SEARCHENGINES

Google September 2023 Helpful Content Update Done Rolling Out

Published

9 months ago

September 29, 2023

Google, at around 3 am ET this morning, announced that the September 2023 Google helpful content update has finished rolling out. It took about 14 days, starting on September 14, 2023, and completing today on September 28, 2023. This update really went after SEO-first content, which is why the SEO community is so heated about this specific update.

Technically, this update took 13 days and 11 hours to roll out as per the search status screen:

Google Search Status Hcu

Here are the X posts:

This update is now complete.

— Google Search Central (@googlesearchc) September 28, 2023

What The September 2023 Helpful Content Update Impacted

I believe this update was felt way more by the SEO industry than the average website owner, similar to when Google launched the Penguin update. It was what we all expected to happen from the first (August 2022) and second (December 2022) helpful content update but we simply did not see it until the third (September 2023) helpful content update.

Yes, this targeted content designed to rank well in search engines – search engine-first content (or maybe SEO-first content – if some want to call it that).

I know there are a ton of theories on what type of content this went after such as AI, low quality, unhelpful, etc. But it is all of that and more, including a mixture of that with horrible UX.

It took time for the impact to be seen because the tracking tools were unusually calm throughout most of the rollout of this update. We covered the heated SEO chatter around the damage this caused many SEOs on September 20th and Septmeber 26th.

Glenn Gabe said he did not see many tremors in the data, which is a tad unusual for Google updates:

And there were no major tremors during the rollout (which could have reversed some of the movement). Google must be confident in the Sep HCU. If you’ve been heavily impacted, it’s time to seriously evaluate your content and user experience. Both seemed to play a role, as… https://t.co/ixLOcikvXT

— Glenn Gabe (@glenngabe) September 28, 2023

As a reminder, Google is not rolling this update back, and we saw no signs of that happening. Although, the next version might be improved:

It’s good that people have high expectations, we’ll work to push things even further.

— John, aka “a total bell cheese” (@JohnMu) September 28, 2023

But this update felt like it impacted SEO-first content that was designed to rank well for search engines first and foremost. Of course, we can all debate if that type of content is helpful but did your clients hire you (SEOs) to create content that is helpful or that ranks well in search engines?

September 2023 Google Helpful Content Update Quick Facts

Here are the most important things that we know right now in short form:

Name: Google September 2023 Helpful content update

Launch Date: September 14 at 4:20 pm ET

Rollout: Finished rolling out on September 28 at 3:00 am ET

Targets: It looks at content that was created to rank well in search over help humans

Search Only: This currently impacts Google Search and Google Discover.

Penalty: Google did not mention penalty but this update does seem to feel like a penalty for sites that will be hit by it

Promotes: This update promotes helpful content but soon will also demote unhelp content.

Sitewide: This is a sitewide algorithm, so the whole site will be impacted by this update

Not a core update: Many are going to say this is a core update, it is not.

Global and all languages: This is no longer just for English-language content, it is now all languages and global.

Impact: Google would not tell me what percentage of queries or searches were impacted by this update but Google did tell me it would be “meaningful.” Also, Google said this will be felt more for online-educational materials, entertainment, shopping, and tech-related content.

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 advice below

Refreshes: Google updates the scores constantly here but there is a timeout period, and a validation period and it can take several months to recover from this update.

Note there were a number of big documentation changes with this update but not all those help document changes were implemented in this update. For example, it did not target third-party hosted content techniques, that is coming later.

Previous Helpful Content Update Impact

Here is the list of the previous Google helpful content updates:

SEO Chatter

I covered a lot of the SEO chatter in my previous stories, in the what was impacted section above. Here is some of the chatter that we did not cover posted after my latest stories on this update:

Hi, my website traffic has dropped by 50% after 4 years of consistently climbing. Adsense earnings have dropped by 50%, too.

We’ve been hit as well, although not as massively as others.

Slowly it’s getting a bit annoying, first the traffic from Google increased now it’s dropping again. They don’t know what they want. Since about 16 o’clock the traffic of Google is practically dead. The last few days the traffic was not so good, but at least it was there.

Sad. I just told my writers to accept a cut down on articles or to leave. Do you, truly, think that these updates will ever end? I cannot keep paying these writers with these updates damaging the revenue. Yet they are so consistent. No wonder I dislike Google. Really wish there was an alternative. I was +10% yesterday. Now the traffic has, once again, dropped. The growth is not consistent so I never know what revenue to expect. I certainly will not be meeting my personal target this month. Why didn’t G just place both the August and September updates into one huge update? Who is to say October, November or even December won’t have updates?

It’s early, I know, but I see a significant improvement this morning. Has anyone else noticed positive movement today?

Nope, 13+ hours and at 30%, very, very slow.

