Google Updates

Google Algorithm Updates: Google March 2023 Core Update

By:  Dileep Thekkethil

Updated On: March 23, 2023

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Google March 2023 Core Update

Google is now launching the first broad core update of 2023, following the previous update in September 2022. It has been just over six months since the last major update to Google Search.

The official announcement was made on Twitter, and Google also updated its search updates page, stating, “Today we released the March 2023 core update. We’ll update our ranking release history page when the rollout is complete.” The company further noted that the rollout process could take up to two weeks to finish.

As a reminder, the most recent core update before this one was the September 2022 broad core update, which had a less significant impact than earlier updates. However, given the nature of the current update, it’s crucial to be prepared for potential changes in search rankings.

Google’s March 2023 broad core update is set to prioritize the ranking of pages that provide more value compared to those currently ranking on Google. This update may lead to a significant reshuffling of SERP rankings. We will keep you posted about the impact as more data comes in.

Day 1 After the Rollout: We noticed high volatility in the SERP rankings and SEMRush sensor spiked up to 8.2, which indicates heavy algorithm impact.

Day 2 After the Rollout: It appears that the worst is over. According to the SEMRush Sensor, the spike has subsided somewhat and has now settled at 6.0, which is still considered a high range.

semrush sensor of march 2023 core update

Day 3 After the Rollout: It seems that the surge in algorithm activations has returned to normal levels, but some websites are still experiencing fluctuations in their rankings. It’s possible that this is not a persistent trend since algorithm rollouts are typically released in phases, which means that there may be days with varying levels of activity in the upcoming week.

Day 4 After the Rollout: According to the SEMRush sensor, there has been low activity recorded, which could be because it’s the weekend. Back in December 2022, during the rollout of the Helpful Content Update and Link Spam update, Google confirmed that holidays can affect the timeline of the rollout.

very low activity

Day 5 After the Rollout: Looks like the update rollout has entered a sleep mode as the tracker is sensing below normal activity, which uncommon during the launch of an algorithm update.

below normal activity

Day 6 After the Rollout: SEMRush sensor has detected another day of normal activity, which means it was yet another ordinary day.

Day 7 After the Rollout: After several days of reduced activity, it appears that the rollout is gaining momentum once more, as indicated by the increase in SERP fluctuations on the SEMRush sensor. However, the sensor has not yet reached the critical threshold, suggesting that significant changes may not be imminent.

Google Product Review Update February 2023

Google dropped their latest Product Review update on February 22nd and this time around, the update was rolled out for multiple languages worldwide including English, Spanish, German, French, Italian, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Russian, Dutch, Portuguese, and Polish.

The update took two weeks to rollout and was completed on 7th March.

If your website is into publishing reviews, say goodbye to generic, useless reviews that provide zero value to the users!

Google says its Product Reviews System is on a mission to elevate the quality of product reviews by surfacing more authentic, well-researched, and insightful reviews.

Google promises to periodically update its product review system to ensure that users get nothing but the highest quality review content on search engine result pages (SERPs).

The update is set to roll out over the next two weeks and websites producing subpar reviews might just see their rankings drop.

So, it’s time to up your review game, folks – Google is coming for those lazy summaries and superficial reviews.

December 2022 Link Spam Update Rollout Completed

Announced on 14th December, the December 2022 Link Spam Update took close to a month to complete the rollout. On January 12th, Google officially announced that both Link Spam Update and Helpful Content update rollout has been completed.

December 2022

In fact, both these updates were expected to take around two weeks to complete. However, due to the holiday season, Google said the update will be delayed.

The purpose of the Link Spam update is to improve the effectiveness of the spam detection system and help protect users from spammy or low-quality content.

It is not yet known what specific changes was be included in this update, but it is likely that it had significant implications for websites that use spammy link building tactics.

According to the announcement made by Google following the launch of the update, its AI-based spam-prevention system called SpamBrain has attained improved capabilities to detect unnatural backlinks with this update.

SpamBrain system is designed to better identify and nullify unnatural links, including those on sites that engage in link buying or link building activities. Google now believes this AI system has been trained to an extend where it can now keep 99% of its search results spam-free.

This way, Google’s new algorithm update will push down the rankings of low quality that have received undue advantage due to backlinks that were bought.

This update is part of Google’s ongoing efforts to improve the effectiveness of its spam detection system and provide a better experience for users.

The extent to which your site is affected by this update will depend on how you acquire links and how you link out to other pages.

It is important to ensure that your linking practices are natural and in line with Google’s guidelines in order to avoid any negative effects on your site’s ranking.

December 2022 Helpful Content Update Rollout Completed

Google completed the rollout of December 2022 Helpful Content Update on January 12th 2023.

The announcement about the update rollout appeared on the official Twitter handle of Google Search Central.

This latest helpful content update was expected to take two weeks to completely roll out, however, it took a few more weeks due to the holiday seaso..

The ideals behind the Helpful content update remain the same, and Google considers it a vital step towards making sure that only original content that satisfies the user’s intent ranks higher on search results.

What Does Helpful Content Update Mean to You?

Google says the Helpful content update algorithm works by assessing each website with a few classifiers that can determine if the content produced is helpful or unhelpful.

That said, the Helpful content update is a sitewide update. This means if Google finds a site producing a lot of unhelpful content over helpful ones, it will look for alternatives even for the content that’s useful.

Here are some key classifiers that determine the usefulness of the content.

AI Content 

If you are a website owner who extensively uses AI technology to create content, you may have to revisit the strategy.

Google’s Helpful content update may crack down on websites that produce content that’s purely written by AI without human intervention or intelligence put into making the content useful to the readers.

Write for a Focus Audience

If you have a website that writes about everything under the sun, you have a higher chance of seeing the impact of the new Helpful content update. There are exceptions to this, especially if you’re a news or publishing website.

However, Google is trying to map each website to a particular niche industry and then evaluate the authority of the site based on the content shared. This means that you need to find a niche industry and your website’s primary focus audience.

Expertise of the Content Creator

We have been seeing Google depending on a lot of EAT factors to rank YMYL websites. Now, it looks like Google is expanding the ambit as it says, the expertise of content creators and their first-hand experience in whatever they write about will be a key determining factor.

Check the Time Spent on Page

This is probably the most important reason why you should care for this update. If the user isn’t satisfied with the content you provide, there’s a higher chance that the Helpful content update will hit your website.

If Google sees a pattern where the users who land on your website leave it within a few seconds and come back to the search with the same query they entered to land on your page, this gives the search engine all the bad indication that your content failed to satiate the users intent.

So, make sure that your content is engaging and hooks the users for a few minutes. Also, try adopting methods that can reduce the bounce rate, which again will increase the time the user spends on your website.

Title & Content Mismatch

Are you using clickbait titles that are only intended to attract users to your page without the page actually providing the promised value? Then the helpful content update could be your nemesis. Google, with the help of its language learning algorithms like MUM and BERT, can now easily understand which page provides value and which one doesn’t. So, make sure your content does what it preaches.

Sticking to Higher Word Count for Ranking Purposes

Do you write thousands of words just to make sure all the keywords are used within the content? Google says you are on the wrong side because the intention of stuffing a lot of content is to trick the search engines and not to provide any value addition to the user who is reading it. Such practices have been for long disputed by Google spokespersons, and with the Helpful content update, it’s becoming even more important.

Speculative Content

When a site creates content around incidents or topics that are speculative or highly imaginative, the chances are such content will not show up on Google. The official page for Helpful Content Update says to avoid creating content that promises to answer a question that actually has no answer, such as suggesting there’s a release date for a product, movie, or TV show when one isn’t confirmed.

Recovery Process for Sites Hit by the Helpful Content Update

Unlike the core updates that impact the rankings of specific pages within a site, the Helpful content update has a sitewide impact. This means the sites that are affected will see an overall decline in rankings and traffic in the days after the launch.

Google says the ranking of the sites hit will not improve unless it sees a genuine effort from the website owner to make the content better or by removing the content that is less useful for the users.

The search engine giant says its classifiers will try to reassess the quality and usefulness of the content for many months. If the website improves the overall quality and abstains from publishing unhelpful content, the ranking will improve, and previous classifiers will no longer apply.

Google Rolling Out October 2022 Spam Algorithm Update

Google has confirmed that an algorithm update targeted to fight spam is rolling out to search results worldwide and in all languages. According to Google, the October 2022 spam update will take quite some time to completely roll out. (Quite obvious because it took 11 months of preparation for Google to launch it.

To ensure the quality of its search engine results, Google routinely releases spam updates. However, the exact details of these updates are rarely publicized, except when it targets specific types of spam, such as the link spam update of August 2021.

Google clearly defines what it considers spam, which involves tricking users into providing personal information or installing malware on their computers. Spam updates help to identify phishing scams and other fake sites that try to rank in search results by posing as relevant pages.

While some may consider thin web pages spam, they do not meet Google’s definition of spam. Thin content is more likely to get hit by Google’s helpful content algorithm. Hackers can even compromise sites that follow Google’s Search Essentials. If a site is not adequately secured, it could be unknowingly serving spam to users.

If you observe a drop in rankings following the October 2022 spam update, you should examine your site’s security and look for signs of a possible attack. Generally, when Google hits a site with a spam update, its content will either get demoted in the search results or deindexed from Google.

If a spam update has hit your website, Google says it could take months to recover, provided you’re willing to make the necessary changes to comply with Google’s spam policies.

September 2022 Core Algorithm Update Rollout Completed (September 26, 2022)

Google makes it official that the rollout of its September 2022 core algorithm update is complete now.

Initiated on September 12, just three days after Google’s Helpful Content Update finished rolling out, the September 2022 core update took two weeks to go live completely.

This is the second core update of the year following the May 2022 core algorithm update.

However, in terms of impact, the SEO community claims that this update is pretty swift to hit but less impactful than the previous core updates.

Though this update hasn’t created a massive impact, there may be sites that are affected after this core update.

If your site is one of them, all you have to do is take a closer look at what Google has to say about its core updates and make fixes on your site accordingly.

That will pretty much help you recover your site, especially since the advice comes straight from the horse’s mouth.

September 2022 Product Reviews Update Rollout Complete (September 26, 2022)

Google confirms the completion of the September 2022 Product Reviews Update rollout on September 26, 2022.The news has come after the search engine giant quietly updated the same on its Google Search ranking updates page.

Launched on September 20, the September 2022 Product Reviews update is now completely live in a week’s time.

Also, it is noteworthy that Google made public this Product Reviews Update rollout completion on the same day it announced that its September 2022 core algorithm update is done rolling out.

That being said, website owners and SEOs now have two fresh algorithm updates to look up to if they see significant changes in their site’s Google search rankings.

If your site isn’t review-based, you just have to pay focused attention to the core update. On the other hand, if you are someone running a website that features product reviews, you should give equal attention to both the updates to fix things for your site.

As Google’s John Mueller states, “With the core updates, we don’t focus so much on just individual issues, but rather the relevance of the website overall.”

So, core updates target all sites while Product Reviews updates specifically target product review sites. That holds true for Google’s September 2022 updates as well.

Make sure you follow Google’s Guidelines keeping in mind the nature of your website.

September 2022 Product Reviews Update Rolls Out (September 20, 2022)

Google announced the rollout of its September 2022 Product Reviews Update on September 20, 2022.

This is the fifth algorithm update in a series of updates focusing on review sites.

Following its release on September 20, 2022, this update is expected to finish rolling out in a week.

google search central

While Google made a mention of a product reviews update arriving in August, this update has arrived a bit late following the release of Google’s September Core Algorithm Update.

That said, if you see a fluctuation in your site’s ranking any time soon, you are likely to wonder if it is because of the core update or the product reviews update.

Basically, the Product Reviews Update targets sites that publish product reviews. So, if your site features review-based content, the rise or drop in rankings is most probably the aftermath of the September 2022 Product Reviews Update.

On the other hand, if you don’t run a review site but still see fluctuations in your SERP positioning in the near future, then Google’s September Core Update may be what’s driving the change.

Google September Core Algorithm Update Rollout Started

Google has confirmed the rollout of the September Core Update just a week after the rollout of the much-hyped Helpful Content update.

The release of the latest core update from Google could take up to 2 weeks to complete, during which websites could see massive ranking fluctuations.

Like in the past, the core update is intended to shake up the SERP rankings, and the sites that Google finds are offering better value to the search intent of the users will benefit from the update.

However, the sites that see massive ranking drops don’t have to panic. Google suggests such sites revisit the content within the pages that saw the rankings drop.

Making the content relevant to the users is the only way to wriggle out of the impact of the core update. Google has a dedicated page about what site owners should know about Google’s core updates.

On this page, the search engine giant clearly states that the ranking drop isn’t happening because of link quality or other SEO issues. Instead, Google’s algorithm may have found other websites with previously underperforming pages despite the tremendous effort to make the content highly relevant to the users.

By asking a few fundamental questions about your content, you can assess whether your content strategy is aligned with Google’s recommendations.

Fifteen content quality questions to ask if hit by Google’s core update

  1. Do real people write your content for real people?
  2. Have you spent time and effort adding unique information to your content consistently?
  3. Are you just touching the surface level of the topic or going in-depth?
  4. What is it that you have in your content that makes it better when compared to the competitors?
  5. Have you over-optimized the title, description and content to attract bots and not real users?
  6. Are you using a clickbait strategy to get the attention of the users?
  7. Does your content have the potential to get natural references (backlinks)?
  8. Is the content written by someone who has extensive expertise in the field?
  9. Do you focus on a niche or write about anything under the sun?
  10. Is your content going against the generally scientifically proven facts?
  11. Will people lose money or life after trying the recommendations within your content?
  12. Does the content follow grammatical best practices?
  13. Is it syndicated content?
  14. Does the content accompany intrusive interstitial elements that cause hindrance to the user experience?
  15. How good is the mobile experience of your content?

Helpful Content Update Rollout Complete – September 9th

Google has confirmed that the rollout of the Helpful Content Update is now complete.The latest algorithm update from Google started rolling out on the 25th August and the roll out took 15 days to complete.

Though it was touted or rather feared to bring in massive fluctuations in the SERP rankings, the update had its impact only on very few sites.

