SEARCHENGINES
Google August 2024 Core Update Rolling Out
![Google August 2024 Core Update Rolling Out Google August 2024 Core Update](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Google-August-2024-Core-Update-Rolling-Out.jpg)
The time has finally arrived; the day you all have been waiting for is here – the Google August 2024 core update started rolling out on Thursday at 11 am ET. Yea, you all saw it coming, Google told us it was near and now it has finally landed. It will take about a month to fully roll out and “useful” small and independent publishers will see their rankings improve with this one – at least that is what Google implied.
Google announced, “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,” John Mueller of Google added.
John specifically said that this “latest update takes into account the feedback we’ve heard from some creators and others over the past few months.” Meaning, “This update also aims to better capture improvements that sites may have made, so we can continue to surface the best of the web.” This includes, “small or independent sites that are creating useful, original content on relevant searches,” he wrote.
Note: Google confirmed a search ranking bug affecting a large number of results this morning – so I’d disregard any ranking changes we saw in the past 24-hours. This update will take a month to roll out anyway…
Google August 2024 Core Update Quick Facts:
Here are the most important things that we know right now in short form:
- Name: Google August 2024 Broad Core Update
- Launched: August 15, 2024 at around 11 am ET
- Rollout: Will take about four weeks to roll out
- Targets: It looks at all types of content
- Penalty: It is not a penalty, it promotes or rewards great web pages
- Global: This is a global update impacting all regions, in all languages.
- Impact: The normal core update stuff around helpful content but this one should also reward small and independent publishers.
- Discover: Core updates impact Google Discover and other features, also feature snippets and more.
- Recover: If you were hit by this, then you will need to look at your content and see if you can do better with Google’s core update advice.
- Refreshes: Google will do periodic refreshes to this algorithm but may not communicate those updates in the future. Maybe this is what we saw the past couple of weeks or all those unconfirmed Google updates.
Google August 2024 Core Update Details
Google wrote on its blog:
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 on relevant 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 surface 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.
I should note that most of you did not send in feedback for Google on these updates.
Google posted on its search status dashboard at 10:87 am ET, “Released the August 2024 core update. The rollout may take up to a month to complete.”
Google also posted on social at X and on LinkedIn:
Today we released the August 2024 core update. It continues 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.https://t.co/T6Qt0JUoWt
— Google Search Central (@googlesearchc) August 15, 2024
Core Update Documentation Changes
Here is what Google changed in its core update help documentation. It was vastly re-written to explain how core updates work, how to see if there was a traffic drop, what to keep in mind and how long it takes to see results.
Google said it “restructured the core updates documentation so it has clearer sections and includes information from other docs (such as traffic drops and the self-assessment guidance).
Here is the new version (click to enlarge):
Here is the old version (click to enlarge):
Here is a summary:
Great catch by Marie. Google updated its documentation for its page on core updates. Marie provides a breakdown of the changes in her blog post.
Like this: “In fact, if you’re considering deleting entire sections of your site, that’s likely a sign those sections were created… https://t.co/7AA522PJy1
— Glenn Gabe (@glenngabe) August 15, 2024
Google also reduced duplication with the helpful content FAQ and redirected that page and then moved the helpful content system section to the archived section of the ranking systems guide.
Previous Broad Core Updates
Here is a list of the most recent core updates we’ve seen since Google started to confirm them. Previously we nicknamed them Phantom updates or unconfirmed updates.
