This guide contains the latest Google algorithm updates. As such, it is updated periodically to reflect the newest developments.
What is Google Algorithm?
Google’s core updates have always been the topic of interest for website owners, marketers, and SEO professionals. These updates are critical to understand as they can significantly impact a website’s ranking and organic traffic. As Google aims to provide users with the best search experience, it is continuously refining its algorithm to display the most relevant and high-quality results.
With that said, 2022 and 2023 have already proved to be significant years for Google’s core updates. The search engine giant has rolled out several updates that have impacted websites across various niches. It’s essential for businesses to stay up-to-date with these updates to adjust their SEO strategies and ensure their website’s compliance with the latest algorithms.
In this comprehensive list, we will dive into all of Google’s core updates that have been released in 2022 and those that are anticipated for 2023. We will also discuss the impact of each update and provide insights into how businesses can optimise their websites to maintain or improve their rankings. So, let’s get started!
Major Algorithm Updates in 2022-2024
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August 2024: Core Update
Focused on promoting high-quality content, the August 2024 core update has rolled out over the course of a month. As per Google’s official announcement itself, the update takes into account feedback that’s been gathered from creators in the past. Through the changes, Google users will start seeing more quality content, including pages from smaller independent sites that may have been lacking competitive advantage before.
The core update’s rollout ended in the beginning of September and some ranking movements have already been noticed. According to one study, numerous websites have been impacted negatively by the update. The effect hasn’t been as devastating as the downward movement caused by the September 2023 helpful content update and there have been some recoveries. For the vast majority, there hasn’t been a notable effect yet but more information on the impact is bound to be revealed in the coming months.
July 2024: Explicit Fake Content Update
Through this update, Google is attempting to address a major issue – non-consensual explicit content.
The primary focus of the rollout is the so-called deepfakes – artificially generated images and videos that appear to be genuine.
Through the update Google is now simplifying content removal. Apart from enhancing the process for reporting and removing content, the ranking system has also been modified to address queries characterised by a higher risk of featuring explicit fakes – for example, queries that specifically feature a person’s name.
June 2024: Spam Update
The update’s rollout finished at the end of June and it has contributed to some ranking changes. Through this update, Google introduced a couple of important improvements to its spam policies. The SpamBrain AI-based spam-prevention system got an upgrade to boost its capabilities and ability to detect low-quality content. It’s important to keep in mind that this smaller update is considered separate from the anticipated site reputation abuse algorithmic update that’s yet to take place.
May 2024: Reputation Abuse and (Misleading) AI Summaries
While major algorithm updates occurred for the last time in March 2024, May saw two interesting new releases that could potentially impact both the way people search for information and the creation of content.
On May 6, the Google’s SearchLiaison confirmed a site reputation abuse update. According to official information, the site reputation abuse policy is currently enforced through manual actions rather than algorithmically. Once algorithmic enforcement begins, an official statement will be published on the Google Search Status Dashboard.
The site reputation abuse policy focuses on sponsored or advertising pages (third-party pages) that are published with little or no first-party involvement. The aim of such schemes is to make use of a website’s good search engine standing through ranking signals. The phenomenon is common enough to receive its own label in the professional SEO world – parasite SEO. Some measures against the practice were first enforced in December 2023 but those proved to be ineffective.
According to an official Google statement, the new reputation abuse measures target only content “which is hosted without close oversight and which is intended to manipulate Search rankings.” Most third-party hosted content will be unaffected.
On May 14, Google introduced its AI-generated summaries to US search results. These are based on the Gemini model designed for search. While the update occurred recently, it’s already been subjected to criticism. Some reports suggest that the summaries tend to include misleading or inaccurate information. Multiple journalists have taken to social media to publish AI summaries citing low-quality sources of information like Reddit posts (including memes and ones published as a joke). The AI content has also been appearing to plagiarise some texts, and even getting basic facts completely wrong.
According to Google reps, those mistakes affected predominantly uncommon queries and they weren’t indicative of the overall user experience with AI-generated summaries.
March 2024: A Major Core Update
Google released a major core update in early March 2024. As a result of the update, hundreds of websites got deindexed, as they featured low-quality content and even artificial intelligence (AI) generated spam. As per analyses carried out over the course of the month, more than 800 websites became completely deindexed because of significant issues with their content quality. Interestingly enough, 100 per cent of those de-indexed sites featured at least some AI-generated content. Nearly 50 per cent of those used AI to come up with almost all of the content on their site. As the update continues rolling out, its impact on websites featuring mediocre and poor content will become even more apparent.
Towards the end of the month, a spam update was also finalised. Similar to all other previous spam updates, this one aims to detect search spam and improve Google’s operation. The spam update was released while the core update was still rolling out, which means the cumulative effects will be observed very soon. Google hasn’t released any specifics about the targeting of the latest spam update but it has apparently been launched in a coordinated effort alongside Google’s new spam policies. Through these broad, all-encompassing anti-spam initiatives, Google aims to reduce the number of pages created specifically for search engines on the SERP. The first two new spam policies (scaled content abuse and expired domain abuse) have already gone into full effect. The third policy, dealing with site reputation abuse, is expected to become effective in May 2024.