The update was announced as a new site wide signal that intended to classify websites based on the helpfulness of the content they published.

Google warned against the practices of publishing auto-generated AI content, surface level content that adds no value and content that are based on assumptions.

Sites that are hit by the update are recommended to revisit the published content and ensure only high quality and relevant content are made available for Google to crawl.

If you are a publisher who keeps the content unique, valuable to the user and highly authentic, the chances are this update will be a boon rather than a bane.

The only time the update showed massive ranking fluctuations was on September 8th, just a day before the roll out was complete.

If you want to know more about the new helpful content update, here is a detailed post that can help you understand the new signal fully.

Helpful Content Update Rollout Begins

The rollout of the Helpful content update began on August 25, as Google had earlier announced, and the official search ranking updates page has included it. Though the update was launched on the 25th, Google estimates it to take at least a week or two for the entire rollout to complete. 

There isn’t any immediate chatter about significant ranking fluctuations. Still, Google, during the pre-announcement, had confirmed that the impact of the update could take up to two months to reflect. 

We also know that the helpful content is now a signal within the core update, which means the signal could be used when googlebots recrawl web pages. 

I have done an extensive article about helpful content update and how website owners can adapt to the new signal that the search giant has incorporated into its algorithm. 

Helpful Content Update Pre-Announced

Google has preannounced the next big update! This one is the Helpful Content Update and will be rolled out during this week.

Even though we aren’t sure about the timelines, it’s expected to take one or two weeks for the rollout to complete.

This update is expected to have a wide-reaching impact as Google has confirmed that websites that fail to satisfy the search intent of the users will see a ranking drop.

Additionally, the Helpful Content Update is going to be a site wide update which means sites that publish a lot of unhelpful content such as Ai auto-generated, rephrased, scraped and content that covers basics that people already are aware about will see a massive drop as they are classified as unhelpful.

Some SEOs are speculating this as the Panda 2.0 update because the impact is expected to be as severe or worse than what the Panda update did back in 2012.

The focus of this update would be to rank websites that publish original content written by real people (not Ai) for real people (not for googlebots.)

Additionally, generic websites that write about all the topics under the sun may find it hard to rank after this update. Google has categorically stated that the update will boost rankings for sites that publish content for which they have proven expertise.

When it comes to the expertise of the writer, Google is again suggesting that content written by people who have prior digital footprints writing about the topic will see the articles ranking higher. Also, we believe the freshness of the content will also play a vital role.

That also means content that ranks today may lose its ranking a few months later if they fail to refresh it with timely updates that can add more value to the article.

Overall, with this upcoming update, Google wants all website owners to focus on creating content that really helps the users.

If Google finds enough evidence of unsatisfactory user interaction with the content, sites would see their rankings taking a hit.

We will update you with more information once the rollout starts.

July 2022 Product Reviews Update Roll Out Completed

Launched on July 27, 2022, Google’s July 2022 Product Reviews Update finished rolling out on August 2, 2022.While it was expected to take anywhere from two to three weeks, the news of this algorithm update completion in just six days comes as a surprise to the SEO community.

Though some sites seem to have been hit harder by this algorithm update, there’s not really much talk about it in the industry.

As you probably know, Google has its ways and this update is a way of Google rewarding review sites that publish better content.

That also means review sites that fall short of value-added content are likely to see a drop in rankings.

If you are running a review website, it’s time to check your traffic rate.

Do you see a rise in traffic, or does it remain the same? Keep up the good work.

If you are one of those sites hit hard after this algorithm update, your competitors are probably creating better content than yours, which means you need to revamp your content strategy.

July 2022 Product Review Algorithm Update

Google rolled out its July 2022 product review algorithm update on 27 July 2022.

This is the fourth algorithm update in a series of updates targeting product reviews.

Google took to Twitter to make the official announcement.

Launched on 27 July 2022, this algorithm update will finish rolling out in two to three weeks.

No specific guidelines are mentioned regarding the July 2022 product review algorithm update as of now.

Being an extension of Google’s product review algorithm first launched in March 2021, this algorithm update is expected to reward sites that publish product reviews based on in-depth research rather than the ones that just rephrase the information that appears on the manufacturer’s website.

So, does it impact all sites? No

This is NOT a core update and, therefore, is not applicable to all sites.

It also does NOT apply to e-commerce sites where customers can write reviews because they don’t count as full-fledged review articles.

It only impacts sites that publish long-form product reviews.

So, if you see fluctuations in your review website’s search rankings anytime soon, it is probably because of the July 2022 product review algorithm update.

From Google’s product review updates, it is visible that Google prioritizes reviews that add value to users.

The search engine is fond of reviews that are based on tried and tested first-hand experiences rather than cooked-up reviews.

Tell Google that you meet its expectations by including the benefits, shortcomings and features of products you review and also compare them with other similar products.

Also, include images of products you review.

May 2022 Core Algorithm Update Rollout Completed (June 9, 2022)

Two weeks into the rollout of the June 2022 Core Update, Google has confirmed on 9th June, that the rollout is complete.

It’s important to note that there were major fluctuations throughout these two weeks and we have seen websites gaining rankings, then losing them in a matter of days and then regaining them back.

It definitely looks like Google had some major changes done to the core algorithm during this update. So, hopefully, we won’t see another one for another few months. Fingers crossed.

May 2022 Core Algorithm Update

Google has confirmed the May 2022 Core Algorithm Update rollout, which effectively means the season of volatile SERPs fluctuation is back. There has been a lot of chatter around an impending Google Core Update as it’s been six months since we last saw Google rolling out one. The last time Google launched a core update was in November 2021.

Though two product review updates followed this in December and March, the impact was limited to review sites.

We don’t like hate-mongering, and we see core updates more as an opportunity than a bane. That’s because, with core updates, Google is trying to make the search landscape a level-playing field by lifting the rankings of the sites that have done exceptionally well during a specific period of time.

While a few sites get the benefit, a few others may see their rankings being taken over. But that points out the need to update the content to match the new user intent and the updates in the industry they are in.

So, what I mean to say is that if you see a drop in your rankings, that could indicate that it’s time to refresh the content of those pages.

As Danny Sullivan, the Public Liaison for Search at Google, tweeted, “Core updates are changes we make to improve Search overall and keep pace with the changing nature of the web.”

Further, the search engine giant claims that though nothing in a core update is specific to any particular site, these core updates may create noticeable changes to the way certain sites perform in organic results.

To know more about core updates, Google again points to its existing guidance about core updates published in August 2019.

Here is a brief look at Google’s general guidelines regarding core updates.

  • Expect apparent impacts, including a rise or drop in search engine rankings.
  • Google’s core updates are broad as they don’t target or are specific to any particular site. Instead, they are devised to boost the overall relevance of search results and make them more resourceful for everyone.
  • Web pages that see a drop in search engine rankings are not penalized. They are just re-evaluated against the other content that’s gone live after the last update.
  • Focusing on publishing the best possible content is the topmost recommendation to handle the kind of impact a core algorithm update has brought about.
  •  Broad core updates may come up every few months. Chances are, sites may stay unrecovered from one update until the next update takes place
  • Carrying out improvements doesn’t promise recovery. However, staying static and not making any improvements for recovery will certainly bring no recovery at all.

It is expected that webmasters who’ve been making improvements to their sites since the last update will begin to see a substantial rise in their search engine rankings.

On the contrary, people who have left their sites unattended after the last core update are likely to see themselves outdone by sites featuring better content.

Predictions aside, again, it is going to take about a couple of weeks for this new update to unveil completely.

So, nothing much has changed as of now.To get to know things better, we’ll have to wait for the next update regarding the May 2022 core update straight from the horse’s mouth.

March 2022 Product Reviews Update

Google has confirmed the roll out of March 2022 Product Reviews Update, the third in a series of updates that started in 2021 which intends to reward websites that publish in-depth reviews based on true first-hand experience.

The official tweet of Google SearchLiaison reads, “Today we’re launching the latest of our product reviews updates, designed to help ensure reviews come from people who demonstrate expert knowledge and first-hand research about products.”

According to Google, templated reviews that just touch upon the periphery of products and services aren’t something that interests the users. However, multiple reviews of this kind have found top positions in Google search.

Even though Google doesn’t intend to penalize such reviews citing quality and thin content issues, the search engine giant says it definitely wants sites that publish quality reviews to get an edge as that’s the type of content users expect when searching online.

Google has been rolling out Product Review Update since 2021, with the first one making its appearance in April 2021, followed by another one in December the same year. The latest one is the third in this batch, and it does come with a few additional criteria for ranking.

Google confirms that the last two Product Review Updates were focused on giving a ranking boost to in-depth research-based reviews published by people who demonstrate expertise in the field (that’s indeed E-A-T). However, the March 2022 Product Review Update adds a few more criteria to be considered as authentic review, which includes:

  • Depiction of the benefits or drawbacks of the product and how different it is when compared to its previous version.
  • First-hand information from people who have physically or digitally used the product along with appropriate evidence that shows what it looks like and how to use it.
  • The perspective of the reviewer about the product beyond what’s already provided by the manufacturer through visuals, audio, links.
  • Give users a list of similar products and explain what makes the reviewed product stand out from the rest.

Google says the update will impact only English language queries, but they plan to expand it to more languages in the coming days.

This initiative from Google is again part of the overall vision of the search giant to help users get trustworthy and reliable information.

Talking about the rollout, it takes a week or two before it gets complete, and during this period, websites (mostly affiliate and review-based sites) may see volatility in the rankings.

Hit by Google’s product review update? Here is a checklist to help you trace what went wrong.

  • Check if the products are reviewed by experts with a digital footprint in the field.
  • Are you providing added value to the review by including the pros & cons that help users make an informed buying decision?
  • Did you do a quantitative analysis where you put the product under various performance tests to measure how it performs?
  • Did you compare the product with the ones already available in the market, and have you detailed what makes the product you reviewed unique?
  • Have you talked about product improvements made when compared to the last version?
  • Were you able to identify the highlight factors that make or break the deal?
  • Did you use images, videos, graphs, or other evidence to back up your claims?
  • Are you trying to over-promote one seller? If so, try to give users more buying options.

Page Experience Update for Desktop 2022

Google has begun rolling out the page experience update for desktop web pages and desktop search. This update will be rolled out during the next few weeks and completed by March-end, 2022.

This update will include all the present signals of the mobile version of the page experience update and outside of the page requiring to be more mobile-friendly. Google declared that all the page experience factors for mobile would be considered except mobile-friendliness. Below is a chart from Google showing the specific factors it’ll consider: What is Page Experience? There is a detailed developer document by Google on the page experience criteria. These metrics are meant to understand how users will perceive the experience of a specific webpage in terms of page loading time, mobile-friendliness, HTTP protocol, presence of intrusive ads, etc.

Page experience comprises several existing Google search ranking factors, such as the mobile-friendly update, HTTP ranking boost, page speed update, and intrusive interstitials penalty.

With this rollout and the new Google update, Google said not to expect drastic changes. In their own words, “While this update is designed to highlight pages that offer great user experiences, page experience remains one of many factors our systems take into account… Given this, sites generally should not expect drastic changes.”

Page Experience Update – Desktop Rollout Complete (March 3, 2022)

The page experience update finished rolling out to desktop search results, Google confirms. The update started rolling out for desktop on 22nd February and concluded on 3rd March, making it a 9-day rollout.

Comparatively, the page experience update on mobile took about two and a half months.

With Google confirming the conclusion of page experience update for desktop, you can now start measuring its impact on your search rankings.

Assessing The Impact of Desktop Page Experience Update

Any positive or negative shift in rankings occurring on or after 3rd March can be attributed to Google’s page experience update. To analyze if this is true, use Google tools to analyze your site’s page experience score.

Google Search Console has a dedicated report to evaluate Page Experience on the desktop version of web pages. Using this report, you can analyze how the Page Experience impacts your site.

Core Web Vitals Search Console Report

If the report shows a majority of your pages in red or yellow, it’s possible that any ranking drop on March 3rd happened due to being negatively impacted by the page experience update. If you discover your website has poor page experience scores, find out why by looking at the criteria individually.

Desktop Page Experience Update Criteria

Google’s page experience update for desktop search includes several similar ranking factors as the algorithm launched on the mobile search last year. Desktop page experience ranking factors include:

  • Core Web Vitals (LCP + CLS + FID)
  • HTTPS Security
  • Absence of intrusive interstitials

Desktop page experience ranking factors

If your website fails to meet any of the above criteria, you will not benefit from the page experience ranking boost on desktop. However, a ranking drop doesn’t mean your site is penalized for not meeting Google’s page experience criteria.

It simply means sites meeting Google’s criteria might rank above you, causing your pages to rank lower. Therefore, improving your page experience score can help you regain those ranking positions.

Here is the page experience update you need to focus on:

  • Is your site HTTPS? If yes, you can rule this out.
  • Does your site have intrusive ads? If not, you can rule this out.
  • Does your site pass Core Web Vitals thresholds? If you’re unsure, you’ll have to test it.

It’s crucial to note page experience isn’t everything. Ultimately, content relevance is important, but offering a good page experience also helps.

Page Experience Update for Desktop 2022

Google has begun rolling out the page experience update for desktop web pages and desktop search. This update will be rolled out during the next few weeks and completed by March-end, 2022.

This update will include all the present signals of the mobile version of the page experience update and outside of the page requiring to be more mobile-friendly. Google declared that all the page experience factors for mobile would be considered except mobile-friendliness. Below is a chart from Google showing the specific factors it’ll consider: What is Page Experience? There is a detailed developer document by Google on the page experience criteria. These metrics are meant to understand how users will perceive the experience of a specific webpage in terms of page loading time, mobile-friendliness, HTTP protocol, presence of intrusive ads, etc.

Page experience comprises several existing Google search ranking factors, such as the mobile-friendly update, HTTP ranking boost, page speed update, and intrusive interstitials penalty.

With this rollout and the new Google update, Google said not to expect drastic changes. In their own words, “While this update is designed to highlight pages that offer great user experiences, page experience remains one of many factors our systems take into account… Given this, sites generally should not expect drastic changes.”

Product Review Update December 2021

Google has launched the second product review update for 2021, and it’s intended to help websites that offer in-depth reviews that help users make an informed buying decision.