- August 2024 Core Update : April 15, 2024 for the next four weeks or so
- March 2024 Core Update : March 5, 2024 through April 19, 2024
- November 2023 Core Update : November 2, 2023 through November 28, 2023
- October 2023 Core Update: October 5, 2023 through October 19, 2023
- August 2023 Core Update: August 22, 2023 through September 7, 2023
- March 2023 Core Update: March 15, 2023 through March 28, 2023
- September 2022 Core Update: September 12, 2022 through September 26, 2022
- May 2022 Core Update: May 25, 2022 through June 9, 2022
- November 2021 Core Update: November 17, 2021 through November 30, 2021
- July 2021 Core Update: July 1, 2021 through July 12, 2021
- June 2021 Core Update: June 2, 2021 through June 12, 2021
- December 2020 Core Update: December 3, 2020 through December 16, 2020
- May 2020 Core Update: May 4, 2020 through May 18, 2020
- January 2020 Core Update: January 13, 2020 through mostly January 17, 2020
- September 2019 Core Update: September 24, 2019
- Google June 2019 Core Update: June 3, 2019 through June 8, 2019
Previous Helpful Content Update Impact
Here is the list of the previous Google helpful content updates:
Google Tracking Tools On August 2024 Core Update (So Far)
Note – these ranking volatility charts probably show the search ranking bug and not the impact of the August core update. But I am posting them anyway…
SEO Chatter
Most of the SEO community is trying to be hopeful, but there is just a lot of anxiety floating around. Many are super skeptical that they will see any positive movement from these changes. Some expect Google to rank their sites better soon. But again, most do not trust they will see any improvements to their rankings.
I am not quoting tons of people because there is not much out there that is useful, so I summarized what I have been reading across the SEO communities.
But these guys do not seem wrong:
Lots of folks honing in on Google’s “feels like” statement. How that might work:
1. Google uses humans to subjectivity score a bunch of sites if they are “made for SEO”
2. Those scores are fed into Machine Learning, which creates a classifier
3. The classifier works at scale— Cyrus SEO (@CyrusShepard) August 15, 2024
This is what I was flagging months ago.
The HCU isn’t about “Helpful content”,
it’s about “over optimised” content,
that’s primarily for SE Traffic,
and that covers many of the MFA sites 🙁— Darth Autocrat (Lyndon NA) (@darth_na) August 15, 2024
And on the ranking bug, Google confirmed a search ranking bug affecting a large number of results this morning – so I’d disregard any ranking changes we saw in the past 24-hours. This update will take a month to roll out anyway…
As Glenn Gabe put it:
Heads-up, a core update, big AI overviews changes, and now a ranking issue impacting a large number of search results”. Stay tuned… -> “There’s an ongoing issue with ranking in Google Search that’s affecting a large number of search results.” https://t.co/yqurSemyON
— Glenn Gabe (@glenngabe) August 16, 2024
Finally, we may be seeing some recoveries from some of the most vocal publishers hit by the helpful content update – or maybe it is the ranking bug? Who knows:
Good Morning Google Land! This is the first edition of “Core Update Notes” for the August 2024 core update. And man, are we starting off in an interesting way. First, Google announced a ranking issue last night impacting a “large number of search results”. So, what I present now… pic.twitter.com/YKViu0ws5q
— Glenn Gabe (@glenngabe) August 16, 2024
I can confirm that I am seeing lots of fluctuations. I’m not sure what this means yet, but my fingers are crossed. Reddit is still dominating absolutely everything.
— Brandon Saltalamacchia (@iambrandonsalt) August 16, 2024
Lily Ray seeing it also?
Here’s an HCU-impacted site surging +590% where it was two days ago.
It’s still nothing compared to what they lost in the Helpful Content Update, but that’s how core update recoveries work. They take weeks. It’s been 24 hours. pic.twitter.com/oucv2VeMDe
— Lily Ray 😏 (@lilyraynyc) August 16, 2024
I hope many of you see recoveries with this August 2024 core update – do keep us posted.
SEARCHENGINES
Daily Search Forum Recap: September 27, 2024
Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today, through the eyes of the Search Engine Roundtable and other search forums on the web.
Google’s 26th birthday is today but there is no celebration or Doodle. Google may have removed a ton of reviews this month. If you update your Google Business Profile, it may trigger a re-verification request. Google local panels are testing “about this place.” Bing short videos show more details. Google is asking searchers if they want to see content suggested in their language. Plus, I posted the weekly SEO video recap.
Search Engine Roundtable Stories:
-
Today Is Google’s 26th Birthday – Where Is The Doodle?
