It was only in January 2024 that a German research paper took up the topic of how iffy links were flooding Google. Seems like the giant search engine has paid heed to the netizens’ complaints. Yes, we are talking about the Google March 2024 core updates! The company in its press release has addressed the key concerns, and how it intends to target the ‘unfiltered spam’ that has been affecting its ‘search quality’ over time. 

This post will give you an insight into the core updates, new spam policies, site reputation/expired domain, and scaled content abuse. We will also answer the queries that content creators have after this update. 

What do the Google March 2024 core updates state? 

For the unversed, this March 2024 rollout is no routine update. Rather, it is a comprehensive crackdown that touches multiple aspects of the core system. Over the years together, Google has enhanced its features and integrated innovative methodologies to improve ‘usability.’ This update is another step towards the future to broaden its horizons and adapt to the progressing digital landscape. 

According to the official blog – “This update involves refining some of our core ranking systems to help us better understand if webpages are unhelpful, have a poor user experience, or feel like if they were created for search engines instead of people…” 

Thus, one may understand that – this update from the tech giant is not solely about ‘improving’ search algorithms. Rather, the aim is to address the ‘spamming’ challenge and provide ‘relevant and informative’ content. The deadline given to website owners to prepare for this upgrade is May 5, 2024. After that, this new policy will take effect.  

What are the key areas it targets? 

In this section, we will clearly address the ‘facets’ that the Google March 2024 core updates target – 

New Spam Policy 

The company has announced 3 new spam policies to filter out plagiarized and poor-quality content. 

Detailed idea about the malpractices – 

In this section, we will update you specifically about the new spam policies in detail – 

    1. Scaled Content Abuse 

The first malpractice that the company has decided to take note of is – reducing the visibility levels of scaled content. This implies that for years together Google has restricted the usage of automated procedures to create plagiarized content on a wider scale. This was to prevent ranking manipulation. 

     2.  Site Reputation Abuse 

The Google March 2024 core updates speak about how credible websites with informative content host third-party promotions to monetize that platform. Google has decided to take stringent action and devalue its credibility. 

      3. Expired Domain Abuse 

This refers to those times when various website owners go ahead and buy additional but expired website domains. After that, they post plagiarized/inferior and off-target content on those. By using this website cloaking strategy they intend to get traffic. 

What happened behind the scenes? 

Let us look at what Google’s Spam Explainer has to say about this update – 

• It seems that Google is looking to de-emphasize the role that links play in determining the relevancy of a webpage. 
• Therefore, the concept of creating poor-quality content simply to manipulate the rankings will be taken to task. In fact, the tech giant has clearly stated that this attempt will be considered ‘link spamming.’ 
• Lastly, in the context of using expired domains, there will be stringent checking about ‘repurposing’ old domains and ‘not using it fruitfully’ to match search queries. 

This ‘behind-the-scenes’ news on the latest updates showcases the path that the search engine intends to walk on in the upcoming future. The destination is – serving people first! 

What does Google aim to achieve? 

If you are a frequent Google user, then you have seen for yourself how the search engine’s ‘credibility’ lowered in the last few months, all thanks to ‘spamming’ and ‘irrelevant and spun’ content. Now with this Google March 2024 core updates the tech giant has pledged to – “…reduce low-quality, unoriginal content in search results by 40%…” 

It is only natural to ask – what ‘precisely’ does the company aim to achieve? We will look into that – 

• Internet pundits claim that Google is not only targeting ‘AI-generated’ low-quality content but ‘in general’ any content that is produced with the sole intention of – ‘scale for the purpose of ranking in search.’ 
• Another interpretation of this update, wherein Google states that – it is detecting ‘unhelpful’ webpages, shows that it aims in the future to reduce ‘hyper-targeted’ content. 

At the end of the day, the company is looking to achieve the ‘basic essence of SEO optimization.’ That is – relevant, helpful, and informative content for the ‘targeted’ keyword. 

Parting thoughts 

With too many complaints in a row, the latest announcement of Google March 2024 core updates provides respite. On the one hand, it intends to reduce ‘useless’ content by 40%; while on the other, focuses on addressing ‘spamming’ and enhancing the technical aspects of the search engine. Therefore, one may state that in the upcoming times when the ‘core’ points are taken care of, Google’s usability will surely see a spike. 

FAQ

      1. How will the Google March 2024 core updates enhance your search quality? 

As per news released, this update will bring about an algorithmic upgrade to the core ranking systems. Apart from that, carrying on old efforts to filter out useless content (since 2022), there will be a 40% reduction in poor-quality posts. 

     2. What is the timeline for complying with the policies? 

To adhere to Google’s new policy, the company has given a 2-month window (May 5, 2024). 

    3. What does Elizabeth Tucker from Google have to say? 

The two pointers on which Tucker focused on was – 

• Prioritizing useful content and minimizing the presence of poor quality and plagiarized content in search results. 
• Remove low-quality posts from search outcomes. 

Ariyan