Earlier, in April, Google had launched a similar update. Sites with shallow reviews that add no value were by that update. A similar impact is expected for the December 2021 Product Review Update as well.

According to Google, they received feedback from the users on what type of content they find useful and trustworthy.Users generally trust reviews that provide evidence of tested products and want multiple options to buy the product.

This is why Google has added this new product review guidance. For now, this update is rolling out for the English-language pages, which will take about three weeks.

Google has also provided two new best practices that you can use for your content.

1. Add more multimedia to your product reviews to support your expertise and showcase your authenticity.

2. Provide links to multiple sellers, which will give your readers the option to purchase from the merchant of their choice.

This new update will promote review content better than the templated information available on the web.

Google will be promoting these in-depth product reviews in their rankings.

However, this doesn’t mean that lower-quality product reviews will be removed completely from the search. Thin content that’s similar to the product description will be demoted from the first page results.

The update’s focus is to ensure that users have access to in-depth product reviews, have original research, and are written by experts.

If your website is offering product review content, it is important that you check how your rankings have been impacted because of the update.

For the long term, you need to ensure that you add more details into your product review content so that it stands out from the competition.

November 2021 Core Update

Google announced yet another broad core algorithm update.

However, the update seems to have stirred up conversations on multiple forums and discussion platforms with worried website owners, especially the ones who were ready for the holiday season, calling it a deal-breaker.

Even though the result of the update seems to be drastic as always for a few websites, Google’s take on it has remained the same.

They call it just yet another update with a focus on ranking websites that are offering better quality content for the search queries entered by the users.

John Mueller tweeted in reply to SEO Rich Messey’s tweet regarding the timing of the November update where he said, “good things go up with the update too.”

Danny Sullevan in one of his tweets wrote, SEOs should probably stop the fear-mongering about the broad core updates and try to reassure website owners about the positive side of it when they have their website follow the best practices.

Thinking about what is the best way to optimize your website for safeguarding it from such updates?

The broad core update doesn’t mean there is something wrong with your website. If you see a drop in rankings that’s just an indication that your content may require an update. Refresh the content before doing anything else and don’t switch to panic mode, there isn’t anything that’s irreversible, provided you are doing no blackhat SEO.

Ask yourselves these questions regarding the content:

  1. Is it authentic?
  2. Does the page really have content that’s useful for the users?
  3. Have you included original research, analysis?
  4. Is there something that’s unique to your content that makes it stand out?
  5. Are the titles within the content relevant to the topic covered or are they misleading?
  6. If the content comes under the YMYL category, was it written by someone with high credentials in the field like a doctor or a financial expert?
  7. Is your content safe for children and the general public?
  8. Is the content contrary to the scientifically proven information?
  9. Does it abide by the common rules of grammar, spelling, and style?
  10. Is it syndicated to multiple other websites?
  11. Are you using too many pop-ups or ads within the content which makes it hard for the user to read?

November 2021 Spam Update

Spam update, like the core updates that Google launch is intended to improve the quality of search results by weeding out sites that the algorithms think is spammy.

Because of the update, it’s possible that a few sites had ranking fluctuations during and after the rollout of this new algorithm update.

Websites that do White Hat SEO don’t have to worry much as this update can do more good than harm. That said, sites that indulge in SEO practices that Google deems as spammy may face a drop in rankings.

Google’s announcement on Twitter reads “As part of our regular work to improve results, we’ve released a spam update to our systems. This November 2021 spam update should be fully rolled out within a week. We encourage sites to follow our best practices for Search.”

Page Experience Update Rollout Completed (June 16, 2021)

After three months of gradual rollout, Google has now confirmed that the Page Experience Update, which will add Core Web Vitals as a ranking factor, has been completely rolled out.

The official twitter handle of Google Search Central tweeted, “The page experience rollout is complete now, including updates to Top Stories mobile carousel. Changes to Google News app have started to rollout as well and will be complete in a week or so.”

Even though the update was scheduled to be complete by August, it seems like Google missed that deadline by a month.

The page experience signals of Google now include:

  • Core Web Vitals
  • HTTPS
  • Mobile-Friendliness
  • Intrusive Interstitial Guidelines

These signals combined will now play a vital role in deciding the rankings of websites.

The page experience factor will be critical for search results that have multiple sites providing relevant information. Starting now, Google’s algorithm will evaluate the page experience signal and rank higher pages that have a better user experience.

July 2021 Link Spam Update

Links are back in the spotlight with Google announcing the rollout of the link spam update.

The latest algorithm update has started rolling out and the impact is expected to be broad and across all languages that Google supports.

According to the official note from Google, the update is intended to further scrutinize the quality of the outbound links within a site.

The explanation says Google has been finding more and more websites using outbound links as a means to monetize their website.

Though such monetization is allowed in some instances, like for an affiliate site, Google wants such sites to make use of the different rel attributes to mark the type of the outbound link.

Unlike the past link updates, the infamous one being Penguin, this new update is not intended to immediately penalize the website. However, what it does is “nullify” the undue advantage that some sites enjoy by building low-quality backlinks.

The official announcement says, “this algorithm update, which will roll out across the next two weeks, is even more effective at identifying and nullifying link spam more broadly, across multiple languages. Sites taking part in link spam will see changes in Search as those links are re-assessed by our algorithms.”

What this means is there are chances websites that overtly used spammy link-building practices will see a drop in rankings.

Through its announcement, Google is sending out a warning to websites that use spammy practices and it’s almost certain that a few sites will start seeing massive fluctuation in rankings after the rollout.

July 2021 Core Update

The July 2021 Core Update made its landslide impact on search results.

The official announcement came via the official Twitter handle of SearchLiaison and the details remain similar to other Core Updates.

As usual, the Core Updates are quality updates intended to help websites with high-quality relevant content.

If you see a drop in rankings it doesn’t mean your website has any major flaw but it just means that somebody has better content published.

To give a bit more perspective, the July update was supposed to be launched along with the June Update. However, due to a few modules that required more perfection, the search engine giant decided to roll it in July.

Looking at the fluctuations we are seeing on algorithm sensors, the update seems to be massive, which means a lot of websites should have experienced either a jump in traffic or a drop considering the changes in the keyword rankings.

Here are a few screenshots from popular Algorithm Update Sensors

SEMRUSH Sensor

July update on semrush sensor

MozCast

mom cast July core update

AccuRanker

accuranker algorithm spike

Spam Update

June was hot for SEOs with Google announcing a slew of Algorithm updates after a lull of almost six months. After June Core Update and Page Experience Update, Google announced the rollout of Spam Update, to make the search safe for the users.

Though Spam Updates don’t affect genuine websites, the repercussions of the update could be massive for sites with dubious and deceptive intentions.

The official tweet of Google SearchLiason says, “As part of our regular work to improve results, we’ve released a spam update to our systems.”

The second batch of Google Spam Update was launched on June 28th and the implications of it remain the same as the earlier one.

Google also officially announced that Spam Update Rollout is now complete.

Page Experience Update Rollout

As anticipated, Google started the slow rollout of an update that inducts its latest ranking signal Page Experience into the core algorithm.

The update which had been officially christened “Page Experience Update” completed the rollout by August. However, to begin with, Google confirmed that the immediate impact of the rollout can be seen in the results that appear in the Top Stories.

The top stories carousel in Google Search (mobile version) now sees non-AMP pages. This means any Google News Approved webpage can feature in the News Carousel irrespective of its Core Web Vitals score or page experience status.

What we know is the page experience ranking factor didn’t play a vital role at least till August.

Google has also confirmed that the page experience update is not going to make a massive difference in the rankings because it’s just one of the many factors that decide which page to rank.

The Page Experrice Update will be part of the larger segment of Google Algorithm that includes other ranking elements such as Mobile-Friendly, Safe Browsing, HTTPS, and No Intrusive Interstitials. Combined, these are called User Experience signals.

We are also expecting Google to do away with the AMP badge on the search results page and replace it with something that lets users identify content that offers a great user experience.

We will keep you posted when Google announces more implications of the Page Experience Update Rollout.

Google June 2021 Core Update Roll Out

Google announced that it has started the rollout of the most anticipated and the first broad core update of 2021 – June 2021 Core Update.

The last time Google announced a core update was back in December. Even though the rollout of the core updates followed a pattern for three months, Google decided to break it this time and took 6 months to roll out the latest update.

This was the announcement made by the Google Search Liason’s official Twitter handle:

As always, the definition of the core update remains the same. It’s intended to present relevant and authoritative content to searchers. What this means is, those sites that failed to rank despite offering quality and authoritative content will benefit from the update.

It has to be also noted that Google rolled out this update in parts. According to the official statement, some of the proposed update modules weren’t yet ready and this forced the team to roll out a partial update this time.

However, Google confirmed that another Core Update will be rolled out next month which will be called the July 2021 Core Update.

You can expect a reshuffling of SERP rankings due to the impact of the update. This is normal as Google is trying to make the top search results more relevant to the users.

If you find a dip in rankings, make sure to update the content by adding more relevance and authoritativeness. Please keep in mind that the update is not focused on links or any other aspect but is purely based on the search relevance.

We did a quick check on different algorithm trackers and were surprised to find no major fluctuations during the first few houses after the launch.

However, the sensors started spiking up on June 3rd night with the peak being observed on June 4th.

SEMRush Sensor

Semrush Sensor

MozCast

mozcast

SERP Metrics

SERP MEtrics

Algoroo

algoroo

Google Product Review Update Roll Out Completed

Google has now completed rolling out its product review update that was first announced on April 8, 2021.

About this new search algorithm, Danny Sulivan of Google states, “Caveat is with any update, you can still sometimes have some edge case lingering. But effectively done.”

The product review update fully rolled out on April 22, 2021, emphasizes the quality of review-type content and the need to meet user intent.

Google is not directly penalizing sites that feature product reviews with low-quality, thin content. However, it will sound more like a penalty when another site with better content than yours shows up while you are pushed down in the SERPs.

The truth is, Google is not posing a penalty against your content but only intends to appreciate sites that put up unbiased and insightful product reviews that help users to make better choices.

This update checks only on product review type content and not anything else. Though data providers claim it to be a big algorithm update, it isn’t as eye-catching as the Google core update.

If you run a product review website, this update will certainly have an impact on your site and it’s time to revamp your content to be in line with this new algorithm update. If not, you don’t have anything to worry about.

Google has also provided noteworthy tips to help website owners understand what kind of product content rank better with this update.

Google Product Review Update, April 2021

Even though Google hasn’t launched a core update since December, the search engine giant has released a new update that impacts product reviews. The Product Review Update started rolling out on April 8, 2021and it seems like the impact is quite significant. Unlike the core update, this product review update is taking more days to complete.

This new update is focused on improving the ranking of pages that provide in-depth and useful product reviews.

While the update gives a boost to the rankings of such useful content it will push thin reviews down the rankings so that the users don’t have to go back and repeat the same search. According to Google, this is just another improvement that it’s making to the ranking system and should be looked at separately and not as part of the core update.

Google with this new algorithm update aims at helping those websites that are producing rich and useful content that satisfies the intent of the users.

Even though this is an update that has nothing to do with the usual core update, the advice for webmasters remains the same. Produce quality content that helps people satisfy the real intent.

Specific to this update, if you are a website owner that publishes reviews, make sure that the content is written by an expert in the field. Again, this update seems to be more aligned towards E.A.T (Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trust.)

Here are a few tips provided by Google for websites that publish product reviews:

  1. Get the content written by an expert
  2. Don’t depend on the peripheral content provided by manufacturers. Do a hands-on review with your personal experience of using the product.
  3. Based on the kind of product you review, try to include important features, such as the performance if your product is a laptop.
  4. Make sure to add a section that speaks about how the product you are reviewing stands out amongst the top competitors.
  5. Most products have advantages and disadvantages. Don’t skip both, this shows you are doing an impartial review.
  6. If the product is an updated version, compare it with the previous version you used and inform the users how different it is now.
  7. Also, tell the readers why they should buy the product and the USPs that they must consider before making the buying decision.
  8. Try to identify the beneficiaries of the product. Not all products are beneficial to all people so help the right audience take an informed decision.

What Google is trying to aim with the product review update of 2021 is to make sure that reviews that are genuine rank higher and the ones that are paid by the manufacturer and affiliate site owners don’t make it to the top of search results.

Google Algorithm Update – December 2020 Core Update

On December 17th, Google announced that the rollout of the December 2020 Broad Core update is finally over.

The announcement about the update came two weeks back on December 3rd and the official tweet from Google had confirmed that it may take up to two weeks for the rollout to be complete.

We saw some rigorous movements in the SERP results after the December 2020 Core update.
[adrotate banner=”3″]Check out this tweet from SEO Consultant Marie Haynes:https://twitter.com/Marie_Haynes/status/1336005067124707329Many sites saw a good /average increase in organic traction after the update, and they thought the good times are back.But…The first three days after the update was beneficial and then Google seems to have launched the reversal update.Many site owners took to Twitter and forums to express their dismay as their ranking improvements disappeared. In some cases, the rankings fell worse than before.Here is a tweet from Glenn Gabe of G-Squared Interactive:https://twitter.com/glenngabe/status/1337390054528966657Our suggestion for you is to continue producing good quality content and not make any panic decisions.The core algorithm updates are intended to revise the search results to give an advantage to high-quality content that failed to show up.Unfortunately, this process ends up in a few sites losing the rankings. The most common culprit is stale content.Make sure to add more relevance and context to your content with additional impetus on adding useful information that users are searching for online.Also, try creating holistic content than fragmented. Bind your content around topics, clubbing them together in Pillar-Cluster format.This way, Google will sense more topical relevancy on your content, and you have a higher chance of ranking higher.The causalities caused by this new broad core update seem to be massive.By looking at the tweets, and more importantly, the algorithm trackers, it seems like a lot of sites were hit. But there is always a brighter side to this because many sites that were not ranking high are now on top, which is good.Based on what we know until now, looking at the forum discussions and the SEO community’s sentiments, the Update was more significant than what we saw last May. Probably, Google Algorithms found a lot of things changed during the time of Pandemic that required major reassessment.Anyhow, it’s pretty clear that the rollout had a global impact, with almost all industries seeing massive SERP fluctuations.The complete rollout usually takes about a week or two, which means the changes that you are seeing now may be temporary, and the results might be different when the rollout is over. So, keep up your spirits and wait till the rollout is complete before making decisive decisions.2020 and 2021 weren’t that great anyway; let hope 2022 will open up a lot more opportunitiesHere is how the Algorithm Trackers Detected the Impact of the December 2020 Core Update.

