Up to 70% Traffic Drop Due to CWS Domain Migration Errors!

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David Walker

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Jul 1, 2024, 5:49:32 PMJul 1
to Chromium Extensions

Dear Chrome Web Store Team,

We were thrilled to see the Chrome Web Store's new, fresher, and more user-friendly design. 

However, alongside the new design, we have experienced a significant loss—up to 70% of install traffic to our extensions has diminished.

Here are some examples:

We have a large portfolio of dozens of extensions and have been developing exclusively for the CWS since 2017. This is our primary business. Yet, during May-June 2024, we observed a dramatic decline in traffic across all our products, with many experiencing more than a 3X reduction in installs!

The primary traffic source for extensions has always been organic Google Search results (not CWS Search).

Currently, we are seeing a substantial drop in our rankings on Google Search across all extensions. Many extensions that were previously on the first page of Google Search results are now appearing on the fourth, fifth, sixth pages, or have disappeared entirely! To reiterate, in many cases, the drop in installation traffic is up to 3X.

We believe the traffic loss results from critical errors during the transition from the old domain, chrome.google.com, to the new chromewebstore.google.com, as well as critical errors in meta tags on the listing pages of extensions. It seems ironic that the Chrome Web Store Team, being part of Google, has not followed the guidelines set by another Google team—Google Search—resulting in what feels like a reset of our years of effort.

We have identified the most severe errors that can be quickly corrected. We reference (1) Google Search guidelines, (2) how things were handled in the old version of the CWS, and (3) how similar issues are managed on another marketplace—Google Play.

Key Issues and Solutions:


1. Critical error in redirects when moving to a new domain! 

  • Problem: Google Search recommends using a 301 redirect when moving to a new domain: "We recommend that you use HTTP permanent redirects if possible, such as 301" (source). A 301 redirect is considered as a Permanent redirect (Google Search writes that it’s used to “show the new redirect target in search results" - which is what we actually need) while a 302 redirect is considered temporary (source). 

However, if we check redirects for any extension page, we'll see both redirects! For example, check the following links:

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/dark-reader/eimadpbcbfnmbkopoojfekhnkhdbieeh
301 Moved Permanently https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/eimadpbcbfnmbkopoojfekhnkhdbieeh
302 Found https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/dark-reader/eimadpbcbfnmbkopoojfekhnkhdbieeh

You can check the above-mentioned report here: DomSignal Report

Firstly, it shows that the page is moved permanently with a 301 redirect (but to the new URL which is, by the way, not user-friendly, which is also bad for SEO), then it is redirected with a 302 (which does not comply with Google Search guidelines for moving to a new domain and leads to complications in transferring all collected signals from the old domain to the new domain - meaning a loss of traffic). 

Solution: Implement a simple 301 redirect from the old domain to the new for each page on the new domain, like this: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/dark-reader/eimadpbcbfnmbkopoojfekhnkhdbieeh
301 Moved Permanently https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/dark-reader/eimadpbcbfnmbkopoojfekhnkhdbieeh

2. The meta description tag is missing! 

  • Problem: The new version omits the crucial SEO tag <meta name="description" content="desc is here">, although Google takes the description from there for the search result page and recommends filling it out properly (source).

  • In the previous version of CWS, <meta name="description"> used the extension's short description. 

  • On Google Play, <meta name="description"> contains the short description of the app.

  • Solution: Return <meta name="description" content="desc is here"> on each extension page as previously and add the extension's short description there.

3. No indication of translation for extension pages through meta tag <link rel="alternate" hreflang="lang_code" href="url_of_page" />! 

  • Problem: If we have different language variations for an extension page, we have to tell Google Search about these different variations with a set of <link rel="alternate" hreflang="lang_code" href="url_of_page" /> elements (source). Otherwise, Google Search won’t recognize our translations. 

But in the new version of CWS, there are no <link> elements with translation! 

  • In the previous version of CWS: each extension page had a set of <link> elements with translations. 

  • In Google Play, for each language variation of an app page, there is a set of <link> elements with translations. 

  • Solution: Return a set of <link> elements with translations on each extension page.

4. <H1> tag duplicates <TITLE> tag 

  • Problem: Google Search recommends using descriptive and concise text for <title> (source) and explicitly states: “Avoid repeating the exact page title in a heading on the page” (source). If <title> tags and <h1> tags are duplicates, it is considered bad SEO practice and can negatively affect your search engine ranking. However, in the new version of CWS, <title> duplicates <h1>. 

