People have exploited ChatGPT and other AI content generators badly and published millions of generic, low-quality posts to rank websites and blogs. Now what has happened is that the ranked results are full of low-quality duplicate and generic content on Google and quality results have gone down. So to deal with this problem, Google in March 2024 like every year, launched a new algorithm update.
An instructor from a top digital marketing institute in Delhi explains the impact of the Google core update March 2024
Google March 2024 core update
“Google’s March 2024 Update” includes algorithm changes to improve search result quality and restrict spam content. The objective behind this upgrade is to decrease low-quality, unoriginal content in search results by 40% in next few months.
New spam policies by Google prioritize scaled content abuse, site reputation abuse, and Expired domain misuse. The March 2024 core upgrade is intended to improve Search quality by presenting less information that appears to be created solely to generate “clicks” and more stuff that users find valuable.
The most recent Google update includes four changes to the link signal that reflect the complexity of the new ranking algorithms.
Google Spam Policy 2024
The Google spam policy website provides demonstrations of what is to be called site reputation abuse and what is not. Such content must be removed from Google Search to prevent breaching the Google spam policy. To give site owners time to prepare for the change, the new regulation will go into effect on May 5, 2024.
Google is strictly targeting sites using spammy techniques like cloaking or Doorways, scaled content abuse etc. Like Keyword stuffing and link spam were banned in previous algorithm updates, the top search engine intends to do the same for new techniques that are used to manipulate the search.
- Cloaking is a practice of presenting different content to both users and search engine crawlers. Eg, A page on the name of sports for crawlers but contains content on gambling.
- Doorways are very similar to phishing but are different. In this, multiple websites with URL variations are created to rank a particular keyword. It also includes having multiple domain names for one single page to target audiences from different locations.
Google is providing site owners with a two-month notice before enforcing the new spam policy. Their new policies and continual updates to spam-fighting technology are not only meant to provide users with excellent, useful information. It also assures that people who generate helpful information outperform spammers in search.
According to Google’s latest modifications, content providers should review all of their spam policies and avoid engaging in such activities. Sites that breach “Google spam policies” will either rank lower in the results or not rank at all.
What is expired domain abuse?
Expired domain abuse is another manipulative technique to get Previously gained domain authority and trust of an expired domain. It happens when a previously expired domain name is purchased and repurposed primarily to influence search rankings by providing content that provides little to no value to visitors. Abuse of expiring domains is not accidental. It is a technique employed by those who want to rank high in search results with low-quality content by focusing on a domain name’s past reputation. These domains are generally not meant to be discovered other than through search engines.
What is Scaled Content Abuse?
Scaled content abuse occurs when a huge number of pages are created with the only purpose of manipulating search rankings instead of benefitting users. This abusive practice is based on the creation of vast amounts of unoriginal content that provides little to no value to users, regardless of how it is produced.
This new policy builds on Google’s previous spam policy for automatically generated content, ensuring that we all may respond to scaled content abuse as needed, regardless of whether the content is created by automation, human efforts, or a combination of the two. Example: Using ChatGPT to create content for multiple pages of a website targeting two different locations. However since GPT has the same dataset, content is duplicated and rephrased without change in context and value depending on the target location.
What is Site Reputation Abuse in Google Update 2024?
Site reputation abuse happens when third-party pages are published without first-party control or input, to affect search rankings by using a reputed site’s ranking. Google does not flag all third-party content, but content hosted outside of the domain area and category is intended to manipulate search rankings.
To check whether your website is banned by Google Core update or not, you have to type in “site:website.com” and see if you are showing up in the search results. It is also possible that Google has not banned your site but flagged issues in it, which you can check in your search console pages section.
To do so, go to the search console:
Here you will find the issues that made Google deindex several pages from your site.
A digital Marketer needs to stay updated about these trends on the internet and when it comes to Google it is a thing that every SEO student should know about from in and out. Being in the SEO industry or making a career here requires a lot of continuous effort and practice like any sport to stay updated. To learn more about SEO, enroll into our hindi SEO course with certificate by one of the top digital marketing institute in Delhi