Google Algorithm Updates In The Last 6 Months
Learn about the confirmed Google Algorithm Updates, changes and refreshes that have impacted SEO in the last 6 months. Let us start by discussing briefly about Google Algorithms and Ranking Systems to understand how Google Search works.
SEO and Google Algorithm Updates
When we search on Google, Google Algorithms and ranking systems scan and sort through billions of web pages and other content stored in their search index to present the most helpful, useful and relevant results in the blink of an eye.
Google Search algorithms look at many factors and signals, including the words of our query, the relevance and usability of pages, the expertise of sources, and our location and settings. The weight applied to each factor varies depending on the nature of the query. For example, the freshness of the content plays a bigger role in answering queries about current news topics than it does about dictionary definitions.
Most of the Google Search Index is built through the work of software called crawlers. These automatically visit publicly accessible web pages and follow links on those pages. They go from page to page and store information about what they find on these pages and other publicly accessible content in Google’s Search index.
When crawlers find a web page, Google’s systems render the content and note key signals—from keywords to website freshness. All of this is tracked by the search index. The crawling process runs to keep up with changes in web pages. Crawlers notice how often content seems to change and revisit as necessary.
Google Search index contains more than just what’s on the web. In fact, Google has multiple indexes of different types of information, which is gathered through crawling, through partnerships, through data feeds and through their own encyclopedia of facts, the Knowledge Graph.
Google makes thousands of changes to its algorithms each year. We can ignore a lot of these as they can have minimal impact but there are major algorithmic updates released too, we must be aware of these changes because they have a big impact on the SERPs.
In this list, we will be discussing the confirmed Google Algorithm Updates in the last 6 months.
December 2024 Spam Update
Date – Started on December 19, 2024 and ended on December 26, 2024.
The December 2024 spam update was released on December 19 and the rollout was completed on December 26. This was the last confirmed Google Algorithm Update of the year. Google says this update applies globally and to all languages. Further, Google linked to its Spam updates page which says:
“While Google’s automated systems to detect search spam are constantly operating, we occasionally make notable improvements to how they work. When we do, we refer to this as a spam update and share when they happen on our list of Google Search ranking updates.
For example, SpamBrain is our AI-based spam-prevention system. From time-to-time, we improve that system to make it better at spotting spam and to help ensure it catches new types of spam.
Sites that see a change after a spam update should review our spam policies to ensure they are complying with those. Sites that violate our policies may rank lower in results or not appear in results at all. Making changes may help a site improve if our automated systems learn over a period of months that the site complies with our spam policies.
In the case of a link spam update (an update that specifically deals with link spam), making changes might not generate an improvement. This is because when our systems remove the effects spammy links may have, any ranking benefit the links may have previously generated for your site is lost. Any potential ranking benefits generated by those links cannot be regained.”
December 2024 Core Update
Date – Started on December 12, 2024 and ended on December 18, 2024.
The December 2024 Core update was released on December 12 and the rollout was completed on December 18. Several times a year, Google makes significant, broad changes to their search algorithms and systems. They refer to these as core updates.
Core updates are designed to ensure that overall, Google are delivering on their mission to present helpful and reliable results for searchers. These changes are broad in nature, and don’t target specific sites or individual web pages. As content on the web changes, Google assesses and updates it’s systems to keep pace, as a whole.
If you have questions about a change in traffic that correlates with a core update, Google linked to its core updates page. This page explains more about how core updates work, and what you can do to assess and perhaps improve your content.
The December 2024 Core Update was the fastest documented and official Core Update on record and more volatile than the November 2024 Core Update, albeit for a short period of time. Also, the December Update saw an average position gain/loss higher than the November Update.
November 2024 Core Update
Date – Started on November 11, 2024 and ended on December 5, 2024.
The November 2024 Core update was released on November 11 and the rollout was completed on December 5. Several times a year, Google makes significant, broad changes to their search algorithms and systems. They refer to these as core updates. Core updates affect search results globally across all regions and languages.
When this update was released, Google posted “This update is designed to continue our work to improve the quality of our search results by showing more content that people find genuinely useful and less content that feels like it was made just to perform well on Search.”
If you have questions about a change in traffic that correlates with a core update, Google linked to its core updates page. This page explains more about how core updates work, and what you can do to assess and perhaps improve your content.
The November 2024 Core Update was less volatile as compared to recent previous Core Updates. Also, the November Update saw an average position gain/loss lower than recent previous core updates.
August 2024 Core Update
Date – Started on August 15, 2024 and ended on September 3, 2024.
The August 2024 Core update was released on August 15 and the rollout was completed on September 3. Several times a year, Google makes significant, broad changes to their search algorithms and systems. They refer to these as core updates. Core updates affect search results globally across all regions and languages.
When this update was released, Google posted:
“Today, we launched our August 2024 core update to Google Search. This update is designed to continue our work to improve the quality of our search results by showing more content that people find genuinely useful and less content that feels like it was made just to perform well on Search.
This latest update takes into account the feedback we’ve heard from some creators and others over the past few months. As always, we aim to connect people with a range of high-quality sites, including small or independent sites that are creating useful, original content, when relevant to users’ searches. This is an area we’ll continue to address in future updates. This update also aims to better capture improvements that sites may have made, so we can continue to show the best of the web.
We’ve also updated our help page about core updates, which includes more in-depth guidance for those who may see changes after an update.”
If you have questions about a change in traffic that correlates with a core update, Google linked to its core updates page. This page explains more about how core updates work, and what you can do to assess and perhaps improve your content.
The August 2024 Core Update was highly volatile as compared to recent previous Core Updates. Also, the August Core Update saw an average position gain/loss higher than recent previous core updates.
Conclusion
Overall, there have been four official Google Algorithm Updates in the last six months – three core updates and a spam update.
December 2024:
- Spam Update: Targeted spammy websites, emphasizing compliance with Google’s spam policies.
- Core Update: Faster rollout than previous updates, with higher volatility and higher average position gain/loss than the November update.
November 2024:
- Core Update: Focused on improving search quality by prioritizing genuinely useful content. Less volatile than previous updates and lower average position gain/loss than recent previous core updates.
August 2024:
- Core Update: Emphasized high-quality content from small and independent sites. Highly volatile with significant position shifts compared to recent previous core updates.
While the SEO landscape may constantly shift, the core principles of providing valuable content and prioritizing user experience remain timeless. Let’s continue to learn, adapt, and create a better online world together. We will continue to bring you the latest on SEO and Google Algorithm Updates as and when they happen on The Info Arena!
I want to conclude by thanking you for reading the post. We hope this blog post has helped you understand the impact of the recent Google Algorithm Updates and that it will help you accomplish your SEO goals.