Editor’s Note: This article will be updated regularly. Last updated on March 8, 2024.
The Google search algorithm is a highly sophisticated system that helps millions of people around the world find the information they’re looking for in a matter of seconds. Although each search happens in an instant, there’s a lot going on behind the scenes. Google analyzes your search query, matches thousands of web pages that may hold relevant information, ranks them based on hundreds of signals, considers context such as your physical location, and then returns the results in a format that is intuitive to understand.
Every year, Google makes hundreds of updates to its core and periphery search algorithms. We’ve created a guide for the most important updates from each year since the first major update in 2000.
March 2024 Core Algorithm Update + Spam Update
On March 5, 2024, Google announced two rollouts: A new spam update, and a new core algorithm update. The spam update will take about 2 weeks to roll out, and will address specific types of spammy strategies. These include scaled content abuse, site reputation abuse and expired domain abuse. These are three unique types of website marketing tactics, but they all address a common theme: The creation of content for the sake of it, which results in low-quality, confusing or uninformative content.
The core update will take up to a month to be fully complete, and in addition to spam-related issues addressed in the spam update, it also incorporates helpful content updates and updates related to link signals.
SEO Made Simple: Google’s SEO Starter Guide Refresh
As of February 2, 2024, Google has refreshed its SEO Starter Guide, aiming to make it more accessible and relevant to beginners in search engine optimization (SEO). Originally launched in 2008, the guide has gone through several iterations over the years, now focusing on streamlining content for new website owners and content creators.
To emphasize fundamental SEO principles, these updates removed jargon, compressed sections and eliminated topics deemed too advanced for beginners. Now, the manual is designed to provide practical guidance, debunk myths and clarify common SEO theories — aligning with Google’s dedication to clarity and ease of understanding for users.
As the digital landscape evolves, the enhanced SEO Starter Guide will prove a valuable resource for navigating SEO with confidence and precision.
Google’s Update: Elevating Vacation Rental Listings
Google’s December 4, 2023 update revolutionizes vacation rental listings with structured data markup, streamlining online management for providers. This enhancement boosts listing visibility on Google Search, benefiting both small property managers and large partners. It simplifies updating listings, making them more prominent to potential customers and ensures an effective digital presence for rental providers of all sizes — significantly improving their online visibility and impact in the vacation rental market.
November’s Core and Review Updates + Course Visibility
Google’s November 2023 Core Update is the fourth of its kind since the first back in March. However, like October, this month featured a second update to the Review System. These adjustments aim to improve the overall search experience with changes such as enhanced site recognition for frequently visited web pages, a search filter for different perspectives and Notes — a new experiment in Google’s Search Labs.
Google’s update on November 15, 2023, marked a significant enhancement in the online visibility of educational courses. This change, leveraging structured data, allows for a more dynamic presentation of course specifics — including pricing and duration — in a carousel format on Google Search. The update makes it easier for users to find and compare courses, aligning with Google’s commitment to improving user experience. This development is particularly notable for its potential impact on how prospective learners discover and evaluate courses.
Spam and Core Updates — October — Confirmed
Google has completed its October update rollout, kicking off the month with an update to spam coverage and another to its Core Algorithm. The former improves its spam detection systems’ coverage of language and spam types, while the latter impacts search rankings and user experience. In particular, the October 2023 Core Algorithm Update aims to enhance search quality and minimize spam content in the results.
Helpful Content System — September — Confirmed
Google has launched the Helpful Content System, a pivotal update to its ranking algorithm. Engineered to assess the value and relevance of web content, this new framework stands to have lasting effects on search engine rankings. It calls for a comprehensive reevaluation of existing content strategies, placing a heightened emphasis on user satisfaction and content quality.
Broad Core Update — March — Confirmed
The March 2023 broad core update — announced on March 15, completed 13 days later — was Google’s first of this year (and first since September 2022). Google said nothing to indicate this change had any intent beyond its ongoing efforts to promote quality content. Analysis from those on the SEO beat indicated that March’s update seemed more impactful than September’s: Keyword rankings and SERP positions fluctuated for numerous websites amid the rollout, though the most dramatic ups and downs occurred during the update’s beginning and middle periods. Anyone concerned about long-term content effects should examine their analytics and see if changes are needed.
Product Reviews Update — February — Confirmed
Google announced the most recent update to its product reviews system Feb. 21, 2023, saying the change would fully take effect within about 2 weeks. Unlike Google’s last set of changes to its product reviews system, which specifically addressed English-language reviews deemed helpful, the February update intended to make the system more internationally useful: Google Product Reviews now promotes helpful reviews in Spanish, German, French, Italian, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Russian, Dutch, Portuguese, Polish and English. This was the first update to Product Reviews since September 2022 and the sixth of its kind overall.
2022 Link Spam Update — December — Confirmed
According to Google, the launch of this update was meant to neutralize spammy links and lessen the credit unnatural links may hold. With this update, Google can detect any sites that buy links for ranking purposes and web pages that are used to pass outgoing links. This renovation started on December 14, and was meant to take about two weeks but has surpassed that time frame due to the holidays.
Helpful Content System Update — December — Confirmed
This helpful content system update is the first big upgrade since its launch in August 2022. The goal of Google’s renovation of its helpful content system is to detect more forms of low-quality web pages. The types of content that this update focuses on are mainly articles that use keyword stuffing, unoriginal work and any other writing that’s made for search engine algorithms rather than the reader.
Spam Update — October — Confirmed
On October 21, 2022, Google released the latest version of its software that detects and manages spammy content to improve the search experience. This update was global and only took 48 hours to fully implement, but there was no specification on whether Google was focused on changing links or content.
Product Reviews Update — September — Confirmed
When Google completes product reviews, the company looks at automated ranking systems to make sure users have access to the most in-depth feedback and research-driven summaries. This product review was the second of 2022, and the fifth update overall, and was specifically focused on helpful English-language reviews.
Core Update — September — Confirmed
This was the second core update of 2022, with the first being the May 2022 update. This newest renovation of Google’s search ranking algorithm and systems aims at ranking the best content for search queries. The rollout of this update was complete as of September 26, 2022.
Helpful Content Update — August — Confirmed
According to Google, the Helpful Content Update is designed to address content that caters to search engine algorithms instead of people — for example, articles that use keyword stuffing and other flawed SEO techniques. Unoriginal and low-quality content will be filtered out of Google’s top search results, saving searchers the frustration of hunting through irrelevant information.
