Google Core Update August 2024 – what can we see right now?

Here we go again! A new Google update was released on August 15 (on my birthday, those rascals!) and there’s already some useful information you should know.

For more general information about Google updates, I refer you to one of our earlier articles: Frequently Asked Questions (and Answers) about Google’s Core Updates.

Google’s own words about the update

This time, they mention that the update is part of their ongoing improvements to Google Search. The aim is to show more results that users find genuinely relevant and helpful, and fewer results that appear to have been created solely to perform better in Google Search.

So far, nothing surprising. Google has been saying for many years that they want to reward search results that are helpful to the user.

Using feedback from the 2023 updates

An interesting part comes from what John Mueller, Google Search Advocate, has written: that this update is partly built on feedback from content creators who were hit hard or saw no improvements during the various updates in 2023.

The feedback was largely about smaller brands and independent bloggers/content creators never having a chance to appear because the results were dominated by the biggest players — even though the smaller creators often had better and more unique content.

It also included those who were affected by earlier updates but never saw improvements in rankings despite having addressed the obvious issues.

John Mueller says:

This August 2024 core update “aims to better capture improvements that sites may have made, so we can continue to surface the best of the web.”

So hopefully, site owners who were previously affected by updates may find it easier to regain visibility if they actively work on improving their sites!

Compensation for the 2023 Helpful Content update?

Many site owners were hit especially hard in September 2023 during the Helpful Content update.

Google wanted to crack down on large-scale production of AI-generated content designed only to rank. At the same time, Google began showing more results from Reddit and Quora — forums where individuals share their insights and answers. Google shifted focus from authority — well-known brands and names — to experience, where the person writing is also the one who has lived it.

That was likely one of the reasons forums saw a boost (and possibly because of their partnership with Reddit!).

The August update has shown signs that sites hit in 2023 have started to see some recovery. Of course, it’s still early days, and no one has regained everything. But it does suggest that what John Mueller wrote may be true.

We believe it sounds like Google themselves realized last year’s update was a bit too harsh. Many site owners who were fundamentally producing good content took a hard hit. And it may have been a bit misguided to highlight so many comments from individuals on different forums. That risks losing the expertise and authority in the search results.

More to come…

It’s only been a few days since the update began. As we learn more, you, our readers, will too!

Have you noticed any movements on your own site? Do you have any thoughts? Leave a comment below.

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