  • In the previous version of CWS, <title> used the extension name plus "- Chrome Web Store," and for <h1>, only the extension name was used. 

  • In Google Play, in <title>, they use an app name plus "- Apps on Google Play," and for <h1>, they use only the app name. 

  • Solution: Format <title> as it was in the previous version in the form of <title>Extension Name - Chrome Web Store</title>.

5. Two <H1> tags! 

  • Problem: In fact, there are two <h1> tags on the new CWS! While Google Search explicitly writes: “Use a unique level-1 heading (h1) for each page in a set of documents and only use a level-1 heading once on a page” (source). 

In the current version, there are two <h1> tags. Check this report for one of our extensions: SEO Check Report 

  • In the previous version of CWS, there was one <h1> with the extension name. 

  • In Google Play, there is one <h1> with the app name (check this report: Google Play SEO Check). 

  • Solution: Keep only one <h1> with the extension name.

Unfortunately, there are some problems that cannot be fixed due to the move to a new domain:

6. Huge trust and backlinks of the old domain chrome.google.com compared to the new chromewebstore.google.com.

Problem: CWS was launched on the old domain in 2011 and over time it has accumulated immense trust. Over 13 years, CWS in general, and extensions linked to the old domain have been mentioned by lots of trusted authoritative sources, including top-tier news sites, which over time built the paramount authority of the old domain. 

Specifically, the old domain chrome.google.com has accumulated 281.1 million backlinks over 13 years, whereas the new chromewebstore.google.com has ten times fewer, at 29.7 million (data from Semrush). This cannot be corrected on the new domain. 

Solution: Revert to the old domain?


We urge the Chrome Web Store team to consider that although developers appreciate the new design, our primary concern is our users. Their numbers and satisfaction directly impact our happiness and financial outcomes.

The most effective solution would be to revert to the old domain, chrome.google.com/webstore, which holds significant SEO weight.

If this is not possible, please address the critical errors we've outlined above that can be quickly fixed.

P.S. We have been developing extensions since 2017, invested a lot of time, effort, and resources in CWS, and created dozens of extensions. For the past 7 years, we have been exclusively developing for CWS. During this time, we have promoted the platform to many fellow developers who have created useful products here.

However, such unpredictable changes with the domain and the loss of 70% of install traffic lead to huge financial losses and reduce the most important aspect of business - the ability to plan, making us deeply saddened and discouraged about future development on CWS.

We eagerly await the correction of these errors. Thank you in advance for your attention to this matter.

Regards,
David

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Uladzimir Yankovich

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Jul 5, 2024, 10:04:51 AMJul 5
to Chromium Extensions, David Walker
🙏

Simeon Velichkov

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Jul 5, 2024, 11:08:07 AMJul 5
to Chromium Extensions, Uladzimir Yankovich, David Walker
Interesting, that could explain why my user base is shrinking lately. Here is a chart showing the monthly installs of one of them:
Screenshot from 2024-07-05 18-01-35.png
The actual install count is not that important, but in terms of percentage I think it's pretty much there as with what was stated in the title of this thread. As you can see it first dropped in May 2024 and then it continued to fall.

David Walker

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Jul 16, 2024, 1:32:47 AMJul 16
to Chromium Extensions, Simeon Velichkov, Uladzimir Yankovich, David Walker
Dear Sebastian and Patrick,

Could you please help with addressing these issues?

Specifically, problems 2 to 5 appear to be relatively straightforward to resolve. Could you forward them to the CWS team to expedite the process?

Thank you in advance for your help.

Patrick Kettner

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Jul 16, 2024, 2:39:52 AMJul 16
to David Walker, Chromium Extensions, Simeon Velichkov, Uladzimir Yankovich
Hi David!
The team is working in addressing these asap

Thanks for the very detailed report!

Patrick

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David Walker

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Jul 16, 2024, 4:30:02 AMJul 16
to Chromium Extensions, Patrick Kettner, Chromium Extensions, Simeon Velichkov, Uladzimir Yankovich, David Walker

Hi Patrick,

Thank you for your prompt response. Eagerly waiting for the resolutions.

Thanks again for your help!

