It has been a really long time since covering SEO in the forums where I have seen so much stress and discussion amongst webmasters and SEOs about a possible change in the Google algorithm. We wrote about the Google May Day update twice, people suggesting this is a self improving algorithm that impacts the mid-long-tail keywords.
But the discussion continues to go on at WebmasterWorld, already on it's 3rd thread on this single topic this month. That is huge in terms of one topic of discussion at WebmasterWorld. Plus, I see random short threads at various other forums with SEOs and webmasters complaining about rank changes this month at Google.
Of course, the issue with WebmasterWorld is that they don't allow examples.
In any event, some are still wondering if this is Google Caffeine related, even though Caffeine is not an algorithm update, but rather an index structure update. Anyway, it is really hard to tell.
But if you noticed, 43% said traffic is down since the launch of the new design earlier this month. Some say it is related to the design and some say it is related to May Day. The distinction is, are your rankings the same and traffic down or is it both? If it is both, then call it May Day if it is just traffic, it is design related. If it is both, you want to check out the links above and the WebmasterWorldthread.
There is a blog said Matt Cutts of Google did mention the May Day update but didn't provide any details. The blog writes Matt as saying, "Mayday is an algorithmic change in Google (should find out more about this)." The blogger added in the comments, "Matt did not provide any details or specifics on Mayday. It was brought up during the Q & A part of the session and Matt said it had to do with changes to the algorithm to make it more accurate. I believe he said most sites would not be affected, but I'll have to review the audio I recorded."
I cannot find a video of this nor has Matt made any more comments on May Day.
Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.