How Viagogo’s suspension from Google Ads has affected their PPC and SEO visibility

On the 16th July, Google announced it would be suspending ticketing site, Viagogo, from its paid for rankings - meaning they’ll no longer be able to buy or perform for ‘Text ads’ in the SERPs.

This will no doubt be a huge blow to Viagogo’s traffic, and could very possibly affect their organic rankings.

Using the upcoming Kendal Calling festival, we tracked Viagogo’s visibility in the SERP features to see the effect of this suspension.

Viagogo’s PPC and SEO visibility in Google

This chart visualises the percentage of all features returning for ‘Kendal Calling’ terms in the SERPs - the darkened area is the percentage Viagogo’s site is present. So 100% of the time ‘Classic links’ return, and 25% of the time Viagogo performed in ‘Classic links’.

16th July - overall SERP landscape with Viagogo's performance

The day the ban was announced, ‘Text ads’ appeared in the SERPs 25% of the time, and Viagogo also performed for ‘Text ads’ 25% of the time - this means, every time ‘Text ads’ appeared, Viagogo was present.

If we look at the SERPs just two days after the ban, 18th July, it’s a different story:

18th July - overall SERP landscape with Viagogo's performance

‘Text ads’ are still being served 25% of the time for ‘Kendal Calling’ terms, but Viagogo no longer has visibility in this feature.

Viagogo’s performance for ticket terms

Each column in this chart shows a single tracked point taken on each day over July 2019, representing the composition of page one in Google. The chart is also filtered to only show where Viagogo's site performs.

Viagogo's daily PPC and SEO visibility in the SERPs

If we focus on the term ‘Kendal calling tickets’, and track the SERPs daily for this term, we can see Viagogo performed consistently each day for ‘Text ads’ until 18th July.

We can also see how Viagogo are performing in ‘Classic links’ - their performance here varies, but they have maintained visibility here post ad ban.

Viagogo's SEO visibility remains consistent

Using Pi' SEO Platforms Position Explorer chart we can visualise Viagogo's SEO performance for 'Kendal calling tickets' over the last month.

Position Explorer chart - Viagogo's SEO visibility for 'Kendal calling tickets'

The ticketing site's organic visibility hasn't yet shown signs of decline, remaining fairly steady in the week after the ad ban.

Will the ban begin to affect their SEO performance? As their traffic takes a hit, their rankings may follow...