Forums › Forums › White Hat SEO › Why is groupon’s traffic down since June? Seems to coincide with the SEO update.
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Why is groupon’s traffic down since June? Seems to coincide with the SEO update.
Posted by MaleficentShine6925 on September 19, 2025 at 4:33 pmHoping for some help here! I am new to understanding this space and been doing a case study on why Groupon has seen such a decline in traffic since June. My early hypothesis is that their organic keywords took a big hit after the update but was hoping some experts might be able to chime in.
MaleficentShine6925 replied 57 minutes ago 2 Members · 1 Reply -
1 Reply
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WebLinkr
GuestSeptember 19, 2025 at 10:34 pmWell, they’ve lost a lot of Organic positions, topical authority drop since December, less products,. less backlinks …..= less visits
[Groupon.com](http://Groupon.com) is experiencing a significant organic traffic decline of -21.2% in the April–September period compared to October–March, as seen in the provided report. This drop includes a -31% decline in organic keyword rankings and a -23.2% decrease in organic traffic cost, indicating lower visibility and value from search engine traffic
# Some Factors leading to the decline/Symptomatic of
# 1. Loss of Organic Keywords and Rankings
Groupon has lost a substantial portion of its keyword rankings and overall visibility, with approximately 31% fewer organic keywords driving traffic. This often signals that either numerous pages have dropped out of search results or previously strong keywords lost their positions to competitors.
# 2. Backlinks & Referring Domains Decline
There is a 13.5% drop in backlinks, which can erode domain authority and reduce ranking stability, especially if lost links were from high-quality sources or targeting core pages. Backlinks are crucial for sustaining search visibility, and recent drops may have contributed to reduced organic traffic.
# 3. Technical SEO Issues
Some of Groupon’s URLs are returning 404 errors despite having built numerous backlinks. This not only wastes referral traffic but also damages SEO equity. Pages that previously drove significant visits may now be nonfunctional or missing, which leads to a direct loss in both ranking and visitor volume
# 4. Platform Competition and User Intent Shifts
Groupon’s audience is increasingly visiting competitors like RetailMeNot, CouponFollow, and SimplyCodes after leaving Groupon. Users searching for deal-related keywords may be diverted by platforms perceived as offering better or more relevant deals, reducing repeat search traffic for Groupon.
# 5. Search Engine Algorithm Updates
There have been broad reports in the SEO community of significant ranking drops following recent Google core updates throughout 2025. These updates can affect sites with thin, outdated, or highly templated content, and marketplaces like Groupon are often vulnerable if their content does not adapt to new quality standards.
# 6. Content Outdating & Product Boredom
Much of Groupon’s value depends on timely deals, local services, and event-focused content. Competitors able to update or localize offers faster may outperform Groupon, causing a decrease in search traffic and rankings.
# 7. Changing User Behavior: Mobile Traffic
Recent traffic patterns show an increasing share of mobile and direct visits, but much of what is classified as “direct” traffic is actually organic search misattributed due to technical issues, including browser and device reporting quirks. Historical miscounting might mask deeper SEO declines.
# Supporting Data from the Report
|Metric|Oct–Mar|Apr–Sept|% Change|
|:-|:-|:-|:-|
|Semrush Rank|409|505|+96|
|Organic Traffic|8.5M|6.7M|-21.2%|
|Backlinks|8.6M|7.4M|-13.5%|
|Referring Domains|77.3K|80.8K|+4.5%|
|Paid Traffic|320.8K|381.4K|+18.9%|Groupon’s organic metrics are declining while paid traffic increases, implying a growing reliance on paid acquisition rather than recovering lost SEO ground.[semrush](https://www.semrush.com/website/groupon.com/overview/)image.jpg
#
Groupon.com’s traffic loss is a result of declining keyword rankings, backlink attrition, technical issues, competitive shifts, and possible impacts from search engine algorithm changes.
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