David

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David Walker

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Aug 1, 2024, 12:14:30 PMAug 1
to Chromium Extensions, David Walker, Patrick Kettner, Chromium Extensions, Simeon Velichkov, Uladzimir Yankovich

Hi Patrick and Sebastian,

We are continuously monitoring changes and have noticed that some issues (specifically 2, 4, and 5) have been fixed.

1. However, during these changes, a much more critical mistake was made, which could further reduce traffic to the Chrome Web Store from Google. Here’s the issue:

The <TITLE> and meta description tags (along with other meta tags) were added not within the <head></head> tag but within the <body><header></header></body> tag.

Having these tags outside of the <head></head> section is considered a critical error because the content of these tags would be ignored by search engines. (source1source2).

Specifically, W3C explicitly states that <title> and <meta> tags always go inside the <head> element (source1source2), otherwise, the tags and their content would be ignored by Google Search.


2. Another issue that remains unresolved is issue number 3 from my original post:

No indication of translation for extension pages through the meta tag <link rel="alternate" hreflang="lang_code" href="url_of_page" />

Problem: If we have different language variations for an extension page, we need to inform Google Search about these variations using a set of <link rel="alternate" hreflang="lang_code" href="url_of_page" /> elements (source form Google). Otherwise, Google Search won’t recognize our translations.

However, in the new version of CWS, there are no <link> elements with translations! In the previous version of CWS each extension page had a set of <link> elements with translations. For context: In Google Play, for each language variation of an app page, there is also a set of <link> elements with translations.

So, we really ask you to return a set of <link> elements with translations on each extension page.


Overall, these are relatively simple issues that can be quickly fixed and do not require complex development.

However, by fixing them, we can help restore at least some of the traffic that CWS and extensions are losing due to improper SEO optimization of CWS.

For context: our extensions continue to lose traffic, and many of them are still experiencing a 2x-3x traffic loss compared to the time BEFORE the final migration of CWS to the new domain in May 2024.

We kindly request that you address these issues.

Best regards,
David

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Евгения Землянская

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Aug 2, 2024, 10:50:49 AMAug 2
to Chromium Extensions, Patrick Kettner, Chromium Extensions, Simeon Velichkov, Uladzimir Yankovich, David Walker
Hi, Patrick. Do I right understand that unassigned traffic is internal traffic in chrome store and it also depend from organic? 

On Tuesday, July 16, 2024 at 9:39:52 AM UTC+3 Patrick Kettner wrote:

Igor Zuev

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Aug 3, 2024, 10:17:40 AMAug 3
to Chromium Extensions, Евгения Землянская, Patrick Kettner, Chromium Extensions, Simeon Velichkov, Uladzimir Yankovich, David Walker
Not really. Chrome extensions used to get massive organic traffic directly from Google Search, but it has dropped significantly due to the errors mentioned above.

That is why we eagerly awaiting the fixes.

David Walker

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Aug 7, 2024, 1:41:59 AMAug 7
to Chromium Extensions, Igor Zuev, Евгения Землянская, Patrick Kettner, Chromium Extensions, Simeon Velichkov, Uladzimir Yankovich, David Walker

Hi Patrick,

Resolving this issue is very important to us, as it is causing many products in the CWS to miss out on significant traffic.

Could you please provide some feedback on my last message in this thread?

Thank you.

Best regards,
David

Patrick Kettner

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Aug 14, 2024, 12:54:26 PMAug 14
to David Walker, Chromium Extensions, Igor Zuev, Евгения Землянская, Simeon Velichkov, Uladzimir Yankovich
Hi David!
Thank you for your patience here - it takes a frustrating amount of time to ship changes sometimes. We did get a number of fixes launched this week - title and metatag fixes are all live. The additionally language tags is something that requires a lot of infrastructure changes, so it will take longer yet.

Thank you again for such a detailed report - we really appreciate it.

patrick

David Walker

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Oct 1, 2024, 3:36:57 PMOct 1
to Chromium Extensions, Patrick Kettner, Chromium Extensions, Igor Zuev, Евгения Землянская, Simeon Velichkov, Uladzimir Yankovich, David Walker

Hi Patrick,

Thank you for the update and for getting those fixes live.

I wanted to ask when we might expect the corrections for the language tags.

Unfortunately, due to the absence of the language tags, the language versions aren’t being indexed correctly by Google, and we’re losing a significant amount of traffic that we had on the old domain.

Looking forward to your insights, and thanks again for all your efforts.

Best regards,
David

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