Proprietary Assets Linked to Websites Holding Google Traffic Through 2026 Core Updates

A Zyppy analysis of roughly 400 websites found that proprietary assets were the third of five traits associated with sustained Google visibility. Published April 9, 2026, the study by Cyrus Shepard found that 92.9% of winning sites had such assets, versus 57.1% of losing sites. The research covered the previous 12 months, including the March 2026 core update, and used Ahrefs traffic data and Spearman correlations. The authors stress this is an association rather than proof that owned assets alone preserve traffic, and the other traits identified were offering a product or service, enabling task completion, tight topical focus, and strong branding.