If you are a blogger you might occasionally glance at the statistics of your site. Even though most of us don’t blog just for the numbers, it’s always nice to see the number of views increasing as it means more people read about what you think is important. If you have been looking at your statistics of the past week you might have noticed a big drop in views which you might not have been able to explain. That reason is the new Google image search. Previously when people were searching for images (for example movie stills) they would see an overview of all images. When clicking on that image you would be redirected to the site which was hosting that image, which created views on your site.
The new implementation of the image search is different. If you do a search you will still see an overview of images, but when clicking on it the image immediately opens up on Google’s site, which means that there will be no visit to your blog. There are still options for the person searching to visit, but it takes an extra click. This also means less chance that they will stick around and click through to read other things you’ve written. I’ve noticed the drop in numbers and when I asked about it on Twitter, fellow bloggers also saw this happening.
You could say that less views because of “image searchers” is a good thing and I can agree with that. I personally always wished I could filter those out to get a more realistic image of actual visits, but not everyone is happy with the change as this post (thanks to Max from Impassioned Cinema for sharing it) clearly shows.
This week’s question:
Did you see a drop in the number of views your blog has been getting and what are your thoughts on it?
I noticed the change to Google Image search. It’s too bad because that traffic can bring in new readers that you wouldn’t expect or be able to attract otherwise.
Yeah it can, but I don’t think it is significant. Still if there is only 1 reader you get extra because of it, it is worth it.
Ohhhh, that’s what happened! I did notice the drop in views (maybe about a third off what I usually get) but yeah, I write for fun, I chat with other bloggers – that’s why I’m here really 🙂
Yeah, that’s the cause of it and I think a lot of bloggers agree with you.
My numbers did drop, but not massively.
That being said I like the new Google Image search. I may be luckier than most because of the types of images a display now as opposed to previously; my custom film title header and my use–if possible–of fan art posters.
So also a slight effect. I do think the new Google Image search looks good, I’m also a fan.
I noticed 50% drop in visitors, after which I enabled hotlink protection and now the numbers are OK.
That is a lot. What is hotlink protection exactly?
I noticed a drop of about 40% in view last week, its picking up a bit now but dick move Google haha 😀
That’s also quite a big drop and worrying if someone doesn’t know the reason.
I thought it was the dreaded drop like last Summer 🙁
Well, it could have been…
Yeah I noticed a big drop of about 50% and I have mixed feelings about it. It is a better service now and is faster but it does mean that some who may find my site through an image search now probably won’t. I have noticed an increase in regular Google searches now though, although I’m not sure if that’s related or not.
I have no idea if the search has changed, but 50% is a big hit.
At first it was jarring to see such a drop, but I think it’s a good thing. There were times when I’d see big numbers (relatively speaking) and then notice that nearly all were image searches. Cutting those out is just fine with me.
Yeah, it does hurt your ego a bit doesn’t it 😉
I lost maybe 10% of views so it’s not bad, I mostly just care about people who read and comment, but it’s nice if some of those google searchers stick around 🙂
Exactly Sati, in the end it is all about readers and commenters.
Oh yeah, I guess that’s the culprit why my hits was down significantly in January. Someone pointed it out to me via Twitter as I didn’t realize the Google Images change until after. Such a bummer… first they took out the IMDb Hit List and now this 🙁
This I don’t mind as much, the IMDB hitlist though? I still miss that! I was featured once and it did a great job in introducing new readers to your blog. Nothing except Reddit really comes close.
I noticed a drop, but until I saw some talk about it on Twitter, it didn’t occur to me that it might be because of Google’s changes; I had figured it was a combination of my recent hiatus and the post-Christmas drop-off.
I’m not really all that concerned about it… I had a hard time thinking of the image search hits as being “real” anyway, since nobody ever stopped and commented from those anyway.
Yeah, they weren’t real to me either, so I’m happy they are considerably less now.
Well, I have no idea about the new Google Image Search is the reason of decreasing pageview number lately (I think it’s just because I less promote it or what), but I have to admit that I’m glad about it 🙂 For me, increasing numbers are great but I am looking for real readers who really take advantages of my posting, not just some lost blogwalkers that come to my blog for just a glimpse. That’s why for the last 2 months I do not submit my posting to Reddit or any other social bookmarking sites because although I got a massive increasing pageviews from Reddit, I got less interactivity so it’s really doubtful if they came to my blog because of the quality of my posting or just a random click. Great posting! 🙂
Happy to hear that. I don’t submit my posts to Reddit or social bookmarking sites either. Only add links to my reviews on IMDB, but that’s really it. Thanks for commenting Akbar!
It’s always nice to get the numbers but really it’s about writing and conversing for me. Stats are nice to dissect but not the be all and end all. That being said, I did notice a drop.
Yeah, the interaction is always the most fun about blogging.
Yeah, I didn’t think of that, and it’s definitely a big factor for me considering how many people are swiping my images. I also noticed a drop by probably about 40-50% (and falling! ack!). But then there’s also the fact that Google’s new update, Penguin, completely changed some of their SEO criteria, so it’s really frustrating to know you have great content and people just won’t find it.
Hadn’t heard about Penguin (not that I’m that busy with thinking about SEO), but will read a bit about it out of interest. I can imagine it being frustrating for someone who has put a lot of time into SEO optimisation.
You are all way too optimistic. Google Image Search has reduced my traffic from nearly 3 million pageviews/ month to 1.4 million (if I’m lucky). Blogging is my only source of income. I don’t blog for the fun or the comments. Many bloggers like myself are struggling.
Well, most of us run relatively small blogs which we don’t make money off. If you do make money with it, like yourself I can see that can have a big impact. What kind of site are you running Sarah?
My traffic has basically been cut in half since Google Images changed their format. I know most of those visitors didn’t stick around, if any of them, but the drop has been jarring, to say the least. I’m curious to see what my ad revenue is going to be like with this change. Hopefully that doesn’t get cut in half, too…
That is a lot, especially when you are used to seeing a specific type of number. It does feel jarring and I’m sure it will have some impact on ad revenue.
I launched my blog about five months ago, so I have not really noticed the change … However, I have a ”Killer Joe’ essay with a number of screen shots for which I receive a lot of searches on google for some pretty nasty search stuff.
I can imagine that that movie would result in some crazy search terms…
I’m also seeing a drop off of around 40-50% from last month’s traffic because of this. I’m not too concerned though because my traffic from other quality sources like IMDb and organic search, is still increasing at a healthy rate.
Everybody seems to have seen around that number in less traffic. IMDB is good for traffic, even though it is not so much as in the IMDB hit list days.
I’ve not noticed any big drop, but then I haven’t kept a close eye on my stats for a while now. The numbers coming to my site don’t really bring in extra income or anything, in fact it sometimes hinders the few ad clicks I do get. It’s all about people who actually want to read my blog, rather than grab an image for something.
It seems more people are not as bothered by this, at least bloggers, but bigger sites notice a hit on their revenue.