and keywords: Use tools (Google Search Console, SEMrush, Ahrefs) to spot unusual dips or spikes.
- Compare against competitors: If others are gaining and you’re losing, study their pages for what Google might now be favouring.
- Avoid knee-jerk reactions: If you lost rankings, don’t start removing pages or redirecting en-masse in panic. Optimize incrementally.
- Focus on fundamentals: Clean up technical issues, strengthen your content, build genuine links — these are long-term winners.
- Be patient: Algorithm-driven volatility often takes days or weeks to settle. Continue observing before assuming your situation is permanent.
Final thoughts
Ranking volatility like this highlights how dynamic Google’s search ecosystem remains. Even when not a formally announced “core update,” shifts can have tangible effects. For anyone managing a website, this period is less about chasing algorithm tweaks and more about doubling-down on quality and best practices.