Even though the June 6th impact to limit SERPs from showing multiple results from the same websites can be categorized as “slight”, many have already released metrics detailing the influence of Google’s diversity update. Searchmetrics has already published a study showing that it had a slight effect on the general diversity of Google’s search results.

Chief findings. The key findings exposed that users are half as likely to see 3 listings from the same domain in the Google search results since the update rolled out. Google went from showing 3 results from the same domain 6.7% of the time to 3.5% of the time and, “keywords returning more than three URLs from one domain in the top 10 are effectively zero, down from 1.8%,” Searchmetrics wrote. You still have to take into account that someone searching for a specific brand probably wants to see more than one result from that official site and Google will likely show that company’s domain more than two times.

Visual Effect. Here is a chart showing the transformation from before and after the diversity update:

Source: Searchmetrics

 

Types of Searches. Searchmetrics described the categories of searches that carry some weight. Transactional, informational vs. navigation searches made a difference to the diversity of the search results. Google originally said some searches would show more than two results from the same domain – you would assume navigational searches would fall within that range.

“Transactional searches are amongst keywords that have been impacted by the Diversity Update,” Searchmetrics said.

By and Large. The study exposed how smaller web sites now have more opportunity to rank for keywords that used to be dominated by sites like Amazon. Generally, transactional queries are most affected by the Google diversity update, allowing more sites to compete in Google search.

Why it’s Important. A more diverse set of search results can assist a company competing in areas that are difficult to compete in. A more diverse set of search results provides more domains an opening to rank for a given keyword. The double edge is that this may make it more difficult for reputation management companies to perform but it also provides them with more opportunities to succeed.

There was Slight Improvement. Digging into the data it was found that between June 6th and 7th, the average diversity improved slightly, from 90.23 percent to 90.72 percent (a 0.49 percent improvement). The chart below is zoomed into the data at 10 times and is only slightly changed. Here is that chart zoomed in:

  

What to Take Away. Ultimately, the data shows this update was really not that substantial and most probably won’t see much of an impact from this update in analytically. Because this update overlapped with the June 2019 core update, knowing the restricted impact of the diversity update is beneficial to understand if your site was impacted by the Core update, the diversity update or something else. Overall, most would like to see a more diverse set of Google search results and Google has made strides towards this and can make additional changes towards this in the future.