SEMRush Sensor

semrush sensor

MozCast

mozcast

AccuRanker

accuranker

RankRangerrankranger

Putting an end to the seven-month wait of SEOs, Google finally announced that the December 2020 Core Update will be rolled out on December 3rd.

The official SearchLiason Twitter handle made the preannouncement about the update. The tweet says, “Later today, we are releasing a broad core algorithm update, as we do several times per year. It is called the December 2020 Core Update. Our guidance about such updates remains as we’ve covered before.”

The directives for the webmasters remain the same as Google has previously announced that broad core algorithm updates are meant to reassess the quality of pages currently ranking on Google.

This means that the websites that were not ranking higher on Google despite publishing quality content will get a ranking boost. However, the websites that see a drop in rankings have to deep dive into the reasons that could have triggered it.

According to Google, a drop in rankings after the core update doesn’t mean that the website or its content is bad. The search giant says it could be just that someone has written an updated content or added fresh data, which the users are more interested in reading.

What makes this update more significant is that it came after a hiatus of more than seven months.

Since late 2018, it has been a pattern for Google to roll out an update every three months, but the last confirmed Broad Core Update was announced back in May 2020, just as most countries around the world were passing through the worst phase of COVID 19.

Unconfirmed Google Algorithm Update – 16-08-2020

A few days after Google faced the heat due to a bug within its Caffeine Algorithm that caused irrelevant results to appear on SERPs, the search engine giant now seems to have launched a major algorithm update.

According to the data retrieved from algorithm trackers, the new update, which remains unconfirmed till now, has created strong turbulence in search results. This also means that many websites may have noticed significant changes in the organic traffic trend.

This kind of very high SERP fluctuation is usually the result of Google making decisive changes to its algorithm as it does a number of time every year. Usually, these unannounced massive fluctuations are precursors to a looming broad core update.

SERP Fluctuation Detected by Different Algorithm Trackers

SEMRush

google algust algorithm update

SERP Metrics

google new algorithm update

Rank Ranger

google algorithm update

AccuRanker

google update

Unconfirmed Google Algorithm Update – 23-06-2020

We know Google has a history of rolling back some of the signals after the rollout of Broad Core Updates. However, these changes are not announced and it’s only through the sensors that we get to know about the SERP fluctuations.

It looks like Google has rolled back a few signals of May Core Update on the 23rd June as we have seen websites hit by the last Broad Core Update getting ranking improvements.

Here is a quick analysis of the unconfirmed Google Update that I did along with Senthil Kumar, VP, Stan Ventures.

The sensors are also showing a big spike in ranking fluctuations

AccuRanker

Advanced Web Rankings

RankRanger

SEMRush Sensor

SERPMetrics

Google Starts Rolling Out May 2020 Core Update – 04-05-2020

After two months of recess, the SEO community braced for yet another Google Broad Core Algorithm Update. Announcing the roll-out of the latest core update, the Official Search Liaison Twitter handle said, the update has started rolling out across different data centers.

The roll-out, like all other typical broad core algorithm updates, took a week to complete, and the impact took some time to reflect on the results.

Unlike the daily updates that Google launches, the broad core algorithm update has vast implications as it is notorious for shuffling the organic results, causing fluctuations in the organic rankings of websites.

However, there is no quick fix if a broad core algorithm update hits you, says Google. The reason for the decline in the organic ranking is not because your website has serious SEO issues, but it is the result of Google finding better results for the search query.

Listen to my discussion with Senthil Kumar, VP, Stan Ventures about the impact of Google May Core Algorithm Update:

Full Transcript

Senthil: Hey guys, welcome to another episode of SEO on Air. Today I have with me my colleague, Dileep. And this is the first time we’re collaborating on this (podcast). Dileep is our content head and takes care of the Stan Ventures web content.

Most of you who are listening to this will be aware of the rank for most of the competing keywords when it comes to Google algorithm updates. So it’s the time of the year where Google releases these algorithm updates and you may see a bump in your web traffic. Well, that doesn’t really mean it’s all because of the algorithm update, as it could as well be seasonal traffic. So, we are here to discuss what this algorithm update is about and what it can cause.

So, I and Dileep came up with the podcast idea just five minutes back (we were having a conversation about what’s happening out there). It’s a very ad hoc, impromptu podcast, I would say. Anyway, Dileep, welcome to the show, man.

Dileep: Thank you. Thank you.

Senthil: The topic for today’s discussion is the Google algorithm update. The core algorithm update is very special because it’s a rock-solid one. They (Google) waited for two months and then released it.

Dileep: Yes. So now they have a definite pattern for launching the algorithm updates, at least the core one. The last one was launched in March, the other in Jan. So definitely we can expect a broad core algorithm update during the period of every two-months.

Within the SEO community, many SEO forums were discussing Google postponing the update because of COVID. However, I think Google had its own plans.

So this time, if you check the fluctuations after the May broad core update, they are huge. There was a big launch last year, the BERT. It was said that almost 10% of the global search will have its impact, but you can’t see much fluctuation.

However, compared to the last three or four Google algorithm updates, this one has high fluctuation. This means some websites, which were ranking on top, have definitely felt the heat. Some well-maintained websites may have improved their rankings, but a handful of websites that were ranking on the first page or the featured snippet have definitely felt an impact of this update.

Senthil: I did notice that because I was tracking a few high-value keywords last week in an insurance article for a prospective client. We were doing an SEO audit and trying to figure out what they were ranking for. When talks began, they were in the sixth position, and after we submitted the proposal, they were in the third position. They were pretty happy about it.

But one thing that I noticed was that earlier, the first and second position was dominated by really good brands in the industry. The prospective client was in the third position while other data aggregators like Policy Bazaar were ranking in the fifth and sixth places.

After this update, these big brand websites have gone down the ranking scale and the data aggregating sites with some really good content have climbed up the ladder. It’s a weakness because, instead of tracking the services pages of websites for keywords related to money, Google is choosing to focus on sites with huge chunks of detailed content.

Dileep: I think that’s pretty good because Google is tracking for the users. So, for example, the guy who lost his ranking for a money-related keyword may rank on his features page for the same keyword. However, if a user clicks on the site and finds the information useless, he/she will definitely click back to the search page and find the right site for their needs. So this is basically Google collecting information from users over time, using tactics like this where the user closes one site and opens another, and letting them know what they want ranking on SERPs.

That’s why there is always a gap of two to three months when they launch the Broad core update. If you check on a daily basis, Google launches two to three updates every now and then. Last year alone, there were almost 900,000 updates launched.

Coming back to the money keyword, we have to understand that the user typing the keyword is not considering it as one. He wants something else, and that’s why the blogs are ranking now.

Senthil: So, let me share my screen and do a quick check. I think you’ve already added a detailed analysis on this, so let’s do a quick walkthrough. For people who are listening to this, we’ll be adding this podcast on the blog post as well for your perusal.

Dileep: The day the update was launched, there were no major fluctuations in rankings. What usually happens is that after Google rolls out the update, its effects start showing over the next few days.

It was on May 4th that Danny Sullivan, through his official Google account, announced that they were going to launch the new update. But when I checked the Moz and SemRush sensors on that particular day, both these tools were not showing much fluctuation.

It was on May 4th that they announced the update, but the fluctuation started from May 5th.

Senthil: Yeah. I can see a big tower here.

Dileep: Actually, there is a bigger update, which you can see if you Google SEMRush sensor, and it has caused huge fluctuation in rankings.

Usually, the algorithm updates are launched across multiple data centers. On May 5th, when it was just rolled out, the SEMRush sensor was at 7.7, and you can see a huge spike on May 6th.

Senthil: Yeah, just shot up like anything.

Dileep: So this huge spike in rank fluctuations is something that I haven’t seen for at least one and a half years. It can be a good indicator that many websites have been hit by the update. You can also see all the categories that have got hit.

Senthil: So it’s clearly not a regular update. When it comes to Google core algorithm updates, it’s across industries. It’s not like an EAT update or YMYL update where only the money websites, insurance, healthcare, and other similar websites were affected.

But if you look at a broad core algorithm update, you can easily figure out that by looking at this itself, you can look at all the categories. Almost everybody has taken a hit, right? This gives you a sense that this is definitely a broad core algorithm update.

So the local pack, obviously, because of the COVID and other reasons, might have taken a hit, but look at this knowledge panel, the growth by 32.2%.

Dileep: And also, if you check for some individual niches, you can see there’s a huge drop in featured snippet positions during that particular day.

But it has picked up after they rolled out the update completely. So this means that they have made some fresh changes to what they are displaying on the featured snippet data. So if you’ll just select one of the top niches in that, go to finance or even health.

Senthil: Yeah. Let’s look at health care because that’s the department where last year, the update hit them. The local pack has taken a hit by 1.2%

Dileep: So you can see how the featured snippet has been packed at this thing climb, which is showing, that is how the featured snippets, so that day when they launched that date, the featured snippet went down. Like anything. So that means they really did some refresh on the feature snippet area, and now we can see it is normalizing.

One thing about featured snippets is you can see that they are getting the user’s inputs. They have a feedback area for all the features in the search results displayed. They get feedback from the users and they use it whenever they do a broad core algorithm update. That’s what I have seen while analyzing the past few updates that they have rolled out.

A feature snippet position is something that no website owner can say, “I am ranking on the featured snippet and I will be ranking there for the rest of the year.” You can’t predict it because this is something that Google decides and based on many factors, which they obviously have not revealed.

But yeah, there are techniques in which you can optimize your content to rank on featured snippets, which most of the website owners are also trying to do.

So the position of the featured snippet is something that is kind of volatile when an algorithm update is launched.

Senthil: Let’s look at mobile as well. The data might be skewed anyways because COVID 19 is there and there will be naturally a decrease.

Dileep: The problem is that the user’s mentality for search has changed over the last two months. There are a lot of daily updates that they are rolling out. So, based on that, they are tweaking the search results on a daily basis.

There are chances that some of the niches, before even launching this particular update, were facing some kind of fluctuation in their ranking because the user intent kind of changed after the COVID incident.

Senthil: Absolutely. So I think the best thing for whoever has lost the rankings, I know some, I mean, there are always winners and losers and it changes.

So if you’ve won, congratulations. Enjoy the cake and enjoy the victory. But the people who have been building so far and have lost the rankings, I don’t think we should panic. I think there’s not much that you can do about it. Probably, you can get back to the basics. Try to check the spammy links, try to look at the person that outranks you. Look at that page and look at the content styling.

Dileep, what I feel is when people are looking at it, they miss the point that “what is the intent?” Why did Google outrank it? For example, at the beginning of the conversation, I told you. This was a money page where it is trying to sell an insurance product.

But the website that has outranked this website has a page which talks about top 10 insurance products that you can buy. And it has a really good comparison. So I think the intent shift is there. Instead of thinking that you should add all your content on the service page, maybe you can rethink the strategy, look at the search results and figure out what Google prefers to show more.

Maybe if they are gonna show more blog pages, then maybe it’s time for you to recheck if any blog on your website has the capacity to go and try to do that. Because if you’re still stuck with the money page, then probably, it might work or it might not.

So it’s always better to have your link man in place so that if anything happens and you know, you still have a lifeline to save you.

Dileep: I think one of the reasons why people try to put these kinds of money keywords for the service pages itself is because the number of conversions that happen from a blog page probably might be a little less than the service page.

So that is probably the thought process. But here, the intent is different than the user who is coming from a blog based content will never buy a product from your website. So he’s in the top of the funnel probably, like we say in marketing. So he’s just exploring the options. Even if you are ranking for the keyword on the featured snippet, I don’t think the person will buy the product from you.

He will again go back, he will do his research and probably, later on in the stage of his marketing funnel, he might come back again. But again, at the initial stage, he will not. So ideally, if that is the case, then I would prefer having a blog rather than my service page.

Senthil: Absolutely. You’re right. Actually, the money keyword is still there. Money keywords, like for example buy with a particular name, the ranking still hasn’t changed. But the ranking has changed for the top of the funnel informative keywords. So I think the change is now Google itself is trying to realign themselves into saying hey if you’re an insurance company, don’t go after the keyword insurance. That’s all. That’s what Google is trying to say.

If it’s like insurance, it means the intent of the user is to look at multiple comparisons. So even if you’re a big brand so far, you might have won that cushion layer from Google because Google thinks the best brands should always rank, but now I think that is getting decimated with this.

So basically, they want to keep the users happy. That’s how Google earns. So if the user is not happy, then they are losing their own money. So they want to make users as happy as possible.

They have all the ways to understand whether the user is happy or not. They can check the time spent on the page, the bounce rate; these are all signals that Google already has to measure whether the user is happy or not. So there is no way we can trick it. I think the thought process should be to align ourselves with the intent of the user.

Just forget about Google, let’s just forget about Google for the time being, and just try to focus on your user. If your user is coming for something, which is probably a blog post, you provide him that rather than putting your service page upfront.

Senthil: So hopefully, yes. Guys, that summarizes the discussion. So, if you are affected by this algorithm update, please don’t panic. Just look at who has outranked you. Look at what intent that website satisfies and ensure that you’re able to match up to that expectation. And for God’s sake, don’t go after the single keywords. Go after the keywords that solve the intent.

That is exactly what Google is trying to do. Don’t try to be Wikipedia. Try to be a brand. You’re there to make money, so whatever pages that make you money, try to focus on the page and don’t go after the tons of other things out there.

So that summarizes this discussion. Thank you so much, everyone. So Dileep, you have anything else to add before I wind up this podcast?

Dileep: One more thing, I think there are a lot of people who are in panic mode because I am seeing a lot of comments on our Google algorithm update page, telling that they are almost on the verge of closing down their business because of this update. So what I would like to tell them is this is something that is probably a phase in your digital marketing platform. So basically, it can turn around within the next algorithm update.

