Ecommerce SEO – Google core algorithm update impact

This month, Google has released the December 2020 Core Update. 

Following this, we have updated our eCommerce SEO report to see how the 250 UK retailers’ visibility has changed and which brands have been impacted the most. Have a look at our interactive table showing the 52-week data (Dec 2019 – Dec 2020) based on SISTRIX Visibility index. Check how the core update influenced the other industries here.

Winners:

The brands who gained the most in organic visibility were eBay (both .co.uk and .com), Apple, Etsy, Currys, Smyths Toys, Next, John Lewis, Superdrug and SportsDirect:

Losers:

The brands who lost the most visibility were Amazon (.co.uk and .com), gumtree.com, argos.co.uk, asos.com, very.co.uk and others.

One to flag:

I’m always more impressed looking beyond the spikes and towards those who are achieving slow and steady continual growth. For that reason I think Boots and Tesco are worth a special mention too:

And at the risk of blowing our own trumpet a little, it’s great to see ASICS have the biggest YoY raw growth in the sports category!

Overall conclusion: 

We’ll be keeping an eye on this, as we’re not sure if it’s finished just yet. Amazon has lost the biggest visibility, however, they have gained a lot post-covid, so this is now being balanced back out somewhat. 

Learn more about retail trends and forecasts from our interview with Paul Martin, Head of UK Retail at KPMG.