March is here and Google has made a big announcement for digital marketers worldwide. The recent extensive Google update conveys the algorithms they will be using to rank content in upcoming weeks and months. Google’s update has been divided into two forms: the March 2024 core update and the March 2024 spam update, in which they have focused on low-quality content and found new tactics to tackle the current spam issue that manipulates Google rankings.
“The March 2024 core update is a more complex update than our usual core updates, involving changes to multiple core systems.” – Google
Google is expecting to have a great impact on its rankings after these new core updates. Along with this, the search engine platform also claims that this recent core update is larger and more complex than the last released update. Adding to this,
“As this is a complex update, the rollout may take up to a month.” – Google
Apart from this above-mentioned statement, Google confidently assures its users that the updates will not have any impact on the sites, as their users’ convenience has been their priority always.
What’s in the Core Updates?
Improved Quality Ranking
Google’s ranking system is the main focus of this current March 2024 core update.
Director of Product for Search at Google, Elizabeth Tucker, added more, “We are making algorithmic enhancements to our core ranking systems to ensure we surface the most helpful information on the web and reduce unoriginal content in search results.”
The March 2024 core update is developed to reduce unhelpful and unoriginal content, which Google’s team has been working on since 2022.
The refined systems aim to distinguish between pages that genuinely provide valuable content and a good user experience versus those that are designed primarily to manipulate search engine rankings. By better understanding user intent and the quality of content, search engines can deliver more relevant and helpful results to users.
New Spam Policies
As we discussed above, Google’s new updates are bifurcated into two different updates, from which March 2024 spam update is one of them, which focuses on removing “lowest-quality” content from its search results.
Google adds more to this, “We will take action on more types of these manipulative behaviors starting today. Our ranking systems keep many types of low-quality content from ranking highly on search results. These updates will allow us to take more targeted action under our spam policies.”
Scaled Content Abuse
Google is implementing stricter rules to prevent the manipulation of search rankings through the mass production of low-quality or unoriginal content. This applies whether the content is generated by automation, humans, or a combination of both.
The focus is on preventing abusive practices aimed at artificially boosting search rankings.
Google comments on this, “This will allow us to take action on more types of content with little to no value created at scale, like pages that pretend to have answers to popular searches but fail to deliver helpful content.”
Site Reputation Abuse
Google has raised quite a concern about the site reputation abuse issue, where trusted sites host third-party content with low-quality content to promote the hosting website’s strong image.
Google explains the reputation abuse point with an example:
“For example, a third party might publish payday loan reviews on a trusted educational website to gain ranking benefits from the site. Such content ranking highly in search results can confuse or mislead visitors who may have different expectations for the content being promoted on the given website.”
Google’s spam update will consider such spam content, which is primarily developed to gain more rankings without the website owner’s close oversight.
Expired Domain Abuse
Google’s March 2024 spam update focuses on the abuse of expired domains, where the expired domains are bought back and used for boosting search rankings of the third-party website’s low-quality content.
Users can easily confuse the relationship between low-quality content with an expired, original trusted website.
Timeline
Google’s March 2024 core update has officially been rolled out. Although the search engine has given websites a two-month window to comply their websites with Google’s new policies. While the rest of the changes are queued into upcoming weeks.
These recent releases tell us about Google’s ongoing efforts to improve search result quality.
Tucker also added, “Search helps people with billions of questions every day, but there will always be areas where we can improve. We will continue to work hard at keeping low-quality content on search to low levels and showing more information created to help people.”
Also Read – Complete List of Google Algorithms
Summary
Digital marketers and SEOs worldwide have experienced a noticeable decline in Google’s search quality, with important content from big websites, especially Reddit, that dominates most of the niches and industries. Suspicions arose when Google announced its use of Reddit data for AI learning, although they claim ranking changes predate this.
Although, there is hope for more diverse search results, favoring smaller sites with quality content. This shift aims to combat spam and promote useful content.
Key takeaways: avoid spamming content, ensure quality through editing, monitor third-party postings, and avoid buying expired domains to expand authority.
If you want to comply your website with Google’s new policies, our SEO experts are at your assistance. Contact us and update your website with the new updates easily.