So what usually happens is once the algorithm update is launched, then after two or three days, Google would analyze whether the update has hit some genuine websites. So what they used to do is they used to roll back whatever negative things were there within the update.

Senthil: Like a refresh. They usually release it after a couple of weeks. So your job is not lost yet, guys. So don’t worry. There will definitely be a refresh coming up and the good sites that got knocked down by this, they will get their thing back. But that also depends on who outranked you. So if that outranked guy is better than you, then that is a very little chance.

Dileep: Yeah, but again, if they keep on trying to improve upon their content, I’m pretty sure they’ll be able to rank when the next broad core algorithm is launched. So Google itself says a majority of the sites who are hit by a broad core algorithm update, they can only recover when another broad core algorithm update is launched.

So basically, just wait for another two months. Do a good job, continue producing good quality content, and then you’ll have a sure shot of ranking again.

Senthil: Absolutely. Great. Thanks, man. It was a good conversation. So anyone having any questions around this, please feel free to leave your comments.

We’ll do our best to get back to you. Dileep will answer whatever technical things that you guys have. Feel free to give a shout out and hopefully, we get through this. Already COVID on one side and the core algorithm on the other side. Tough times actually make the best businesses, so if you’re able to survive the next two months, you can survive at least for a while.

So all the best guys! Feel free to share your comments, and don’t forget to like, share, and subscribe. I’m just trying to become like the YouTubers. Anyway, thank you so much. Have a nice day.

The only way for websites that are impacted by the broad core update is to improve the quality of the content and its authority.

We did a quick analysis of the popular algorithm trackers and the impact of the Broad Core Update seems significant. Here are a few screenshots.

MozCast

mozcast

SERPMetrics

searp metric rank fluctuation may

SEMRush Sensor

semrush sensor may 2020 update

RankRanger

rankranger algorithm update may 2020

AccuRanker

accuranker may 2020 google update

We will keep you posted with all insights about the May 2020 Core Update.

Unusual SERP Changes During Unusual Times (March – April)

The weeks following the spread of COVID-19 have been quite tumultuous with almost all Google Algorithm Update checkers displaying spike in algorithm activity. We are not sure whether this is due to the change in global trends after the global pandemic or because of some incremental updates that Google has rolled out.

With many local businesses temporarily closed, the local search results witnessed many changes. The Google Map Pack is currently subjected to high volatility due to the COVID-19 circumstances.

However, we believe that this is a passing phase, and things will normalize once the threat of COVID-19 is over. We are all looking up to that day and hope you and your family are safe during these difficult times.Google has made several steps to ensure that no fake news goes out to the public through their SERP, and this has resulted in many Health and Wellness websites seeing massive fluctuations. If you check the SERP page for COVID-19, it’s evident that Google doesn’t want to take a chance by listing sites other than the high authority ones.

Since Google has not come up with any announcements regarding the core update, these changes have to be deciphered as the result of the change in search behavior of the users.

Going by the algorithm trackers, there is a high fluctuation almost every day. What we are now going through is unforeseen circumstances, and the same is happening in the search landscape.

Such a scenario has never occurred in the internet era, and the current changes and fluctuations have to be put into in-depth analysis before we can conclude on the factors that are making such violent SERP changes.

If you are seeing massive traffic drop or keyword positions decreasing, I suggest you not to make a series of changes at this point in time. Keep doing the great work and wait until the good times are back

SERP Fluctuations Through the Eyes of Algorithm Trackers

AccuRanker

AccuRanker

Advanced Web Ranking

AdvancedWebRanker

Algoroo

AlgooRoo-April

MozCast

MozCast-April

RankRanger

RankRanger-April

SEMRush Sensor

SEMRush Sensor April

SERPMetrics

SERPMetrics-April

Unconfirmed Algorithm Update – February 8 – 13, 2020

We understand that there are thousands of algorithm tweaks that happen every year. However, the one that has occurred during the second week of February seems to be as significant as a broad core algorithm update!Announcing important algorithm updates before its rollout is a habit that Google has been following for the last two years. Thanks to Danny Sullivan, the SearchLiaison twitter handle has been doing a great job, keeping webmasters informed about impending updates.

However, it seems like an update with as much or even more impact than a Broad Core Algorithm Update was rolled out – unnoticed.

Algoroo

Unconfimred Algorithm Update Feb Algoroo

SERPMetrics

Unconfimred Algorithm Update Feb SERPMetrics

MozCast

Unconfimred Algorithm Update Feb

SEMRush Sensor

Unconfimred Algorithm Update semrush feb

RankRanger

Unconfirmed Algorithm Update Rank Ranger Feb

I asked Danny whether there was a significant update. However, the answer came out to be the same template that Google executives provide when they are hesitant to reveal further details of the update.

However, I’d take this reply from Danny as a “Yes” to my question. We will be doing an in-depth analysis of the websites impacted by this update in the coming days.

Featured Snippet Algorithm Update – January 23, 2020

Google officials announced that it has rolled out an algorithm update that will restrict URLs that is shown in the featured snippet to appear again within the first ten organic search results.Google’s Danny Sullivan, while replying to a question on Twitter confirmed that a webpage that gets featured in the snippet position AKA #0 position, will not show up again in the listing.

According to Danny, Google’s Public Searchliaison, the new tweak in the algorithm will ensure the Search Results page is not cluttered, and only relevant information gets displayed.He also confirmed that starting today, the featured snippet will be counted as one of the ten listings on the SERP.

“If a web page listing is elevated into the featured snippet position, we no longer repeat the listing in the search results. This declutters the results & helps users locate relevant information more easily. Featured snippets count as one of the ten web page listings we show,” tweeted Danny.

Danny also confirmed that the new update has been rolled out 100% and is now effective globally.

Interestingly, I had predicted the same to happen and had asked Google’s John Mueller whether Google is testing the new featured snippet update. John’s reply to my tweet was convincing enough to believe that they were indeed testing the new update, which is now live.

Google January 2020 Broad Core Algorithm Update

As announced on January 13th Google rolled out the first Algorithm Update of 2020. The significance of this algorithm update increases as the search engine giant has confirmed that the new Google Update is a broad core algorithm update.

The rollout was pre-announced through the Google Search Liaison official twitter handle. The tweet read, “Later today, we are releasing a broad core algorithm update, as we do several times per year. It is called the January 2020 Core Update. Our guidance about such updates remains as we’ve covered before. “

Google rolls out close to a thousand algorithm updates each year. However, it’s only a few times in a year that a broad core algorithm update is released. The significance of the broad core algorithm is closely related to the impact it has on the websites.

Unlike the core update, which usually goes unnoticed due to the fewer tremors it causes, the Broad Core Algorithm Update makes significant SERP fluctuations, which often results in giving webmasters panic attack.

Google has been telling webmasters that the only way to recover from the impact of a Broad Core Algorithm update is by building great content. It also says that these updates are focused on improving search quality by giving users better search results.

During the initial days after the Algorithm Update, various Algorithm Update trackers started showing huge fluctuations. This is an indication that a lot of websites are in fact seeing an increase or decrease in their organic ranking positions.

Accuranker

Accuranker Image of SERp Fluctuation

AlgorooAlgroo Image of SERP Fluctuation

Moz Cast

Moz Cast Image of SERP Fluctuations

Rank Ranger

Rank Ranger Image of SERP Fluctuation

SEMRush

Semrush Sensor image of SERP fluctuations

SERP Metrics

SERP Metrics Image of SERP Fluctuation

BERT Update Live for 70 Languages – December 9, 2019

Google has officially announced the rollout of BERT (Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers) in Google Search across 70 languages.Earlier in October 2019, Google rolled out BERT, touting it as the latest and most reliable language processing algorithm. The BERT has its origin from the Transformers project undertaken by Google engineers.

During the announcement of the BERT Algorithm Update, Google confirmed that its new language processing algorithm will try to understand words in relation to all the other words in a query, rather than one-by-one in order. This gives more impetus to the intent and context of the search query and delivers results that the user seeks.The Google SearchLiaison official tweet says, “BERT, our new way for Google Search to better understand language, is now rolling out to over 70 languages worldwide. It initially launched in Oct. for US English.”

Here is the list of languages that uses the BERT natural language processing algorithm to display Google search results:

Afrikaans, Albanian, Amharic, Arabic, Armenian, Azeri, Basque, Belarusian, Bulgarian, Catalan, Chinese (Simplified & Taiwan), Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Farsi, Finnish, French, Galician, Georgian, German, Greek, Gujarati, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Icelandic, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Javanese, Kannada, Kazakh, Khmer, Korean, Kurdish, Kyrgyz, Lao, Latvian, Lithuanian, Macedonian Malay (Brunei Darussalam & Malaysia), Malayalam, Maltese, Marathi, Mongolian, Nepali, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Punjabi, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Sinhalese, Slovak, Slovenian, Swahili, Swedish, Tagalog, Tajik, Tamil, Telugu, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian, Urdu, Uzbek, Vietnamese, and Spanish.

Difference Between BERT and Neural Matching Algorithm

The announcement about the rollout of the November Local Search Algorithm Update by Google opened up a pandora of questions in the webmaster’s community. The whole hoo-ha about the update stems from the term “neural matching.”

It was only in September that Google announced the rollout of its BERT update, which is said to impact 10% of the search results. With another language processing algorithm update now put in place, the webmaster community is confused as to what difference both these updates will make on the SERP results.

Google has patented many language processing algorithms. The BERT and the Neural Matching are just two among them. The Neural Matching Algorithm was part of the search results since 2018. However, this has been upgraded with the BERT update in 2019 September.

As of now, Google has not confirmed whether the Neural Matching Algorithm was replaced by the BERT or if they are working in tandem. But the factors that each of these algorithms uses to rank websites are different.

The BERT Algorithm is the derivation from Google’s ambitions project Transformers – a novel neural network architecture developed by Google engineers. The BERT tries to decode the relatedness and context of the search terms through a process of masking. It tries to find the relation of each word by taking into consideration the predictions given by the masked search terms.

Talking about Neural Matching, the algorithm is closely related to research that Google did on fetching highly relevant documents on the web. The idea here is to primarily understand how words are related to concepts.

The Neural Matching algorithm uses a super-synonym system to understand what the user meant by typing in the search query. This enables users to get highly relevant local search results even if the exact terms don’t appear in the search query.

When it comes to local business owners, the Neural Matching algorithm will better rank businesses even though their business name or description aren’t optimized based on the user queries. Neural Matching algorithm in Local Search results will be a boon to businesses as the primary ranking factor will be the relatedness of the words and concept.

Basically, the BERT and Neural Matching Algorithms have different functional procedures and are used in different verticals of Google. However, both these algorithms are trained to fulfill Google’s core philosophy – to make the search results highly relevant.

Local Search Algorithm Update – November 2019

Google has confirmed that the fluctuations in the organic search that were reported throughout November were the result of it rolling out the Nov. 2019 Local Search Update – the official name coined by Google. There was a lot of discussion about possible algorithm update during the first week of November and the last week. However, Google failed to comment on this until December 2nd. The official announcement about the update came via a tweet by Danny Sullivan through the official Google SearchLiaison twitter handle. The tweet read:

However, Google also said that webmasters need not make any changes to the site as this local algorithm update is all about improving the relevance of the search based on the user intent. The search engine giant also confirmed that the local search algorithm update has a worldwide impact across all languages.

The new update helps users find the most relevant results for local search that matches their search intent. However, Google has been using this for displaying search results since 2018, primarily to understand how words are related to concepts.

The new algorithm now understands the concept behind the search by understanding how the words in the search query are closely related to each other. Google says it has a massive directory of synonyms that help the algorithm to do that neural matching.

Starting November 2019, Google uses its AI-based Neural matching system to rank businesses in Local Search results. Until recently, Google was using the exact words found on a business name or description to rank websites on local search.

Unconfirmed Google Algorithm Update – November 27, 2019

There was a major tremor in some algorithm trackers and this could be an indication of another Core Update that could be as significant as the one rolled out on November 8, 2019. There are a few algorithm trackers that picked up the heat and some were just showing a little spike as of 27th.

Unconfirmed Google Algorithm Update – November 8, 2019

There is a lot of chatter in the SEO arena about a major shift in rankings of websites during the second week of November. However, there is no official confirmation about this from Google, which means it could be a significant Core Update that Google has confirmed happens hundreds of times a year.The chatters were more focused on websites that came under categories such as recipes, travel, and web design. A closer look into some of these sites revealed that there were no major on-page issues. That said, a deeper link analysis gave us a fair bit of idea about the pertinent question, “WHY US?”

Recipe sites, Travel Blogs, and Web Design companies get a lot of footer links, and most of the time, they are out of context. This, according to the Google link scheme document, is a spammy practice. According to Google, “widely distributed links in the footers or templates of various sites” will be counted as unnatural links. This may have played spoilsport, resulting in a drop in rankings.

After the chatters online, Google came up with an official confirmation via a tweet on the SearchLiason Twitter handle, stating that there have not been any broad updates in the past weeks. However, the tweet once again reiterates that there are several updates that happen on a regular basis.

In the Twitter thread, Google also gave examples of the type of algorithm updates that will have a far-reaching impact on search and how the search engine giant informs webmasters prior to the launch of such updates to ensure that they are prepared.

Only a few Algorithm trackers have registered the impact:

Advanced Web Analytics

November Google Algorithm - Advanced Web Analytics Algorithm Tracker

MOZ Weather

November Google Algorithm - Moz Weather Algorithm Tracker

RankRanger

November Google Algorithm - Rank Ranger Algorithm Tracker

SEMRush Sensor

November Google Algorithm - SEMrush Algorithm Tracker

SERPMetrics

November Google Algorithm - SERPMetrics Algorithm Tracker

Google BERT Algorithm Update – October 2019

It’s been close to five years since Google announced anything as significant as the BERT Update. The last time an update of this magnitude was launched was back in 2016 when the RankBrain algorithm was rolled out.According to the official announcement of Google, the new BERT update impacts 10% of overall search results, across all languages. The statement says that BERT is the most significant leap forward in the past five years, and one of the biggest leaps ahead in the history of search.

