Google had not announced any specific updates at the beginning of Feb but changes in the SERPs show significant movements. “This looks like a major update” says the Google Update Radar. On top of that, but not directly related to SERPs, is a Google Discover update. News Media sites will be watching carefully.
An analysis of losses across our domain database shows at least 90 established domains that have had a visibility loss of more than 20%. While this is a small number of the domains actively ranking in the UK (4m) this is a list of domains that had a Visibility Index of over 1 at the start of Feb 2026, which puts them in top 0.2% of domains by Visibility Index.
Categorisation
There are two ways to categorise domains. Firstly, we can look at the business sector in which they operate. Data here shows us that there is no particular stand-out sector in the data. (This bucketing was done via Gemini on the top 100 domain losses.)
- Adult Entertainment: -27.64%
- Entertainment: -33.44%
- Technology Media: -26.76%
- Other: -25.75%
- Retail: -24.01%
- Informational Media: -23.93%
- Automotive: -23.85%
- Fashion Retail: -23.56%
- Government: -24.24%
- Education: -22.41%
- Healthcare: -22.18%
- Travel and Lifestyle: -21.38%
- News Media: -21.36%
- Video Gaming: -21.13%
- SAAS: -20.69%
The second way to categorise the domain is on their SEO strategy. Google summarises it into four intents which relate to ecommerce, information, brand navigation and local search.
While this type of analysis can reveal much more useful information than a simple sector analysis, it is not simple. Each domain spans multiple intents, if not all of them, and analysis should only be done at the directory level – a process that is error-prone in an AI process, and long-winded by hand.
In the meantime, while we work on that, here’s a list of the biggest losses during the period of this week’s volatility.
| Domain | Visibillity Index 01.02.2026 | Visibillity Index 06.02.2026 | Percentage change |
|---|---|---|---|
| milton-keynes.gov.uk | 3.132 | 1.104 | -64.75% |
| oxfordreference.com | 7.537 | 3.421 | -54.62% |
| teretehottubs.co.uk | 2.217 | 1.017 | -54.11% |
| instructables.com | 27.114 | 14.310 | -47.22% |
| iwm.org.uk | 10.956 | 5.913 | -46.03% |
| netflights.com | 2.307 | 1.253 | -45.70% |
| shopify.com | 7.711 | 4.502 | -41.62% |
| biblio.co.uk | 2.027 | 1.196 | -41.01% |
| talksport.com | 2.939 | 1.795 | -38.91% |
| buckinghamshire.gov.uk | 3.433 | 2.144 | -37.56% |
| tufts.edu | 2.374 | 1.483 | -37.52% |
| partydelights.co.uk | 6.259 | 3.925 | -37.30% |
| themetrocentre.co.uk | 2.024 | 1.283 | -36.61% |
| bershka.com | 2.693 | 1.710 | -36.49% |
| grokipedia.com | 24.114 | 15.543 | -35.55% |
| mastercard.co.uk | 3.159 | 2.036 | -35.54% |
| warnerbros.com | 5.459 | 3.633 | -33.44% |
| epocamezcal.co.uk | 1.592 | 1.071 | -32.71% |
| hostinger.com | 1.611 | 1.089 | -32.40% |
| kch.nhs.uk | 1.781 | 1.228 | -31.04% |
| johnfrieda.com | 6.754 | 4.691 | -30.55% |
| xhamster.desi | 3.318 | 2.314 | -30.24% |
| bensherman.co.uk | 1.582 | 1.106 | -30.07% |
| canopytrees.co.uk | 1.468 | 1.030 | -29.83% |
| ecashton.co.uk | 2.280 | 1.611 | -29.33% |
| typingclub.com | 1.545 | 1.098 | -28.95% |
| houseofbruar.com | 2.962 | 2.112 | -28.69% |
| crucial.com | 3.827 | 2.734 | -28.57% |
| kingsleynapley.co.uk | 1.578 | 1.137 | -27.93% |