Today is the day Google would be celebrating its birthday or anniversary – September 27th. As Google posted last year, On September 27, 1998, Google Inc. was officially born. -
Search News Buzz Video Recap: Google Volatility With Gains & Losses, Updated Web Spam Policies, Cache Gone & More Search News
Google Search rankings gains were lost for many, followed more more volatility this week. Google updated its web search spam policies, with a focus on site reputation abuse. Google’s cache operator is now fully dead… -
Report: Small Google Business Profile Updates May Trigger Re-Verification
Krystal Taing, a Google local product expert in the Google Business Profiles forum and Vice President at Uberall, said she is seeing a rise in re-verifications from Google Business Profiles even after just making small changes or additions to your Google Business Profile. -
Spike In Removed Google Reviews On September 17th
Google seemed to have removed/deleted a ton of reviews from Google Business Profiles within Google Maps and Local search last week, around September 17th. This came a day or so before Google updated its Google Business Profiles review restrictions policy. -
Bing Short Videos Now With Details
Microsoft is testing adding more details to the short video carousel it shows in Bing Search. Now it is showing video length, descriptions, a swipe to see more and other changes. -
Google Search Content Suggestions In Specific Languages Toggle
Google has this setting some searchers can manage that lets them turn on or off seeing content in a language that is popular in their region. The searcher can either leave the content language suggestion on or turn it off. -
Google Local Panel Adds “About This Place” Section
Google is testing adding a new section named “About this place” to the local panel in the Google Business Profile listings within Google Search and Google Maps. This section shows you text and image reviews of this place in a stacked card format. -
Old Google Basement Robot (Ann Arbor HQ)
Here is a super old photo that was posted to Instagram from the old Google Ann Arbor offices. This was in the basement. Some Googler named David got dressed up as a robot.
Other Great Search Threads:
- Bing is really cool that if you accidently add a keyword as broad, not only does it blow you up in the search campaigns + it compounds that wasted spend on the Audience network., Greg on X
- Google at risk for 10% of global revenue fines ($30B) for Digital Markets Act non-compliance in Travel (hotels, flights) in Europe. European Commission likely to find Google not in compliance in forthcoming report, Greg Sterling on X
- Google Web Spam Policy : buying links = bad. AI overviews: buying links can be worth it if done correctly, Harpreet on X
- Heads-up, not sure if this is related to the spam policy documentation update yesterday (and possible manual actions coming), or if it’s tied to the algorithmic tremors we have seen since the August core update completed, but Forbes, Glenn Gabe on X
- I thought we might have a chance to rank with this new update… Two weeks later, our hope is gone. But I’m sure the pages outranking HouseFresh are great, right? You tell me: The page ranking on position 2 is a paid partnership, Danny Ashton on X
- Welcome, AlphaChip! Today, we are sharing some exciting updates on our work published in @Nature in 2021 on using reinforcement learning for ASIC chip floorplanning and layout. We’re also naming this work AlphaChip. Since w, Jeff Dean on X
Search Engine Land Stories:
Other Great Search Stories:
Industry & Business
Links & Content Marketing
Local & Maps
Mobile & Voice
SEO
PPC
Search Features
Feedback:
Have feedback on this daily recap; let me know on Twitter @rustybrick or @seroundtable, on Threads, Mastodon and Bluesky and you can follow us on Facebook and on Google News and make sure to subscribe to the YouTube channel, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts or just contact us the old fashion way.
SEARCHENGINES
Daily Search Forum Recap: September 26, 2024
Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today, through the eyes of the Search Engine Roundtable and other search forums on the web.
Google Search ranking volatility remains heated but it spiked more again in the past 24-hours. Google updated its web search spam policies. Google AI Overviews don’t really show up for branded queries, but they may in some rare cases. Google Search has this recently viewed movies activity card. Google Search tests “states in the news” and “backstory” top stories sections in Google Search.
Search Engine Roundtable Stories:
-
Google Search Ranking Movement Heated, Volatility Continues 9/25
Google Search still has not calmed its ranking shifts, volatility and movement. The search results remain incredibly volatile with rankings and traffic changing again in a big way over the past day or so. I know I sound like a broken record but even some of the tools are adjusting their volatility thresholds to counter the new higher volatility in the search results. -
Google Updates Web Search Spam Policies
Google has refreshed and updated its web search policies documentation. The big change is Google added more language around the site reputation abuse policy, while expanding, simplifying and clarifying other sections of its search policies. -
Google AI Overviews For Branded & Navigational Queries???
