Google’s March 2024 core update calls on SEO professionals to evolve their strategies. With a focus on combating low-quality content and manipulative tactics, it champions user-centered approaches. Liam Bickerton, chief strategy officer at 829 Studios, elaborates on its far-reaching implications.
The ever-evolving research landscape witnessed a major shake-up in March 2024 with the arrival of Google’s latest core update. While some websites have not experienced significant changes in performance, others have been completely de-indexed due to the new spam policies. These spam policies are of great importance in the use of generative AI as websites have turned to AI for quick and easy content production. SEO analysts like Ian Nuttall are taking their findings to X and showing how many sites in their databases have been de-indexed. This level of impact is reminiscent of the Panda & Penguin updates that Google released in 2011 and 2012 respectively. We delve into the heart of the March 2024 Core Update, dissecting its goals, analyzing its impact on websites, and providing useful information for those of you navigating the new search terrain.
I checked the index status of 49,345 sites to measure the impact of manual AI spam actions!
1.7% of sites were affected, more than 20 million monthly organic visits disappeared and more than $446,000 in display advertising revenue was lost.
Do you want the data? Follow, like and reply with 👏 and I’ll send it to you! pic.twitter.com/sUo22DejaL
— Ian Nuttall (@iannuttall) March 8, 2024
2018 Google CEO Sundar Pichai sitting in front of Congress explaining how search engine optimization works. Questioning senators and House representatives sat with puzzled looks on their faces as Sundar explained how more than 200 signals are graded when Google crawls indexed pages that align with a specific query. While this is not the area of expertise we expect from members of Congress, the inability to understand SEO concepts is also common among digital marketers. The good news? When you distill the March 2024 update, it’s something even an SEO novice can understand and take action on. The update is still in the process of rolling out, so don’t let the inclusion of “March” in the name fool you.
Introducing the update agenda: quality over quantity and white hat tactics
from Google Core updates are their way of refining their search algorithms to deliver the most relevant and valuable results to user queries. The March 2024 update specifically targeted two key areas:
Combat low-quality content: Google has long emphasized the importance of high-quality content. This update was intended to further reduce websites filled with thin and unoriginal content, AI-generated spam, and content created solely to appease search engines rather than users.
New spam policies: The update wasn’t just about rewarding informative content. It also coincided with a series of new spam policies aimed at tackling manipulative SEO tactics. These policies target practices that exploit search engine algorithms and ultimately provide a poor user experience.
Google has addressed three key areas within its policies:
abusing expired domains, targeting repurposed websites for SEO gains by purchasing expired domains with established backlinks and low-quality content;
abuse of site reputation, focusing on misleading reputations built through inauthentic tactics, often facilitated by artificial intelligence, such as fake news articles, manipulated reviews or automated social media interaction;
content abuse at scale, fighting against “content farms” that produce low-quality AI-generated content solely for SEO manipulation, with Google aiming to penalize such tactics and promote genuine content and user involvement.
See more: Backlinks: The Competitive Edge for Marketers in the Age of AI
The impact: timelines, winners and losers
Websites that provide high-quality, user-centric content are expected to increase rankings. Conversely, websites that rely on low-quality tactics will eventually experience a significant drop in organic traffic.
“The March 2024 Core Update is a more complex update than our usual core updates, involving changes to several core systems. It also marks an evolution in how we identify the usefulness of content…
As this is a complex update, it may take up to a month to roll out. It is likely…
— Google SearchLiaison (@searchliaison) April 2, 2024
The Winners
Websites with original and informative content: Google has consistently emphasized its desire to provide users with the most relevant and useful search results. The March 2024 update marks a monumental step towards achieving this goal. Google Senior Search Analyst John Mueller has advised SEOs to focus on optimizing websites for people, not search engines. This is a simple way to deconstruct a more complicated algorithm update. Ask yourself the following: Does my content comprehensively address the landing page and/or topic? Am I providing valuable information and insights that users are looking for? Surface content that skims the surface is unlikely to be considered useful, and this is an inherent risk in AI-sourced content.
Websites with good user experience (UX): The emphasis on user experience is not new, but the March update highlighted its importance even more. Websites with clear navigation, mobile friendliness and a focus on user engagement (eg comment sections) perform best.
the losers
Websites that rely on AI-generated content: The update specifically targeted websites that used AI to produce low-quality, unoriginal content. This is not to say that there are no practical or effective uses of AI-generated content for websites. Here’s Google’s update statement on the matter:
“Our long-standing spam policy has been that the use of automation, including generative AI, is spam if the primary purpose is to manipulate ranking in search results. The updated policy has the same spirit than our previous policy and is based on the same principle It has been expanded to account for more sophisticated methods of content creation at scale where it is not always clear whether low-quality content was created solely by automation .
Websites with keyword stuffing and black hat tactics: Practices like keyword stuffing and other manipulative SEO tactics are penalized. You’d think the lesson would have been learned after the 2011 Panda update, but these practices are still being used on many sites around the web. The March 2024 update further emphasized the importance of creating content naturally, focusing on value over keyword density.
Websites with poor user experience: As we’ve seen with previous core algorithm updates, websites with frustrating designs, slow load times, and poor user engagement will continue to suffer.
How to use this information to be successful?
Google has always intentionally kept the details of core algorithm updates secret to prevent manipulation. However, this time they have lightened their ambiguity. From official pronouncements and industry analysis, we can glean some key insights into how Google can assess the usefulness of content and how to navigate any use of generative AI. If your content covers the topic comprehensively and provides valuable insights and information that users are looking for, your site will be in good shape. Credibility and expertise build trust with users, resulting in a more useful experience. Also, if the content is well structured, easy to navigate and logically organized, users should find the information they need quickly and efficiently. This will positively impact user experience signals that are becoming an increasingly important part of the rating process.
In an ideal world, you want to have your entire website optimized for the March 2024 update right away. But it’s important not to obsess over all the content on your website and start by focusing on your most important traffic pages. Content can exist on a spectrum, with some pieces offering more value and breadth than others. That said, if you recognize that your site has poor UX, has violated spam policies, or is overly reliant on AI content, it’s important to act quickly. The search marketing community continues to report sites that have been severely impacted or completely de-indexed. This has validated Google’s claims to improve the experience of its users and intentions to implement a major change to the core algorithm. What is undeniable is that this update cannot be ignored.
How can organizations evolve their SEO strategy after Google’s March 2024 update? Let us know Facebook, Xi LinkedIn. We’d love to hear from you!
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