Google announced that it has completed the rollout of a spam update that began on March 5 in parallel with the core update.
The spam update, which took approximately two weeks to fully deploy, targeted large-scale content production, expired domain abuse, and privilege abuse.
A core update that incorporates “useful content” ratings into the core algorithm is currently in progress and is expected to take approximately four weeks in total to complete.
Spam update rollout complete
On March 20th at 6:09 PDT, Google confirmed that the spam update is no longer available.
The announcement was made via an update to Google's search status dashboard.
With this update, Google introduced three new spam policies. Massive Content Abuse, Abuse of expired domainsand Site reputation abuse.
The first two policies went into effect immediately, but the site reputation abuse policy will go into effect in May.
Impact on websites and search results
Now that the spam update has been rolled out, there is new clarity in the search environment as publishers and SEO professionals can now understand the impact of the changes.
Early data from SISTRIX revealed significant gains and losses across a variety of domains, with some websites being removed from Google's search index entirely.
After implementing the new spam policy, Google issued a number of manual measures to address genuine spam issues.
Originality.ai research shows that 100% of deindexed websites show signs of AI-generated content, and half of sites have 90-100% of their posts written by AI. I did.
However, these manual actions are separate from algorithmic demotions.
The main difference is that manual actions are performed by Google's human reviewers and are accompanied by a notification in Search Console.
In contrast, algorithmic ranking updates, such as the March spam update, occur automatically and do not result in any notification from Google.
A website can be affected by both manual actions and algorithm updates at the same time.
Core update still in progress
The spam update rollout has ended, but the core update that started at the same time is still in progress.
Google says the core update will take several more weeks to complete as it integrates ratings for “useful content” into its core algorithms.
As core updates continue, SEO professionals and content creators need to focus on creating original, high-value content that resonates with their target audience.
Google's head of search, Danny Sullivan, urged patience and caution, stressing the importance of waiting until the update is fully completed before making any major changes in response to ranking changes.
Wait until the update is complete before deciding whether you need to make any fundamental changes. There may be nothing to do.
Your site looks clean and nice. Looking at the site, [steak pie] As one of your recommended recipes. You are on a merry-go-round, and…
— Google Search Liaison (@searchliaison) March 15, 2024
Adapting to the new search environment
Now that the spam update has been rolled out, website owners and content creators can begin adapting to the new search environment. This may include auditing existing content, reworking AI-generated material, and prioritizing human creativity and editorial oversight.
The SEO community continues to monitor the impact of both updates, and it's clear that Google remains committed to promoting original, high-value content and combating low-quality spam material.
The full impact of these updates will become more apparent in the coming weeks as the core update rollout completes and search results settle into new patterns.
Featured image: Bayu Eka Y/Shutterstock