Google Algorithm Updates +
Ranking Systems Tracking Tool  

This is Google's third core algorithm update of 2024 (others were in March & August).

This is Google's second core algorithm update of 2024 (the first one was in March) and is intended to improve the quality of search results by highlighting content that's genuinely useful to people, rather than content that feels overly "SEO'd".

Google has made a noteworthy improvement to their automated systems that detect search spam. The most recent search spam update occurred in March 2024, in conjunction with a core update.

This is Google's first core algorithm update of 2024 (the most recent one was in October 2023).

Google has made a noteworthy improvement to their automated systems that detect search spam. This is the first search spam update since October 2023.

Updates targeting non-consensual explicit content, particularly artificially generated (AI generated) "deepfakes."

This update affects Google Search's reviews system, which aims to reward high-quality review content. The reviews system doesn't just evaluate product reviews - it evaluates all first-party website content providing recommendations, opinions, or analysis on any topic: products, entertainment, services, or businesses. It does not evaluate third-party reviews, for example user reviews.

This is Google's fourth core algorithm update of 2023 (the first one was in March, the second one was in August, the third was in October).

This is Google's third core algorithm update of 2023 (the first one was in March, the second one was in August).

Google has made a noteworthy improvement to their automated systems that detect search spam. This is the first search spam update since October 2022 (there was a link spam update in December 2022, which specifically seeks out spammy links in order to neutralize any potential benefit).

The September 2023 helpful content update improves Google's classifier and works across content globally in all languages.

This is Google's second core algorithm update of 2023 (the first one was in March).

This update affects Google Search's reviews system, which aims to reward high-quality review content. The reviews system doesn't just evaluate product reviews - it evaluates all first-party website content providing recommendations, opinions, or analysis on any topic: products, entertainment, services, or businesses. It does not evaluate third-party reviews, for example user reviews.

This is Google's first core algorithm update since September 2022.

Google seeks to promote product reviews that are high quality and helpful to users as evidenced by insightful, original content created by experts and/or product enthusiasts.

Google is updating SpamBrain, their AI-based spam prevention system, to make sure it can keep catching new types of link spam.

The December 2022 helpful content update improves Google's classifier and works across content globally in all languages.

Google has made a noteworthy improvement to their automated systems that detect search spam.

Google is cracking down on product reviews that aren't authentic or don't help users.

Google makes core updates several times a year to increase the relevancy and usefulness of search results, and smaller core updates are not announced. Core updates are made to keep pace with the evolving web and include broad changes and refinements to Google’s algorithm and systems.

This update includes a new, weighted, sitewide signal meant to reward content that’s useful to searchers and downgrade content that is unoriginal, unsatisfying, unhelpful, and written to rank well on search engines rather than help or inform people. Pages with “people-first content” could still rank well even if a website has been deemed unhelpful.

Google really wants us to provide authentic and helpful product reviews

Google makes core updates several times a year to increase the relevancy and usefulness of search results, and smaller core updates are not announced. Core updates are made to keep pace with the evolving web and include broad changes and refinements to Google’s algorithm and systems.

Improvements to Google's ability to identify high-quality reviews.

Commonly referred to as Core Web Vitals, the Page Experience update is now being released on desktop.

Improvements to Google's ability to identify high-quality reviews.

Core Web Vitals metrics in mobile search results.

Identify and surface high-quality reviews.

https://twitter.com/searchliaison/status/1359928797873594368

Improved understanding of user search queries using a deep learning algorithm: Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers.

Increased importance of expertise, authority, and trust (E-A-T) for YMYL (Your Money Your Life) content: sensitive topics that could potentially have a large impact on users’ finances, health and well-being.

More weight is placed on a mobile user’s experience of the website. This update applies to all search results in all languages, globally, and applies to individual pages, not sitewide.

Rollout of machine learning to better understand search queries, searcher intent and entities.

Improved search results for long-tail keywords and enabled conversational search. Humming bird also improved the appearance of search results on mobile devices.

Improved understanding of link quality to downgrade spam and optimize search results for users. Google also rolled out a series of Penguin updates through September 2016.

Lowered the ranking of sites with thin, low-quality content to help searchers find more high-quality results.