Google recently launched its first core update of the year, the March 2024 core update, aiming to reduce unhelpful content in search results by 40%. Elizabeth Tucker, Director of Product, Search at Google, highlighted that this update is more complex than previous ones, involving changes to multiple core systems. The rollout may take up to a month as various systems undergo updates.
Unlike previous core updates, the March 2024 update encompasses enhancements across multiple core components, introducing more fluctuations in rankings. Google refined its core ranking systems to deliver more useful results using innovative signals and approaches. The update focuses on identifying webpages that are unhelpful, provide a poor user experience, or seem designed for search engines rather than users.
In a notable shift, Google has integrated helpful content updates into its core updates, eliminating separate announcements for such improvements. The March 2024 core update incorporates the classifier for the helpful content system, streamlining the process. Google’s goal is to prioritize content that genuinely benefits users, discouraging manipulative practices for ranking purposes.
Google also unveiled spam updates, known as the March 2024 spam update, and introduced policy changes to combat spammy tactics. Two of these updates, addressing scaled content abuse search spam and expired domain abuse, will result in both automated and manual actions. The site reputation abuse spam update, targeting third-party sites hosting low-quality content for ranking benefits, will take effect on May 5.
The scaled content abuse search spam update extends beyond “spammy auto-generated content,” encompassing any method of producing content at scale to manipulate search rankings. Google aims to combat pages that claim to answer popular queries but fail to provide helpful content.
Expired domain abuse, the practice of repurposing expired domains to boost search rankings, is now considered spam. This tactic may deceive users into thinking new content is part of an old site when it is not. Google will take action against this abuse through both algorithmic systems and manual interventions.
Site reputation abuse, also known as Parasite SEO, involves third-party sites hosting low-quality content to exploit the ranking power of trusted websites. Google clarified its policy, considering only content hosted without close oversight and intended for manipulating search rankings as spam.
In conclusion, Google’s March 2024 updates aim to improve the quality of search results by reducing unhelpful content and combating spammy tactics. Content creators are advised to focus on providing helpful, reliable, people-first content to align with Google’s evolving algorithms. Stay tuned for further updates on Google’s ongoing efforts to enhance search quality.