With so much emphasis given to the latest Google Algorithm Update – BERT, it’s most likely going into the SEO history books along with its predecessors, Penguin, Panda, Hummingbird, and RankBrian. The update will affect 1 out of 10 organic search results on Google search, with a major impact on Search Snippets, aka Featured Snippets.Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers, codenamed BERT, is a machine learning advancement made by Google involving it’s Artificial Intelligence innovation efforts. BERT model processes words in relation to all the other words in a sentence, rather than one-by-one in order. This gives more impetus to the intent and context of the search query and delivers results that the user seeks.

The announcement about the BERT update was made through the official Twitter handle of the Google SearchLaison. The tweet read, “Meet BERT, a new way for Google Search to better understand language and improve our search results. It’s now being used in the US in English, helping with one out of every ten searches. It will come to more counties and languages in the future.”

The new BERT update makes Google one step closer to achieving perfection in understanding the natural language. This also means that the voice search results will see significant improvement.

To know more about Google’s BERT Update, read our extensive coverage on its origin, concept, and impact on Google search results.

September 2019 Core Algorithm Update Starts Rolling Out

Google confirmed the rollout of the September 2019 Core Update via its SearchLaison Twitter handle. The tweet read: “The September 2019 Core Update is now live and will be rolling out across our various data centers over the coming days.”

Unlike the other Broad Core Updates launched by Google, the September 2019 Core Update didn’t have a massive impact on websites. However, the algorithm trackers registered fluctuations in SERP.

Moz

September Google Algorithm - Moz Weather Algorithm Tracker

SERPMetrics

September Google Algorithm - SERPMetrics Algorithm Tracker

Algoroo

September Google Algorithm - Algoroo Algorithm Tracker

Accuranker

September Google Algorithm - Accuranker Algorithm Tracker

RankRanger

September Google Algorithm - RankRanger Algorithm Tracker

SEMRush Sensor

September Google Algorithm - SEMRush Sensor Algorithm Tracker

September 2019 Core Algorithm Update Pre-announcement

Google once again confirmed, via its SearchLaison official Twitter handle, that a new Broad Core Algorithm update will be rolling out. This is the second time that Google preannounced the rollout of an algorithm update. The last time they did it was before the roll out of the June 2019 Core Update.

The June 2019 Core Update had a major impact on websites that failed to implement the E.A.T Guidelines. However, going by the current pattern, the new update had a far-reaching impact on websites that fail to provide Google with quality signals. In addition to this, the new update was rolled out after Google made three big announcements the previous week – New Nofollow Link Update, Google Reviews and the Key Moments in Videos.

We will keep you posted on how the new broad Core Update impacts the SERP appearance of websites.

Google Search Reviews Updated – September 16, 2019

Before the official Algorithm Update announcement., the last time that the search engine giant issued a public statement was on June 4, 2019, when it rolled out the Diversity Update to reduce the number of results from the same sites on the first page of Google search.

However, on September 16, the official Google Webmaster Twitter account announced that a new algorithm is now part of the crawling and indexing process of review snippets/rich results. According to the tweet, the new update will make significant changes in the way Google Search Review snippets are displayed.

Here is what the official Google announcement says about the update:

“Today, we’re introducing an algorithmic update to review snippets to ease implementation: – Clear set of schema types for review snippets – Self-serving reviews aren’t allowed – Name of the thing you’re reviewing is required.”

According to Google, the Review rich results have been helping users find the best businesses/services. Unfortunately, there has been a lot of misuse of the reviews as there have been a few updates about it from the time Google implemented it. The impact of Google Search Reviews is becoming more and more felt in recent times.

The official blog announcing the roll out of the new Google Search Review algorithm update says it helps webmasters across the word to better optimize their websites for Google Search Reviews. Google has introduced 17 standard schemas for webmasters so that invalid or misleading implementations can be curbed.

Before the update, webmasters could add Google Search Reviews to any web page using the review markup. However, Google identified that some of the web pages that displayed review snippets did not add value to the users. A few sites used the review schema to make them stand out from the rest of the competitors.

Putting an end to the misuse, Google has limited the review schema types for 17 niches! Starting today, Google Search Reviews will be displayed only for websites that fall under the 17 types and their respective subtypes.

List of Review Schema Types Supported for Google Search Reviews

Self-serving reviews aren’t allowed for LocalBusiness and Organization

One of the biggest hiccups faced by Google in displaying genuine reviews was entities adding reviews by themselves via third-party widgets and markup code. Starting today, Google has stopped supporting Google Search Reviews for the schema types LocalBusiness and Organization (and their subtypes) that use third-party widgets and markup code.

Add the name of the item that’s being reviewed

The new Google Search Reviews Algorithm Update mandates the name property to be part of the schema. This will make it mandatory for businesses to add the name of the item being reviewed. This will give a more meaningful review experience for users, says Google.

Google Diversity Update Roll Out – June 4, 2019

Just a few days after the incremental June 2019 Core Update, Google officially confirmed that another update is now part of its Algorithm.

The new Diversity Update curbed multiple search results from the same website from appearing on the first page of Google search. Our first impression of this new tweak is that the impact of it was pretty minor.

But discussions are happening in forums about how the update will impact branded queries, which may require Google to list several pages from the same site.

The announcement about the roll-out was made through the official Twitter handle of Google Search Liaison. The tweet read, “Have you ever done a search and gotten many listings all from the same site in the top results?

We’ve heard your feedback about this and wanting more variety. A new change now launching in Google Search is designed to provide more site diversity in our results.”

“This site diversity change means that you usually won’t see more than two listings from the same site in our top results.

However, we may still show more than two in cases where our systems determine it’s especially relevant to do so for a particular search,” reads the official statement from Google.

One of the major changes to expect after the diversity update is with regards to the sub-domains. Google has categorically stated that sub-domains will now be treated as part of the root domain. This will ensure that only one search result appear per domain.

Here is what Google says, “Site diversity will generally treat sub-domains as part of a root domain. IE: listings from sub-domains and the root domain will all be considered from the same single site. However, sub-domains are treated as separate sites for diversity purposes when deemed relevant to do so.”

June 2019 Core Algorithm Update Roll Out

The June 2019 core update was slowly being rolled out from Google’s data centers that are located in different countries. The announcement about the rollout was made from the same Google SearchLiaison Twitter account that made the pre-announcement.The algorithm trackers detected a spike in their graph. This indicated that the impact of the latest broad core algorithm update, which has been officially named June 2019 core update, started to affect SERP rankings.

Since Google has updated its Quality Rater Guidelines a few days back before the roll out with more emphasis on ranking quality websites on the search, the latest update may be a quality patch for the search results page.

We will give you a detailed stat of the impact of the algorithm update on SERP as soon as we get the data from the algorithm trackers. Also, our detailed analysis of the websites hit by the update and the possible way to recover will follow.

June 2019 Core Algorithm Update Preannouncement

Google Search Liaison officially announced that the search engine giant will roll out an important Algorithm Update on June 3rd.The latest Google algorithm update, which will be a Broad Core Algorithm Update like the one released in March, will officially be called the June 2019 Core Update.

It was the first time that Google pre-announced the launch of an Algorithm update.
Here is the official Twitter announcement:

Unofficial Google Algorithm Update of March 27th

Yes, you heard it right. Google made some significant changes to the algorithm during the final few days of the month of March.We have seen Google making tweaks after the roll-out of Broad Core Algorithm updates, but the one we witnessed here was huge, and some algorithm sensors detected more significant ranking fluctuation than the one that happened on March 12th when Google launched its confirmed March 2019 Core Update.

The fluctuations that started on March 27th is yet to stabilize, and more and more webmasters are taking it to forums after their website traffic got hit.

The latest tweak has come as a double blow for a few websites as they lost the traffic and organic ranking twice in the same month.

Google Officially Calls March Broad Core Algorithm Update as “March 2019 Core Update”

As I mentioned in my earlier update, Google representatives have a history of snubbing the names given by SEOs for their Algorithm Updates.Usually, their criticism ends without attributing any names to the update but it seems like Google is now easing its muscles and giving official names to their updates.

The official Google SearchLiaison Twitter handle announced on Thursday that Google would like to call the Broad Core Algorithm Update of March 12th as “March 2019 Core Update.“

“We understand it can be useful to some for updates to have names. Our name for this update is “March 2019 Core Update.”

We think this helps avoid confusion; it tells you the type of update it was and when it happened.” Read the tweet posted on the wall of Google SearchLiaison.

With this, let’s put an end to the debate over the nomenclature and focus more on the recovery of the sites affected by the March 2019 Core Update.

Recovering Sites Affected by March 2019 Core Update AKA Florida 2

Have you been hit by the March 2019 Core Update? There are several reasons why a website may lose traffic and rankings after Google rolls out an algorithm update. In most cases, the SEO strategies that the website used to rank in SERP backfires, and in other instances, Google finds a better site that provides superior quality content as a replacement.

In both these cases, the plunge that you’re experiencing can be reversed by implementing a well-thought-out SEO strategy with a heavy focus on Google’s E A T quality.However, the initial analysis that we did has some good news for webmasters. The negative impact of the latest update is far less than what we thought.

Interestingly, there are more positive results, and the discussion about the same is rife across all major SEO forums.

This makes us believe that the Broad Core Algorithm update on March 12 is more of a rollback of a few previous updates that may have given undue rankings for a few websites.

Importantly, we found that sites with high authority once again received a boost in their traffic and rankings.

We also found that websites, which had a rank boost last year by building backlinks through Private Blogging Networks, were hit by March 2019 Core Update, whereas the ones that had high-quality, natural backlinks received a spike.

If you’re one of many websites that were affected by the Google March 2019 Core Update, here are a few insights about the damage caused to sites in the health niche.

Health Niche

According to the data provided by SEMRush, Healthcare websites saw a massive fluctuation in traffic and rankings after the recent March 2019 Core Update.

The website has also listed a few top losers and winners. We did an analysis of the top 3 losers and here is what we found:

MyLVAD

MyLVAD is listed as one of the top losers in the Health category according to SEMRush. The Medic Update hit this site quite badly in August 2018, and it seems like the latest March 2019 Core Update has also taken a significant toll.

According to the SEMRush data, the keyword position of MyLVAD dropped by 11 positions on Mar 13. MyLVAD is a community and resource for people suffering from advanced congestive heart failure and relying on an LVAD implant.

We did an in-depth analysis of the site and found that it does not comply with the Google E A T quality.

The resources provided on the site are not credited to experts. Crucially, the contact details are missing on the site.

Since it’s more like a forum, the website has more user-generated content. As this website falls under the YMYL category, it’s imperative to provide the author bio (designation of the doctor in this specific case) to increase the E A T rating.

Also, details such as ‘contact us’ and the people responsible for the website are missing.

PainScale

The PainScale is a website, which also has an app that helps manage pain and chronic disease. The site got a rank boost after the September 2018 update, and until December that year, everything was running smoothly.

The traffic and ranking started displaying a downward trend after January, and now the Florida 2 Update has reduced it further.

On analyzing the website, we found that it provides users with information about pain management. Once again, the authority of the content published on this website is questionable.

Though the site has rewritten a few contents from Mayo Clinic and other authority sites, aggregation is something that Google does not like.

The website also has a quiz section that provides tools to manage pain. However, the website tries to collect the health details of the users and then asks them to sign up for PainScale for FREE.

Google has an aversion to this particular method, as they are concerned about the privacy of its users. This could be one of the reasons for the drop in traffic and rankings of PainScale after the March 2019 Core Update.

Medbroadcast

This is yet again another typical example of a YMYL website that Google puts under intense scrutiny. Medbroadcast gives a lot of information regarding health conditions and tries to provide users with treatment options.

Here again, like other websites on this list, there is no information regarding the author.

Moreover, the site has a strange structure with a few URLs opening in sub domains. The website has also placed close to 50 URLs towards the footer of the homepage and other inside pages, making it look very spammy.

This site also received undue traffic boosts after the Google Medic Update of August 2018. The stats show that the traffic increased after the Medic Update and started to decline at the beginning of January.

Once again, the impetus is on E A T quality signals. The three examples listed above points to how healthcare sites that failed to follow practices mentioned in the Google Quality Rater Guidelines were hit by the Florida 2 Update.

Here are a few tips to improve your website’s E A T rating:

1. Add Author Byline to All Blog Posts

Google wants to know the authenticity of the person who is providing information to users.

If the site falls under the YMYL category, which includes websites in the healthcare, wellness, and finance sectors, the author should be someone who is an expert in that field. Google wants to ascertain that trustworthy and certified authors draft the content displayed to its users.

Getting the content written by content writers is a trend largely seen among YMYL sites. Nevertheless, Google hates it and only wants to promote high-quality, trustworthy content.

2. Remove Scraped/Duplicate Content

Google calculates the E A T score of a website by analyzing individual posts and pages. If you’re engaging, scrapping or duplicating content from another website, chances are you may be hit by an algorithm update.

As seen in one of the above-mentioned examples, paraphrasing content doesn’t make it unique, and Google can identify these types of content very easily.

So, if you think your website has thin, scrapped or rewritten content, it would be ideal to remove it. For YMYL websites, ensure that the content is written by an expert in your niche.

3. Invest Time in Personal Branding

Make sure that your website has an “About Us” page and you’re providing valuable inputs to Google in the form of schema markup.

In addition, positive testimonials and customer reviews, both within the site and outside, can boost the trustworthiness of your website.

Google’s quality rater guidelines also ask webmasters to display the contact information and customer support details for YMYL sites.

4. Focus on the Quality of Back-Links Than Quantity

The Google search quality guidelines suggest that websites with high-quality backlinks have a superior E A T score.

Investing time in building low-quality links through PBNs and blog comments may invite Google’s wrath and can adversely affect a website’s E A T rating.

It’s highly recommended to use white hat techniques such as blogger outreach and broken link building as part of the SEO strategy to get high-quality links.

5. Secure Your Site With HTTPS

The security of its users is a priority for Google, and that’s why it’s pushing websites to get SSL certified. HTTPS is now one of the ranking factors, and it’s also one of the ways to improve the E A T rating of websites.

Also, it has to be noted that Google Chrome now shows all non-HTTPS sites as insecure, which is a clear indication of how Google values the privacy of its users.

To know more about the factors that Google use to rank health websites, read our in-depth article, “Advanced SEO for Healthcare and Medical Websites: Tips to Improve Search Quality Rating“.

