Annual Search Engine Cycle

I've noticed over the years that the biggest change in search engine rankings seems to happen in mid January. Is there any special reason for this? I've always waited with trepidation to see how things would change because one coud go up or down in traffic as much as 50-60% without really doing anything different. This seems to be the case with all search engines, not just Google.

zoidsoft

I have never noticed this myself, actually. are you sure it isn't site specific?

No I'm not sure, but I think it might be widespread because around jan 2002 I noticed that keyword in domain name relevance suddenly became very important. The I noticed domain names like these popping up:

www.birth-charts-zodiac-signs-astrology-signs.com...

this is part of general January effect theory:

1) stock trends to run up in January,
2) layoff happends more often in January,
and etc. .......

Maybe people get a chance to do site work in January due to the quite post holidays period and this is reflected in the SE's

And no smart person would launch new software during the Christmas holidays. We all put launching new products/services off until after Christmas so we can iron out any problems when people are back in the office - or we have sufficient staff available to handle any sudden flood of orders/queries/calls etc.

Regards, S