Google Algorithm Updates is not something I write about often, as it updates in excess of 500 times a year. This is what keeps SEO exciting for me as an SEO specialist. As an SEO coach I always encourage my students to not move out of White Hat SEO, as even the small updates can impact websites.
So why this article? 2024 was a remarkable year for Google Core Updates. It even gave me 2012 google updates energy. I wrote an article in 2023, and at that stage there has been some core updates, but you will see the focus on the post is 2011 – 2015 google algorithm updates. I look back now on 2024 as one of my biggest growth years in SEO (15 years into my career) – between the updates and AI. There is no denying the Google Gemini and Bings Co-pilot are search engines in their own right. AI for SEO is important.
Core Algorithm Updates vs General Update – What is the difference?
Scope and Impact:
- Core Updates: These are broad and comprehensive changes that affect Google’s entire search algorithm. They can cause significant shifts in search rankings across various industries and niches.
- Algorithm Updates: These are smaller, more targeted changes that focus on specific aspects of the search engine’s ranking system, such as site speed, mobile usability, or backlink quality.
Frequency:
- Core Updates: These are rolled out a few times a year and are not always announced in advance.
- Algorithm Updates: These occur more frequently and are often announced ahead of time, giving website owners and SEO professionals time to prepare.
Purpose:
- Core Updates: The primary goal is to improve the overall quality and relevance of search results by better aligning the search algorithm with user intent and expectations.
- Algorithm Updates: These aim to fine-tune the search engine’s performance by addressing specific issues or areas for improvement, such as combating spam or enhancing user experience.
Google Algorithm Updates 2024 – 2022: The Big Ones (descending order)
Over this period Google updated its Core, Rankings, Spam and Reputation – the latter causing a lot of Google Business Listing – Local SEO is still changing.
Dec 2024 / Google update / Rankings
This is the third spam update in 2024. It was launched just a day after Google completed the December 2024 core update. While the specific type of spam targeted by this update remains unclear, Google emphasizes that only sites violating its spam policies will be affected. The update applies globally, across all languages, and is expected to roll out over about one week:
Dec 2024 / Google update / Rankings
This core update started just one week after the complete rollout of the November Core Update. According to Google, the reason behind this timing is that this update addresses different systems within the core algorithm compared to the previous one. The rollout is expected to take two weeks.
Nov 2024 / Core Update / Rankings
The third core update of 2024 started rolling out on November 11 and ended on December 5. Like other recent core updates, it was designed to promote truly useful content instead of content created for SEO purposes.
Aug 2024 / Core Update / Rankings
The purpose of this long-awaited core update is to promote useful content from smaller, independent publishers as opposed to established authoritative websites that dominated the SERPs after the September 2023 Core Update. Early evidence shows that websites severely affected by the September 2023 Core Update are recovering. The rollout may take up to a month, and, being a core update, it might affect all content types throughout all regions and languages.
June 2024 / Google Update / Spam
Much like the May Spam update, this spam update targeted websites that abused their reputation and relied only on manual actions. The update took 7 days to roll out, from June 20, 2024, to June 27, 2024.
May 2024 / Site Reputation Abuse / Update
This update targets top-rated websites that host third-party content lacking close oversight and offering low value to readers. This content relies on the hosting domain’s strong ranking signals and will probably not perform well in search otherwise. The update started on May 6th with manual actions. The algorithmic part of the update will follow soon.
March 2024 Core Update
This is the first core update of 2024. It will affect multiple core systems, making this update much more complex than the previous core algorithm updates. According to Google, the point of this update was to refine Google’s ranking systems to further emphasise the importance of quality content. The search giant now rewards more traffic to high-quality, helpful content while simultaneously demoting low-quality pages. This will have an influence on sites created to rank for very specific search queries. The rollout may take up to a month, and, being a core update, it might affect all content types throughout all regions and languages.
March 2024 Spam Update
This update combines the following three key elements: scaled content abuse, expired domain abuse, and site reputation abuse. The first targets low-value content produced in bulk that was created solely to manipulate rankings. The second element focuses on repurposing expired domains to boost the visibility of low-quality pages. After the announcement, site owners can expect both automated and manual actions to be taken in response to these spam tactics. The site reputation abuse spam update will go into effect on May 5. From then on, Google will initiate automated and manual penalties to all third-party content that is produced primarily to win rankings and lacks oversight from the website owner.
November 2023 Reviews Update
This algorithm update was released shortly after the November Core Update. It further fine tunes Google’s ability to prioritise quality review-related content in search. Google stated that this is the last time an update to the review algorithm was publicly announced. The reviews system will continue to be improved at a regular and ongoing pace, with no notifications made to the SEO community.
November 2023 Core Update
This is the fourth broad core update of 2023. It was released less than a month after the previous core update. According to Google, this update is targeted at a different core ranking system than last month’s. The rollout may take up to two weeks to complete. Being a core update, it might affect all content types in all regions and languages.
October 2023 Core Update
This is the third broad core update of 2023. The rollout may take up to two weeks to complete. Being a core update, it will affect all content types in all regions and languages. It is meant to reward high-quality content that benefits users.
October 2023 Spam Algorithm Update
This global spam update was designed to reduce the amount of visible spam that appears in search results, including cloaking, hacked, auto-generated, and scraped spam. It also improves spam detection coverage for more languages, including Turkish, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Hindi and Chinese. The rollout began on October 4, 2023, and will take a few weeks to roll out.
September 2023 Helpful Content Update
This helpful content update is designed to improve the existing classifier. It affects Google Search and Google Discover in all languages. The rollout will take up to two weeks to complete.
August 2023 Core Update
This is the second broad core update of 2023. The rollout may take up to two weeks to complete. As a core update, it will affect all content types in all regions and languages. It is meant to reward high-quality content valuable for users.
April 2023 Reviews Update
Unlike previous review updates, this Google update affected not only product reviews but also reviews of services, destinations, games, movies and other things. Following the updates, Google expanded its documentation to cover this broader topic. The rollout took 13 days to complete.
March 2023 Core Update
This is the first broad core update of 2023. The rollout can take two weeks to complete. As a core update, it will affect all types of content in all regions and all languages and is meant to reward high-quality content valuable for users.
December 2022 Link Spam Update
This update was designed to improve the detection of unnatural links and neutralise any credit passed by them. Sites with spammy links pointing to them as well as sites linking out to other sites in an unnatural way can be affected. This update affects all the languages. The rollout will take up to two weeks to complete.
December 2022 Helpful Content Update
The second helpful content update enhances the helpful content system introduced by Google in August. It expands to all languages, and can introduce new ranking signals or adjust existing ones. The rollout will take up to two weeks to complete.
October 2022 Spam Algorithm Update
This global spam update affected all languages. The rollout started on October 19, 2022 and was complete as of October 21, 2022 in less than 48 hours. The update was designed to improve Google’s automated systems’ ability to detect spam and catch new types of spam.
September 2022 Core Update
This is the second broad core update of 2022. The rollout can take two weeks to complete. As a core update, it will affect all types of content in all regions and all languages. It will also impact Google Discover, feature snippets, etc.
My Conclusion – I think the SERPs are better for all of these updates. Being an SEO Coach during these period was also very challenging. Experience gave me a knowing that it was going to be ok. For the SEOs that I was coaching, they sometimes responded like I did in 2012, with shock and awe. I think SEO has become a more level playing field giving smaller businesses with helpful content an opportunity to appear on page 1.