Here are a few rumors from the Black Hat World about the Latest Google March 2019 Core Update AKA the Florida 2 Update

“There are 5 projects of mine which are very, very similar to each other. All targeting Beauty/Health niche, all of them have a lot of great content (10k+ articles) and all of them are build on expired domains with a nice brandable name,” says a user going by the name yayapart.

“The G Core Update hit 4 of my 5 projects. One of them, actually the oldest one of them, got a huge push and increased it’s organic traffic about 40%.

The other 3 projects that are affected lost all their best rankings. I don’t see any pattern here yet but it hit me hard,” he added

Another user going by the name Jeepy says, “Health Niche. This site got hit by medic update and now it’s rising back without doing anything. Right…”

Confirmed: Google March 2019 Core Update AKA Florida 2 Update – March 12, 2019

The official SearchLiaison Twitter handle of Google confirmed that a Broad Core Algorithm update started rolling out on March 12th.Like other broad core algorithm updates, this one was rolled out in phases, which increased uncertainty about the stabilization of the “SERP dance”. SEOs started calling it the Florida 2 Update.

“This week, we released a Broad Core Algorithm update, as we do several times per year. Our guidance about such updates remains as we’ve covered before,” read the tweet post on the official Google SearchLiaison handle.Read our blog to know more about the latest Broad Core Algorithm Update.

Our analysis found that the Google March 2019 Core Update reversed the undue rankings that a few websites got after the Medic Update of August 2018.

In addition to this, most of the sites hit by the update used low-quality links to increase their authority.

See how ranking sensors detected the change:

MozCast

August Google Algorithm - Moz Weather Algorithm Tracker

SEMRush Sensor

August Google Algorithm - SEMRush Sensor Algorithm Tracker

AccuRanker

August Google Algorithm - AccuRanker Algorithm Tracker

Advanced Web Rankings

August Google Algorithm - Advanced Web Rankings Algorithm Tracker

RankRanger

August Google Algorithm - RankRanger Algorithm Tracker

Algoroo

August Google Algorithm - Algoroo Algorithm Tracker

Google Algorithm Update – March 1st, 2019

In my earlier update, I had predicted that Google was preparing for some big changes. Now, validating my ESP, the latest Google algorithm update rolled out on March 1st, 2019 seemed bigger than what we initially thought. There are reports that Google displayed more than 19 search results on a single page for a few search terms during this period.

There are also murmurs about Google giving more preference to websites that have in-depth content. Interestingly, Dr. Peter J. Meyers of Moz found that Google displays well-researched articles in the results even for a few buyer intent keywords.

Google possibly wants a mix of products and information to feature in its search. This way, users who are confused with products can read and be informed before making the purchase decision.

There are also chatters about the drop in the number of image search results after the latest Google update on March 1st.

An interesting analytics screenshot shared by Marie Haynes depicts how one of her clients got a massive boost in organic traffic during February 27th and March 1st.

See how ranking sensors detected the change:

AccuRanker

March Google Algorithm Update - AccuRanker Algorithm Tracker

Advanced Web Rankings

March Google Algorithm Update - Advanced Web Rankings Algorithm Tracker

Algoroo

March Google Algorithm Update - Algooro Algorithm Tracker

MozCast:

March Google Algorithm Update - MozCast Algorithm Tracker

RankRanger

March Google Algorithm Update - RankRanger Algorithm Tracker

SEMRush Sensor

March Google Algorithm Update - SEMrush Sensor Algorithm Tracker
SERPMetrics

March Google Algorithm Update - SERPmetrics Algorithm Tracker

Google Algorithm Update – February 27, 2019

Google made a lot of tweaks to its algorithm In February 2019 as there was yet again a spike in the Algorithm trackers, suggesting the rollout of an Algorithm Update. A similar spike was witnessed on the 22nd of the month but the chatters soon subsided, probably due to the less impact it had on websites.

However, it seemed like something big was brewing for the coming days that will make significant changes to the SERP results in Google.Accuranker

27 February 2019 Google Algorithm Update - Accuranker Algorithm Tracker

Advanced Web Ranking

27 February 2019 Google Algorithm Update - Advanced Webranking Algorithm Tracker

MozCast

27 February 2019 Google Algorithm Update - MozCast Algorithm Tracker

Rank Ranger

27 February 2019 Google Algorithm Update - RankRanger Algorithm Tracker

SEMRush Sensor

27 February 2019 Google Algorithm Update - SemRush Sensor Algorithm Tracker

SERPmetrics

27 February 2019 Google Algorithm Update - SERP Metrics Algorithm Tracker

Google Algorithm Update- February 22, 2019

There are talks about an algorithm update, but this time, the impact is not so far-reaching. All major algorithm trackers detected a sudden spike in their ranking sensors, but it didn’t sustain for a long duration.It seems like Google may have done a little tweaking to their algorithm during the weekend, especially on Friday.

Other than a few chatters here and there regarding lost traffic, there is nothing concrete to underscore this as a significant algorithm update.Since it’s widely talked about in blogs and SEO forums, let’s look at a few trackers that sensed the update.

Advanced Web Ranking

22 February 2019 Google Algorithm Update - Advanced Web Ranking Algorithm Tracker

Algoroo

22 February 2019 Google Algorithm Update - Algoroo Algorithm Tracker

Accuranker

22 February 2019 Google Algorithm Update - Accuranker Algorithm Tracker

MozCast

22 February 2019 Google Algorithm Update - MozCast Algorithm Tracker

RankRanger

22 February 2019 Google Algorithm Update - RankRanger Algorithm Tracker

SemRush Sensor

22 February 2019 Google Algorithm Update - SemRush Sensor Algorithm Tracker

SERP Metrics

22 February 2019 Google Algorithm Update - SERP Metrics Algorithm Tracker

Google Algorithm Update – February 5, 2019

There is a lot of chatter about an algorithm update from Google that has affected many websites, mostly the ones that are in the UK.The stats were more-or-less calm after Jan 16th, but we have noticed a sudden increase in the stats on all major algorithm update trackers.

Some algorithm trackers suggest the update rolled out during February 5-6 is more devastating than the one rolled out in January.We will keep you posted as we dig deeper into the sites affected by the algorithm update and diagnose the reasons for the drop in rankings.

Here are a few stats:

SERPmetrics

5 February 2019 Google Algorithm Update - SERP Metrics Algorithm Tracker

AccuRanker

5 February 2019 Google Algorithm Update - AccuRanker Algorithm Tracker

Moz Weather

5 February 2019 Google Algorithm Update - Moz Weather Algorithm Tracker

Rank Ranger

5 February 2019 Google Algorithm Update - RankRanger Algorithm Tracker

SEMRush Sensor

SEMrush Tracker Feb 7

Google Algorithm Update – January 18, 2019

We had announced earlier this week that Google rolled out an incremental Algorithm update – the first in 2019. The impact of the Algorithm Update was hard on News websites and Blogs of various niches. This is why we named the latest Google Update as the “Newsgate Algorithm Update.”

A new document released by Google on 16th January 2019 corroborates our findings as it provides advice and tips for the news publishers to get more success in 2019.Our analysis had found the algorithm update rolled out during the second week of January affected the news sites that “rewrote content” or “scraped content from other sites.”

The latest document released by Google proves that we were right. There are two specific sections in the document titled “Ways to succeed in Google News,” which recommend News Publishers to stay away from publishing rewritten and scraped content.

What the Google document says:Google Algorithm Update on Content

  • Block scraped content: Scraping commonly refers to taking material from another site, often on an automated basis. Sites that scrape content must block scraped content from Google News.
  • Block rewritten content: Rewriting refers to taking material from one site and then rewriting that material so that it is not identical. Sites that rewrite content in a way that provides no substantial or clear added value must block that rewritten content from Google News. This includes, but is not limited to, rewrites that make only very slight changes or those that make many word replacements but still keep the original article’s overall meaning.

In addition to this, the Ways to Succeed in Google News also highlights a few best practices that News Publishers have to keep in mind before publishing a story.

    • Descriptive and Clear Titles
    • Displaying accurate date and time using structured data
    • Avoid duplicate, rewritten or scraped content
    • Using HTTPS for all posts and pages

The advice and tips provided in the document can help news websites affected by the latest Google algorithm update to recover.

Also, Google has put impetus to the transparency of the News Publisher, which has to do more with the search engine giant’s EAT Guidelines.

The new Google News guidelines ask publishers to be transparent by letting the readers know who published the content.

The advice Google gives is to include a clear byline, a short description of the author, and the contact details of the publication.

According to Google, providing these details to the readers and to the Google bot can help in filtering out the “sites or accounts that impersonate any person or organization, or that misrepresent or conceal their ownership or primary purpose.”

Google also warns news publishers not to engage in link schemes that are intended to manipulate PageRank of other websites.

Google Algorithm Update – January 16, 2019

This was Google’s first significant algorithm update for 2019. This time, the target was news sites and blogs!The data from SEMrush Sensor suggests that the “Google Newsgate Algorithm Update” has touched a high-temperature zone of 9.4 on Wednesday.

The speculation about an update was in the air for the last few days. The websites that were hit the worst include, ABC’s WBBJTV, FOX’s KTVU and CBS17.

SEMrush Tracker Jan 9

Google announced earlier that every year, it rolls out around 500–600 core algorithm updates. In addition to this, there are broad core algorithm updates that Google rolls out three to four times a year.

These updates come with a major rank shift in the SERP with a few websites seeing a spike in organic rankings while others experience a dip.

However, the update made drastic changes to the results shown in the featured snippets.

In addition to the news websites, the “Google Newsgate Algorithm Update 2019” has also affected blogs in niches such as sports, education, travel, government, and automotive sites.

According to the Google Algorithm Weather Report by MozCast, the climate was rough during the 9th and 10th, suggesting an algorithm update.

19 January 2019 Google Algorithm Update - MozCast Algorithm Tracker

The graph has shown significant fluctuations in the weather, especially during January 5th and 6th. After a few regular days, the weather deteriorated further, which may be a signal of two separate Google Algorithm updates within the same week.

SEO communities are rife with discussions about the update as many websites were affected by the algorithm update.

“Travel – All whitehat, good links, fresh content, aged domain, and all the good stuff. Was some dancing around Dec and then, wham, 3rd page,” said zippyants a Black Hat Forum member on Thursday.

“Big changes happening in the serps since Friday for us. Anyone noticing an uptick or downward slide of long-tail referrals? First time we’ve seen much since the big changes in August/September,” asked a user SnowMan68 via Webmaster World.

“Yes! Today, the signals are quite intense. Probably going on for past 4 days No changes seen on the sites though,” answered a Webmaster World user arunpalsingh to one of the questions asked in the forum.

In addition to this, the Google Grump Tool from AccuRanker has also suggested a “furious” last two days. This may be an indication that the algorithm update was rolled out in phases.

19 January 2019 Google Algorithm Update - AccuRanker Algorithm Tracker

According to our early analysis, the sites that were affected by Google’s first Algorithm Update in 2019 are the ones that publish questionable news.

Also, we saw a nosedive in the traffic of news sites that rewrote content without including any newly added values.

Algoroo, another Google Algorithm tracker, has added TechCrunch and CNBC to the top losers list. This, yet again, stands as evidence to our understanding that the update is intended for News websites and blogs of different industry niches.google algorithm update 2019 stats

In 2018, Google rolled out the infamous Medic Update targeting wellness and YMYL websites. The impact was huge and many websites that were affected are yet to come to terms with the traffic loss.

We found that the sites impacted by the Medic Update were lacking the E.A.T (Expertise, Authority, Trustworthiness) quality signals. A few days after this, Google confirmed the same saying the update had nothing to do with user experience.

Some websites hit by the Medic Update made remarkable comebacks after the algorithm update in November. The sites that recovered from the Medic Update created quality content based on the Google EAT guidelines.

The rollout of the update was completed on Sunday as all the sensors had cooled down by Monday. We will soon do a detailed analysis of the sites that were affected by the “Google Newsgate Algorithm.”

This will help you understand why the sites were affected and how they can recover from the latest Google Algorithm update.

9 Major Google Algorithm Updates before 2018

Whenever there’s a new update from Google, websites are either affected positively or negatively. Discussed below are the major algorithm updates by Google before 2018.

  1. Panda
  2. Penguin
  3. Hummingbird
  4. Pigeon
  5. Mobile
  6. RankBrain
  7. Possum
  8. Fred

What is Google Panda Update?

Google Panda update was released in February 2011, which aimed to lower the rankings of websites with thin or poor-quality content and bring sites with high-quality content to the top of the SERPs. The Panda search filter keeps updating from time to time, and sites escape from the penalty once they make appropriate changes to the website.

Here’s a brief of its hazards and how you can adjust to Panda update:

Targets of Panda

Panda’s workflow

Panda allocates quality scores to the pages based on the content quality and ranked them in SERP. Panda updates are more frequent; hence, the penalties and recoveries as well.

How to adapt

Keep regular track on web pages to check for plagiarized content and thin content or keyword stuffing. You can do that by using certain quality checking tools like Siteliner, Copyscape.

Are you aware that the Google Panda algorithm from 2012 no longer exists? In fact, it has evolved into a new algorithm named after a new animal – Coati. At first, it was just part of the core ranking algorithm, but it evolved into a new one.

What is Google Coati?

Hyung-Jin Kim, the VP of Google Search, said that while Panda has been “consumed” into the larger core ranking algorithm, Coati was a successor to Panda and is an update to the Panda algorithm. As time has passed, Panda has evolved into Coati. Coati is not a core update, but Panda and Coati are both parts of the core ranking algorithm.

In an interview with Hyung-Jin Kim, he stated that Panda was launched because Google was worried about the direction of content on the web. They make such algorithmic changes to improve search quality and encourage content creators to create better content.

Although it is not crucial to most people, knowing that Google’s Panda algorithm has evolved into a new algorithm called Coati, it still can be interesting for those interested in search engine optimization.

What is Google Penguin Update?

Google’s Penguin update was released in April 2012. It aims to filter out websites that boost rankings in SERPs through spammy links, i.e., purchased low-quality links to boost Google ranking.

