If you’ve recently tried to visit Cointelegraph or searched for it on Google and thought it had disappeared, you’re not alone. While the site is still very much online, a combination of security issues and search engine changes has significantly reduced its visibility.
Cointelegraph major drop in Google search visibility
Later in 2025, Cointelegraph suffered a dramatic fall in organic search traffic following Google algorithm updates. Industry analysts and SEO specialists reported that the site lost a large proportion of its rankings, with some claiming it temporarily failed to appear even for branded searches such as “Cointelegraph”.
This type of drop is often associated with Google tightening quality, trust, or spam guidelines, particularly in high-risk areas like crypto and finance. While Cointelegraph continued publishing as normal, fewer readers were discovering its content through search.
Google Manual Penalty
This may also be due in part to a high volume of backlinks that have appeared recently, pointing towards Cointelegraph for non-GamStop casinos. Cointelegraph will have no control over backlinks from other websites pointing towards its content, so it is possible that this could be a negative SEO attack from a competitor.
Data from Ahrefs shows millions of backlinks with non-GamStop anchor text pointing to Cointelegraph.
Non GamStop casinos accept customers who have previously self-excluded themselves from betting online using GamStop, suggesting that those searching for them are problem gamblers.
Cointelegraph is still online
Cointelegraph hasn’t disappeared, but its reach has changed. A combination of a 2025 security incident and a sharp decline in search engine visibility has meant far fewer readers encounter the site organically. For now, the best way to read Cointelegraph is to visit it directly or use its mobile app, rather than relying on Google search results.
The website continues to publish cryptocurrency and blockchain news daily and can be accessed directly by typing the URL into your browser. However, many readers report difficulty finding Cointelegraph via search engines, which has led to the impression that the site vanished.
This is a great video from Edward Strum about what has potentially happened.
Previous security breaches
In mid-2025, it was reported that Cointelegraph was affected by a high-profile front-end security breach. Hackers injected malicious pop-ups into the site that attempted to lure users into connecting crypto wallets or interacting with fake token airdrops. Cointelegraph publicly acknowledged the incident and warned readers not to engage with the pop-ups while the issue was resolved.
Although the exploit was short-lived, incidents like this can damage a site’s trust signals with users, browsers, and search engines.
