Google has finished the deployment of its spam update, which started in March 2024 and was announced on March 5, together with a core update. The spam update rolled out in less than two weeks and aimed at scaled content creation, hijacking of expired domains, and manipulation of authority.
Meanwhile, the core update remains ongoing as it ushers the Helpful Content assessment into the core algorithmic fold. It should be finished in about four weeks.
As of March 20 at 6:09 PDT, Google has confirmed that the rollout of this spam update is complete, and that was through an update on Google’s Search Status Dashboard. In the update, Google has introduced three new spam policies for the abuse of scaled content, expired domains, and site reputation.
While the initial two policies have been promptly enforced, the policy concerning site reputation abuse will take effect from May onwards.
Effects on Websites and Search Results
Now that the March 2024 spam update rollout is complete, clarity in the search results allows publishers and SEOs to quantify the impact of those changes. Early data from SISTRIX shows considerable rank fluctuations across a wide variety of domains, with some sites completely being removed from Google’s search index.
Since the new spam policies kicked in, Google has been taking different manual actions concerning those issues about pure spam. In one study conducted by Originality.ai, all of their deindexed websites contained evidence of AI-generated content; half of these were made up of 90-100% of posts generated by AI.
These, however, are indeed different from algorithmic demotions. Manual actions are made by human evaluators at Google, and these always get notified through Search Console. These algorithmic updates, such as the March spam update, happen on their own without notifications from Google. A website can, in fact, have simultaneous impacts in both a manual action and an algorithmic update.
Core Update Ongoing
Although the spam update rollout has wrapped up, the concurrent core update continues. Google has projected that the core update will require a few more weeks to finalize as it integrates the Helpful Content evaluation into the core algorithm.
As the core update continues, SEO experts and content creators should prioritize creating authentic, high-quality content that connects with their intended audience.
Google’s Search Liaison, Danny Sullivan, has stressed the significance of patience and prudence, advising against making substantial alterations in response to ranking changes until the update concludes entirely.
I would let the update complete before deciding if there are any fundamental changes you might want to make. There might not be any to do at all.
Your site seems clean and nice. Going through the site, I see [steak pie] as one of your featured recipes. You’re in the carousel and…
— Google SearchLiaison (@searchliaison) March 15, 2024
Adjusting to the Evolving Search Landscape
Now that the spam update rollout has been completed, website proprietors and content creators can initiate changes to accommodate the transformed search landscape. This could entail evaluating current content, refining AI-generated materials, and emphasizing human ingenuity and editorial supervision.
As the SEO sector keeps a close eye on the repercussions of both updates, it’s evident that Google persists in championing genuine, valuable content while addressing substandard, spam content. The comprehensive effects of these updates will become clearer in the ensuing weeks as the core update finalizes its distribution and the search outcomes stabilize into their revised structures.
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