Google AI Overviews generally do not show up for branded or navigational queries. So if you are searching for a brand or company, generally, Google has not shown an AI Overview. -
Google Recently Viewed Movies Activity Card
Google now can show movies you recently viewed as an “activity card.” I am not sure if this is based on a movie you actually went to see in the theatres, watched online or just based on you clicking on movie listings within Google Search. -
Google Search: States In The News
Google Search has this newish news or top stories carousel format that Google titled “States in the news.” It shows you news or top stories from news publishers related to the query by U.S. state. -
Google Search Backstory Top Stories Section
Google Search has this news or top stories section titled “Backstory.” It comes up from political queries, maybe other news queries. -
Sundar Pichai’s Google Soccer Jersey
Here is a photo from that event where Sundar Pichai, Google’s CEO, was kicking a soccer ball. This photo shows him holding a custom made Google soccer jersey.
Other Great Search Threads:
Search Engine Land Stories:
Other Great Search Stories:
Analytics
Industry & Business
- Early sign-ups to EU’s AI Pact include Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and OpenAI — but Apple and Meta are missing, TechCrunch
- Exclusive: OpenAI to remove non-profit control and give Sam Altman equity, sources say, Reuters
- Google CEO Sundar Pichai Says Antitrust Trials Could Drag On for Many Years, Bloomberg
- Google files Brussels complaint against Microsoft cloud business, Financial Times (Sub)
- OpenAI CTO Mira Murati announces she’s leaving the company, CNBC
- OpenAI’s chief research officer has left, TechCrunch
- The AI platform shift and the opportunity ahead, Google Blog
- Why Mark Zuckerberg thinks AR glasses will replace your phone, The Verge
Links & Content Marketing
Local & Maps
Mobile & Voice
SEO
PPC
Search Features
Other Search
Feedback:
Have feedback on this daily recap; let me know on Twitter @rustybrick or @seroundtable, on Threads, Mastodon and Bluesky and you can follow us on Facebook and on Google News and make sure to subscribe to the YouTube channel, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts or just contact us the old fashion way.
SEARCHENGINES
Google Noindex Bug With JavaScript Pages
![Google Noindex Bug With JavaScript Pages Broken Google Book Index](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Google-Noindex-Bug-With-JavaScript-Pages.jpg)
Google is reportedly working on fixing a bug with not being able to properly respond to a noindex directive on some JavaScript generated pages. This is happening for some React apps using Single Page Applications (SPAs) that have the noindex directive on them but Google is not picking it up and thus indexing pages that should not be indexed.
This issue was spotted by Mark Williams-Cook, the Director at Candour and Founder of AlsoAsked, a popular SEO tool. He posted about the issue on LinkedIn and said, “Here’s a screenshot of over 9,000 “noindex” pages being indexed. Adding ‘noindex’ via JS can be a solution, but it’s absolutely not reliable.”
Here is that screenshot from Google Search Console’s indexing report:
He later shared that Google is now aware of the issue and is working on fixing it. “I spoke to Googlers about this and it is a bug they are working on fixing,” he wrote.
Mark went on to explain that this is an example of a React app that has a meta “noindex” added via JavaScript, but the pages are nevertheless getting indexed.
Martin Splitt from Google did speak in the past about noindex meta and JavaScript pages and sometimes, Google does have a hard to processing them. But these days, Google shouldn’t be challenged by them. I guess in this case, Google was?
Again, I suspect in this case, Google fetched and rendered the page prior to the JavaScript executing the noindex meta data. So Googlebot didn’t see the noindex directive yet. This can happen, it is rare, but this can happen and obviously did happen. Google has warned about this before, including using JavaScript to generate structured data in some cases.
Mark’s solution was to use CloudFlare to serve the noindex directive prior to the JavaScript executing its own meta data (which is served in the HTTP header), but that was only after he found out Google was not picking up on the first solution he had. Mark wrote, “With some Single Page Applications (SPAs), it can be difficult to have control over what is shown before the JS is executed. In this instance, I managed to get the pages to set a “noindex” before JS was rendered by using Cloudflare Transform rules.”
So if you noticed this issue as well, hopefully Google will patch it up and if not, look for an alternative solution – like Mark did.
Forum discussion at LinkedIn.
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