November 2023: Reviews Update
Google has released the November 2023 Reviews Update, which focused on making significant shifts to how reviews are interpreted and ranked in search results. This change is the third of its kind this year and perhaps the last one by Google, highlighting the quality and validity of a range of sectors, such as products, services, places, and media.
The change is part of an ongoing, real-time approach to analysing reviews, which means any modifications in website content will be recognised quicker in search rankings. Those who publish reviews are encouraged to continually track their rankings and traffic to ensure that their content remains relevant in search results.
October 2023: Spam Update
September 2023: Helpful Content Update
Google revealed its September 2023 update, paying its Helpful Content System guidelines plenty of attention. Google’s position on AI-generated content has altered significantly, becoming more accommodative and suggesting that machine-generated content may become even more inclusive in the near future. Additionally, it is recommended that websites hosting third-party content refrain from allowing such content to be indexed, especially if it is unrelated to the primary purpose of the website. Google’s Gary Illyes raised concerns about micro-sites, highlighting that they could be misused to manipulate search results.
For those impacted by the Helpful Content Update, Google advises locating and removing unhelpful material. Google has dedicated itself to improving the quality and relevancy of search results, and this update continues to demonstrate just that. As always, to achieve the best search ranks, webmasters and SEO specialists should adhere to these changing criteria.
August 2023: Broad Core Update
Google has already released their newest update on 23 August 2023 at around 1:30 pm ET, which will take approximately one to two weeks to roll out. The company announced that it would refresh its ranking release history page after the update has been fully implemented.
A core update has the potential to affect a website’s search performance positively or negatively. If you are impacted by this, make sure to follow Google’s core updates guidelines for the most effective advices.
June 2023: Helpful Content System Update
Google is enhancing its helpful content system to uncover valuable information from obscure corners of the web like forums and blogs. The update aims to showcase these “hidden gems” in search results. While promoting helpful content, Google also seeks to ensure that unhelpful content receives lower visibility. The upcoming update will strike a balance between boosting helpful content and demoting unhelpful content, emphasising the importance of providing valuable information to users. Stay tuned for the transformative impact of this helpful content system update in June!
April 2023: Review Update
Google has completed its April 2023 reviews update, which affects webpages that provide recommendations or opinions on products, services, destinations, games, movies, and other things. This update is not limited to just products, unlike previous updates. Any search ranking fluctuations after April 25, 2023, should be considered as part of the daily ranking fluctuations. The update emphasises that reviews should be based on real evaluations and experience with the products or services being reviewed, and not on third-party reviews. Google has released a guide called “Write high-quality reviews” to help publishers understand how to create good-quality reviews. The guide provides a list of best practices to follow to rank well on Google Search and other surfaces, including original analysis, expertise, and relevant measurements and comparisons.
March 2023: Broad Core Update
Google’s March 2023 core update aims to improve search results by promoting high-quality web pages across all languages and regions. No specific pages or sites are targeted. This update may impact black-hat SEO tactics that violate Google’s guidelines. It may take weeks for the update to have a noticeable effect, and Google will update its ranking updates history page at the end of March. SEOs should monitor their site’s metrics and look for any unusual changes.
Feb 2023: Product Reviews Update
The Google Product Reviews Update is an upcoming update to Google’s search algorithm that will impact SEO and website content. This update is built on the existing product reviews update rolled out in Sep 2022, focusing on improving the quality of product reviews displayed on search engine results pages (SERPs) to provide users with high-quality, informative, and trustworthy product reviews that are relevant to their search queries.
Dec 2022: Helpful Content & Link Spam Updates
December Helpful Content Update
Google has announced a crucially beneficial content update that is being rolled out to all languages, beginning today on December 5. This process should be completed within two weeks’ time.
Google’s helpful content system for December 2022 is a major upgrade from the one introduced in August: its main objective being to reward those webpages created with people rather than search engines in mind. The update strives to boost content that offers something unparalleled compared to other competing publishers and might even comprise of new signals or alterations on existing ones. With this update, Google ensures it will be rewarding valuable and exclusive resources – an invaluable asset on any website!
Link Spam Update
On December 14, 2022, a week after the December 2022 helpful content update, Google launched the all-new “December 2022 link spam update,” leveraging its innovative SpamBrain AI technology to detect and weed out sites with suspicious activities such as buying links or having outgoing links. This is a major advance from the traditional methods of identifying nefarious link activity. This Google update is estimated to take up to two weeks in total to complete.
Oct 2022: Spam Update
Spam Update
Google announced that the rolling out of the spam update was completed on October 21, 2022. This update is global and affects all languages.
What does this mean?