| tvlicensing.co.uk | 1.520 | 1.105 | -27.33% |
| gingerray.co.uk | 5.047 | 3.674 | -27.20% |
| chase.co.uk | 1.767 | 1.287 | -27.16% |
| listers.co.uk | 1.415 | 1.031 | -27.12% |
| freepeople.com | 2.544 | 1.863 | -26.80% |
| accuradio.com | 1.634 | 1.212 | -25.79% |
| fairfinance.org.uk | 1.483 | 1.101 | -25.75% |
| hummingbirdbakery.com | 1.797 | 1.336 | -25.68% |
| theenglishsofacompany.co.uk | 1.612 | 1.202 | -25.43% |
| handles4u.co.uk | 1.462 | 1.091 | -25.38% |
| coxandcox.co.uk | 3.282 | 2.456 | -25.19% |
| pornhat.com | 1.523 | 1.142 | -25.03% |
| glasses2you.co.uk | 1.605 | 1.206 | -24.87% |
| tea-and-coffee.com | 1.663 | 1.255 | -24.57% |
| stellar.co.uk | 3.137 | 2.371 | -24.44% |
| brighton-hove.gov.uk | 2.490 | 1.882 | -24.43% |
| skullcandy.co.uk | 1.878 | 1.420 | -24.37% |
| gooutdoors.co.uk | 25.042 | 18.983 | -24.19% |
| chesneys.co.uk | 1.486 | 1.127 | -24.19% |
| billyoh.com | 2.203 | 1.671 | -24.14% |
| westnorthants.gov.uk | 1.947 | 1.479 | -24.04% |
| astrologyzone.com | 1.431 | 1.089 | -23.93% |
| pooky.com | 3.413 | 2.598 | -23.87% |
| aboutamazon.co.uk | 1.590 | 1.212 | -23.76% |
| beststartinlife.gov.uk | 1.315 | 1.003 | -23.73% |
| dorothyperkins.com | 12.881 | 9.845 | -23.56% |
| uwe.ac.uk | 2.061 | 1.583 | -23.16% |
| findagrave.com | 1.434 | 1.104 | -23.00% |
| everywhen.co.uk | 1.905 | 1.468 | -22.94% |
| thorntons.com | 2.470 | 1.905 | -22.85% |
| helloprint.com | 2.778 | 2.144 | -22.81% |
| maggiesottero.com | 1.345 | 1.041 | -22.66% |
| prya.co.uk | 1.470 | 1.139 | -22.50% |
| avantiwestcoast.co.uk | 1.490 | 1.157 | -22.36% |
| cashgenerator.co.uk | 1.325 | 1.030 | -22.31% |
| careukliving.co.uk | 4.813 | 3.745 | -22.18% |
| pumpsalesdirect.co.uk | 1.320 | 1.028 | -22.14% |
| stylist.co.uk | 4.045 | 3.155 | -22.00% |
| potterybarnkids.co.uk | 2.655 | 2.072 | -21.96% |
| mous.co | 1.286 | 1.007 | -21.72% |
| thameswater.co.uk | 1.477 | 1.157 | -21.68% |
| allplanttraining.co.uk | 2.449 | 1.919 | -21.65% |
| thevillagebutchers.co.uk | 1.483 | 1.162 | -21.60% |
| swooneditions.com | 3.842 | 3.012 | -21.59% |
| gooseandganderltd.com | 1.783 | 1.398 | -21.56% |
| breakfreeholidays.co.uk | 1.983 | 1.559 | -21.38% |
| wineverygame.com | 3.272 | 2.580 | -21.13% |
| voxi.co.uk | 1.467 | 1.157 | -21.12% |
| ucsb.edu | 3.170 | 2.504 | -21.01% |
| versace.com | 1.361 | 1.075 | -21.00% |
| purespauk.com | 1.493 | 1.179 | -21.00% |
| directcomputers.co.uk | 1.751 | 1.384 | -20.99% |
| carpet-right.co.uk | 2.462 | 1.950 | -20.79% |
| walesonline.co.uk | 4.052 | 3.213 | -20.72% |
| dropbox.com | 3.843 | 3.048 | -20.69% |
| sohohome.com | 2.149 | 1.704 | -20.69% |
| foliosociety.com | 2.368 | 1.878 | -20.69% |
| bls.gov | 2.138 | 1.696 | -20.66% |
| perrys.co.uk | 1.305 | 1.036 | -20.58% |
| qualtrics.com | 1.758 | 1.399 | -20.38% |
| farmison.com | 2.054 | 1.637 | -20.29% |
| city-academy.com | 1.821 | 1.452 | -20.26% |
| ada.com | 1.751 | 1.398 | -20.15% |
| gateshead.gov.uk | 1.339 | 1.070 | -20.11% |
| drugbank.com | 7.954 | 6.355 | -20.11% |
More on this week’s volatility can be found in a detailed post by Lily Ray.
Google Discover Update – Feb 2026
Not expected to affect any SERPs, and therefore the Visibility Index values, is the Google Discover Update announced on 5th Feb. Established news media companies are heavily reliant on traffic from Discover and the detail points towards a clean-up operation.