Targets of Penguin

  • Links with over-optimized text
  • Spammy links
  • Irrelevant links

Penguin’s workflow

It works by lowering the ranks of sites with manipulative links. It checks the quality of backlinks and degrades the sites with low-quality links.

How to adapt

Keep tracking your profile growth by the links and run regular checks on backlinks to audit the quality of the links. You can use certain tools like SEO SpyGlass to analyze your sites and eventually help you adapt to Penguin’s update.

What is Google Hummingbird Update?

It is considered to be the most significant algorithm update that Google came out with since Penguin. The update was introduced to emphasize on natural language queries, preferring context over individual keywords.
While keywords are still vital, the Hummingbird helps a page to rank well even if the query doesn’t contain exact terms in the sentence.

Targets of Hummingbird

  • Low-quality content
  • Keyword stuffing

Hummingbird’s workflow

It helps Google to fetch the web pages as per the complete query asked by the user instead of searching for individual terms in the query. However, it also relies on the importance of keywords while ranking a web page in the SERPs.

How to adapt

Check your content to increase the research on keywords and focus on conceptual queries. Additionally, search for related queries, synonymic queries, and co-occurring words or terms. You can easily get these ideas from Google Autocomplete or the Google Related Searches.

What is Google Pigeon Update?

It is the Google update released on July 24, 2014, for the US and expanded to the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia on December 22, 2014. It is aimed to enhance the rankings of local listings for a search query. The changes also affect the Google maps search results along with the regular Google search results.

Targets of Pigeon

  • Perilous on-page optimization
  • Poor off-page optimization

Pigeon’s workflow

Pigeon works to rank local results based on the user’s location. The update developed some ties between the traditional core algorithm and the local algorithm.

How to adapt

Put in hard efforts when it comes to off-page and on page-SEO. It is best to start with some on-page SEO, and later you can adopt the best off-page SEO techniques to rank top in Google SERPs. One of the best ways to get yourself listed off-page is in the local listings.
Also, Read>>How to Top-Rank Your Business on Google Maps Search Results

What is Google Mobile-Friendly Update?

Google Mobile-Friendly (aka Mobilegeddon) algorithm update was launched on April 21st, 2015. It was designed to give a boost to mobile-friendly pages in Google’s mobile search results while filtering out pages that are not mobile-friendly or optimized for mobile viewing.

Targets of Mobile update

  • The poor mobile user interface
  • Lack of mobile-optimized web page

Mobile update workflow

Google mobile-friendly update aims to rank web pages at the top of the SERP that supports mobile viewing and downgrade web pages that are unresponsive or unsupportive on mobile devices.

How to adapt

Tweak the web design to provide better mobile usability and reduce the loading time. Google’s mobile-friendly test will help you to identify the changes to cope up with various versions of the mobile software.

Also, Read>> 6 Common Web Design Mistakes That Hurt Search Engine Optimization of Your Website

What is Google RankBrain Update?

As reported by Bloomberg and Google, RankBrain is an algorithm update that is a machine-learning artificial intelligence system launched to process the search engine results efficiently. It was launched on October 26th, 2015.

Targets of RankBrain

  • Poor user-interface
  • Insubstantial content
  • Irrelevant features on the web page

RankBrain workflow

RankBrain is a machine learning system released to understand the meaning of the queries better and provide relevant content to the audience.

It is a part of Google’s Hummingbird algorithm. It ranks the web pages based on the query-specific features and relevancy of a website.

How to adapt

By conducting competitive analysis, optimize the webpage for comprehensiveness and content relevancy. You can use tools like SEMRush, Spyfu to analyze the concept, terms, and subjects used by the high-ranking competitor web pages. This is a perfect way to outmatch your competitors.

What is Google Possum Update?

Possum was the Google algorithm update released on September 1st, 2016. It is considered to be the most significant algorithm update after the Pigeon, 2014 update. The update focused on improving business rankings that fell out of physical city limits and filtering business listings based on address and affiliations.

Targets of Possum

  • Tough Competition in your target location

Possum’s workflow

The search results are provided depending on the searcher’s location. The closer you are to a given business, you are more likely to see it at the top of the local search results. Fascinatingly, Possum also provided the results of well-known companies located outside the physical city area.

How to adapt

Increase your keywords list and do location-specific rank tracking. Local businesses should focus on more keywords because of the volatility Possum brought into the SERPs.

What is Google Fred Update?

Fred is the Google algorithm update released on March 8, 2017.

Targets of Fred update

  • Affiliate heavy-content
  • Ad centered content or
  • Thin content

Fred’s workflow

This update targets the web pages violating the guidelines of Google webmaster. The primary web pages affected by this are blogs containing low-quality content and majorly targeting the audience to make revenue by driving traffic.

How to adapt

Remove thin content by analyzing it through Google Search Quality Guidelines. If you’re allowing advertisements on your pages, make sure they’re on the pages with high-quality and useful content for the users. Please don’t try to manipulate Google into thinking that your page is high-quality content, when it is, instead, full of affiliate links.

What is the latest Google Algorithm Update, is a question that SEOs search the most nowadays. The major reason for the “Google Algorithm Update” becoming such a trending keyword is due to the uncertainty caused after the rollout of each update. Google rolls out hundreds of core algorithm updates each year and the search engine giant announces a few that have a far-reaching impact on the SERP.

Each time Google updates its algorithm, it’s moving a step forward in making the search experience easy and more relevant to the users. However, as SEO professionals, we recommend to use white hat techniques

Maccabees Update

Maccabees is the update that wrangled people between 12th to December 14th, 2017. There were considerable discussions on Twitter, Facebook, and SEO forums regarding the loss of up to 30 percent of traffic from some websites.
If you happened to be an owner of such a website, then you may have been a victim of ‘Google Maccabees Update.’

This update had hit hundreds of websites, and the reason behind it was the fact that these websites had multiple pages filled with huge keyword permutations. The update was framed to catch the long-tail keywords used with permutations because search results prefer pages with long-tail keywords. The majority of the sites hit by Maccabees are from e-commerce, affiliate websites, travel, and real estate sites.For instance, a travel agency has multiple keywords, and a few of them that were flagged are as follows:

  1. Low-cost holiday package to Switzerland.
  2. Cheap Switzerland holiday package.
  3. Low-cost tickets to Switzerland.

Similarly, an affiliate website has multiple pages containing the following:

  1. Avoid mosquitoes at home.
  2. Get rid of mosquitoes.
  3. Wipeout mosquitoes.
  4. Wipeout mosquitoes fast.

You may guess why they were aiming for long-tail keywords and why SEO had such keen eyes for those keywords. Because, though they seem similar, all keywords are huge traffic drivers.

There is no formal name for this update. However, informally, in remembrance of Hanukkah and the search community, Barry Schwartz of SERoundtable, called it ‘Maccabees.’

A Google spokesperson stated that the changes in the algorithm are meant to make the search results more relevant. The relevance may come from on-page or off-page content, or sometimes, both.

What is a Google Broad Core Update?

A broad core update is an algorithm update that can impact the search visibility of a large number of websites. Each time an update is rolled out, Google reconsiders that SERP Ranking of websites based on expertise, authoritativeness, trustworthiness (E-A-T).

  • Unlike the daily algorithm updates, the broad core update comes with a far-reaching impact.
  • Fluctuation in ranking positions can be detected for search queries globally.
  • The update improves contextual results for search queries.
  • There is no fix for websites that were previously hurt by Google update.
  • The only fix is to improve the content quality.
  • Focus more on Expertise, Authority and Trustworthiness (E.A.T)

To know more about what is a broad core algorithm update, check our in-depth article on the same. We will provide you with in and out of the new update in a short while. Please keep a tab on this blog.

Future of Google Algorithm Updates

As we all know, the Google organic search is on a self-induced slow-poison! How many of you remember the old Google’s search results page, where all the organic search results were on the left and minimal ads on the right? Don’t bother, remembering isn’t going to make it come back!

If you’ve been using Google for the last two decades, then the transformation of Google Search may have amazed you. If you don’t think so, just compare these two screenshots of Google SERP from 2005 and 2019.

2005

2019

Google started making major changes to the algorithm, starting with the 2012 Penguin update. During each Google Algorithm Update, webmasters focus on factors such as building links, improving the content, or technical SEO aspects.
Even though these factors play a predominant role in the ranking of websites on Google SERP, an all too important factor is often overlooked!

There has been a sea of changes in the way Google displays its search results, especially with the UI/UX. This has impacted websites more drastically than any other algorithm update that has been launched to date.

In the above screenshot, the first fold of the entire SERP is taken over by Google features. The top result is Google Ads, the one next to it is the map pack, and on the right, you have Google Shopping Ads.

The ads and other Google-owned features that occupied less than 20% of the first fold of the SERP Page now take up 80% of it. According to our CTR heatmap, 80% of users tend to click on websites that are listed within the first fold of a search engine results page.

This is an alarming number as ranking on top of Google SERP can no longer guarantee you higher CTR because Google is keen to drive traffic to its own entities, especially ads.

Since this is a factor that webmasters have very little control over, the survival of websites in 2022 and beyond will depend on how they strategize their SEO efforts to understand the future course of the search engine giant.

When talking about how Google Algorithm Updates might work in 2022, it’s impossible to skip two trends – the increasing number of mobile and voice searches. The whole mobile-friendly update of April 2015 was not a farce, but a leap ahead by the search engine giant that would eventually make it a self-sustained entity.

We will discuss voice and mobile search in detail a bit after as they require a lot of focus.

Algorithms will Transform Google as a Content Curator

If you dig into the history of search engines a little deeper, you’d know that Yahoo started as a web directory that required entering details manually. Of course, this wasn’t a scalable model. On the other hand, Google’s founders decided to build algorithms that can fetch the data and store it for the future. However, Google later realized that their model can be turned into one of the most ROI-generating ones.

Google is both a content curator and a search engine. However, moving forward, Google will be less of a search engine and more of a content curator. Still wondering how Google is curating content to its users? Here are a few examples:
Just Google “Hepatitis B” and you will find a knowledge graph on the right that is autogenerated by Google.


This particular information about Hepatitis B is generated by Google’s Learning Algorithm by stitching together data from authority websites. According to Google, this medical information is collected from high-quality websites, medical professionals, and search results.

With Google being the repository of important web pages that users value, you can expect more such self-curated content in Google search. It’s interesting that even the creative used in such results are created by Google. Another example of Google doing self-attribution.

Here is Another Example of Google Curating Content
A Google search for “how tall is the Eiffel tower?” will display a knowledge card with the exact answer to the user’s question, without any attribution.

But further scrutiny into the SERP, especially the right-side Knowledge Graph, will help you find out how Google came up with the answer.

This is an indication of how critical the structured data is. However, structured data is a double-edged sword as Google uses it on SERP (like in this case) with zero attribution.

Google Algorithms will Stick to Its Philosophy, But with a Greedy Eye

If you think Google is fair and isn’t greedy, here is something that you may have missed in the earlier screenshot.



The way Google is moving ahead seems like the algorithms will scatter ads clandestinely within the SERP to direct more traffic to promoted/sponsored content. Basically, Google is taking data from your website, repurposing it for the knowledge graph, and getting monetary benefits, which ultimately do not reach you. However, taking into account Google’s current position, this has to be seen as a desperate move!Google was petrified by the decrease in the click-through rates received for results on mobile devices and did everything possible to get their million-dollar advert revenue back on track. And one such step was what we now call Mobilegiddon. The mobile-first indexing approach introduced in 2015 was a silent threat to websites asking them to either toe the line or be ready to be pushed to the graveyard (second and following pages of Google search.)The perk that Google earned from this strategy is that it saved the amount of time and effort to update its algorithm to crawl and render both mobile and desktop versions of websites. So, with mobile-first indexing in place, Google decided to use mobile-first UI/UX. Here is how

(Screenshot of the Mobile-first design of Google)

E.A.T (Expertise, Authority, Trust)

Google has been quite vocal about maintaining the E A T standard. Even though this is now more focused on websites in the YMYL category websites, moving forward, the Algorithms will become smarter and start using it for all niches.

Google’s Algorithms will keep on ensuring websites that feature on the first page of its search provide the best accurate information for the users. Implementing this across the web will ensure that users only get the best results on SERP.
Online reviews, social mentions, brand mentions, and general sentiments across the web will play a vital role in ranking websites on Google.

No-follow and UGC Links Will Pass Link Juice

It was a while since Google made any major announcement with regard to links. However, 2019 saw the search giant adding two new attributes to the links in addition to the do-follow and no-follow.

UGC and Sponsored are the two new link attributes that have become part of the Google ranking factors. A majority of the sites use the no-follow as the default attribute for external links. This is one reason why Google introduced the two new link attributes. Moving forward, no-follow and UGC links will start passing link juice. Even though the importance of these links is not as significant as the do-follow, they definitely play a vital role.

When it comes to the promoted links, Google will ensure that its algorithm completely ignores passing the link juice. Google has asked the webmasters to start using these attributes as early as possible as they have become a part of the Google Ranking Factors in March 2020.
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Dileep Thekkethil

With over 12 years of expertise, Dileep has carved a name for himself as a trailblazer in the SEO industry. As an acclaimed author and relentless learner, he has transformed countless websites with tailored digital marketing strategies, thanks to his profound insights and innovative approach. Dileep's passion for staying ahead of the curve is evident in his contributions to Stan Ventures and the 100+ publications that feature his groundbreaking articles on SEO and digital marketing. His dedication to knowledge-sharing has earned him widespread recognition as a go-to expert in the field. For cutting-edge SEO solutions or to delve into the mind of a true digital marketing virtuoso, connect with Dileep through the links provided below. @Mail | LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook or View all posts by Dileep

google’s-helpful-content-update image
Google Updates

Helpful Content Update: What Does It Mean to You?
Passage indexing a new ranking algorithm
Google Updates

Passage Indexing: A New Ranking Algorithm from Google

Comments

7 thoughts on “Google Algorithm Updates: Google March 2023 Core Update”

  3. I am so curious what that Update is about. I think that pages with comemrcial characters could get a boost. Most of my custommers are stable until now which means that clean technical SEO can have a positive effect.

    Reply

  4. My keyword ranking fall down after this update. Is it happened because of this update

    Reply

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