This update targets specific violations and included efforts to prevent spam content. If you notice big changes to your search rankings and traffic from your Google organic listings, you may have been hit by this update.
Sep 2022: Core & Product Reviews Update
Core Update
Today we released the September 2022 core update. We'll update our ranking release history page when the rollout is complete: https://t.co/sQ5COfdNcb
— Google Search Central (@googlesearchc) September 12, 2022
Some of the key changes that took place in September were made to:
- Reward high quality content, instead of penalising poor quality content,
- Impact featured snippets, Google Discover and more,
- Deliver the exact information Google users are looking for.
Our Advice
Although the overall impact of this Google core update seems minor, some sites have been heavily affected. Now is the time for webmasters to start digging into their analytics data to see if any pages have lost visibility or rankings – and figure out a plan of action to improve those pages and regain any lost rankings.
Focus On EAT
Like many SEOs have said over the past couple of years, you should read the search quality raters guidelines. The guidelines now focus on the EAT principles: Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness. “Reading the guidelines may help you assess how your content is doing from an E-A-T perspective and improvements to consider, “Google said.
Related reading: Revolutionise Your Business Content with AI: Top Models for Generating Relevant and Engaging Text, Images, and Photo Edits
Product Reviews Update
Another product reviews’ update was launched in September 2022, following similar updates in March and July this year.
The aim of these is to change the way in which search ranks product reviews. Priority has fallen on in-depth detailed product reviews that users find most helpful. So, unless you’re running a business profile and you’re focused on product review quality, this update hasn’t had that much of an impact on your performance.
Reading: How do I Prepare for Google’s Product Review Update?
Aug 2022: Helpful Content Update
Helpful Content Update
In August 2022, the helpful content update came along. It emphasised the importance of high quality content even further, reaffirming some of the modifications started with the May 2022 update. As per Google’s official announcement, the aim of the update was to further incentivise people-centric content creation rather than focus on search engines.
How should I Cope With this Update?
Although this Google upgrade has presented difficulties to many businesses and increased the complexity of the content development process, there are still steps for websites to succeed online according to Abigale from MUO.
- Prioritise your readers: what is your target audience searching for?
- Base content on your experience: add your first-hand knowledge to the content.
- Use the AI-writing tools carefully.
- Don’t use false or misleading information: for time-sensitive topics, make sure to always keep them updated with the latest information.
- Add valuable content: provide actionable steps or new perspectives on an issue.
- Focus on your niche: share content with details and insights into your niche market instead of publishing topics you don’t know too much about.
May 2022: Core Update
Core Update
The May 2022 core update was confirmed by Google Public Liaison of Search Danny Sullivan:
Whilst this announcement sounds a bit ambiguous, more precise information has been provided later on. With this update, the following factors changed:
- Increased representation of FAQ snippets among top results for search queries.
- Re-evaluation of quality content and ranking of featured snippets.
- Increased representation of video.
- Decreased rankings for generic content.
Whilst it may appear that the September core update is related to the May core update, it is not the case. Nevertheless, the effects of these two core updates can be cumulative. As a result, some sites may be hit hard whilst others will experience serious gains in search engine results page (SERP) positioning.
Feb 2022: Page Experience Update
Page Experience Update
A desktop page experience update was launched in February 2022 and is based on on page experience signals for mobile. Some of the factors taken into consideration include HTTPS security, largest contentful paint (LCP), cumulative layout shift (CLS), first input delay, and absence of intrusive interstitials.
Similar to the product reviews update, this February 2022 update is classified as minor, meaning that most websites wouldn’t see a notable change in performance as long as they’re sticking to well-known development practices.
Steps You Can Take to Prepare For The Updates
Chances are that you’ve seen some ranking changes as a result of the numerous updates that occurred over the course of 2022. If that effect was notably negative, you’re probably wondering how to fix things or how to perform better in the future. Below are our recommendations to perform well on organic search.
Determine How Your Website Has Been Affected, And by Which Update
It’s important to understand which update has had an impact over your website’s search results. Google provides tips and recommendations that webmasters and developers can utilise to build the foundations of solid performance.
Focus on Content Quality
One thing is certain – content quality has become more important than ever. Quality isn’t just about in-depth pieces of content. Rather, it has become a comprehensive strategy and a focus on gaining ‘a good understanding of your audience and its needs’. There are many ways to get information about what your audience wants – make use of that data to come up with specific actionable steps.
Keep Yourself Updated on The Latest Changes
Finally, don’t forget to stay updated on the latest Google changes and recommendations.
Google Search Central is an excellent resource that gives you access to articles, tools and tips all webmasters can implement.
Reading the latest Digilari articles will also give you competitive advantage. We focus on making challenging topics easy to understand and providing actionable steps to improve your performance. We also share our know-how and experience, offering concrete recommendations to achieve optimal results.
Bookmark this page and don’t forget to check it again periodically to gain more insights on the latest Google algorithm updates.
Latest guide update: October 2022.