Huge traffic loss on Google in September but many of our site’s posts / pages are still ranking near the top of Bing and Duck Duck Go for specific keywords. We’re noticing more and more users are starting to move to other search engines. Some or our competitors are now ranking on the first page of Google with old pages that haven’t been updated in years so we’re back to the idea that pages that are updated are going down in rank. Since we have to update pages if there are errors, new images and new information, we will have to continue to update pages despite the fact that Google has decided to view that as fake fresh content. I can see why another poster has had to let some of their content writers go as a result of this flawed update.

Yes, this update has also negatively affected my mental health. Extreme anxiety, stress, and depression. I’m autistic and I can’t work in a normal “day job” so I can’t just “go get a job” instead of my online business. I’ve lost around 35% of traffic. Yesterday’s stats showed almost -50%.

Oh here we go again…ranking is higher and more top 3 ranking terms than ever, but traffic for some of my main landing pages is down 53%-76% today. Here is what I have found is the culprit:

October 2022 spam update that took 80 to 90% of my traffic has been 100% reversed, back to normal, and then some.

This also occurred 30 mins before they announced HCU ended lol, what timing.

Now to be re-spanked in October 2023 spam update… Maybe spank all the Russians, Indians, Indonesians, and Chinese translating my content 1 to 1 with my images first Google before hitting the legit source that’s helpful.

There have been no sales for several days, traffic has dropped by over 50%. Yesterday was their birthday, I hope this will be their last year of operation. God help me.

Same here. We are 20+ year old ecom, even repeat customers have gone, probably because they have no enquires either! We have a blog with technical info, in the past 24 hrs that is the only traffic we get! Any buyer intent traffic is GONE. Must be just a coincidence right, just keep making great content!

That is just some of the new chatter from WebmasterWorld and new comments here.

Google Search Rank Tracking Tools

Here is what the Google tracking tools showed over the rollout period of this update:

Semrush:

SERPmetrics:

Advanced Web Rankings:

As you can see, most were pretty calm and even the spikes of volatility were not any more heated than the past few months of normal Google volatility that these tools reported on.

So what do you all think about this latest Google helpful content update? Did it do what you expected? Are you upset with the update? Are you happy?

Forum discussion at X and WebmasterWorld.

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SEARCHENGINES

Daily Search Forum Recap: July 2, 2024

Published

3 hours ago

July 3, 2024

Entireweb News Bot

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 Console has some reporting delays, Google is working on a fix. Google Ads has a new setting to declare if a political ad is altered or synthetic (AI) that must be used. Google Ads will allow fantasy sports and lottery courier ads. Google Local Service Ads now show in the mobile business finder. Google Merchant Center updated how it uses your conversion data. Microsoft Advertising launched new property center section. And I posted the big Google Webmaster Report for July.

Search Engine Roundtable Stories:

July 2024 Google Webmaster Report

This month we had Google June 2024 spam update roll out over a seven-day period. We had a few other unconfirmed Google search ranking updates as well, listed below. Let’s not forget yet another Google indexing bug after the core update was announced…

Google Search Console Working To Fix Search Performance Delays & Latency

Google has confirmed it is working to fix the delays and latency issues with the Google Search Console Performance reports. This happens to the performance reports and often other reports in Google Search Console every now and then and generally Google is able to get it to catch up over time.

Google Ads Gains New Checkbox: Altered Or Synthetic Content

As you may remember, Google Ads requires political ads to disclose if the content, images or other assets in any way used synthetic content (i.e. AI content). Now Google Ads seems to be adding a checkbox for these ads to check off if these ads use “Altered or synthetic content.”

Google Merchant Center Conversion Data Usage Changes

Google sent out notices via email to Google Merchant Center merchants about a change to how Google collects and uses conversion data that you share with Google. Google said it may use that data for new reporting and also for ways to improve Google Search experiences and services.

Google Local Service Ads Now On Mobile Local Business Finder

Google is now showing Local Service Ads directly in the mobile version of the Google local business finder interface in Google Search. We know Google is showing LSAs now on Google Maps for iOS but now we are also seeing it on this surface.

Google Ads To Allow Fantasy Sports & Lottery Couriers Ads In Many States

Google has posted that it begin to accept and run ads for Daily Fantasy Sports and lottery couriers in many states within the United States. This change goes into affect on July 15, 2024 and advertisers must apply for certification.

Microsoft Advertising Property Center & Lodging Campaigns Expands

Microsoft announced Property Center for Microsoft Advertising’s lodging campaigns. This should make it easier for you to manage your Hotel Price Ads and Property Promotion Ads for your hotel or vacation rental property.

Google Fashion Summit In Brazil

Google held some sort of Google Fashion Summit in the Brazil office. I spotted some photos of it on Instagram from Ana Elisa who wrote, “Today was a day to visit Google and share some of @santa_lolla strategies to stay relevant on the platform. Only proud of this team.”

Other Great Search Threads:

Search Engine Land Stories:

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.

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SEARCHENGINES

Daily Search Forum Recap: July 1, 2024

Published

1 day ago

July 2, 2024

Entireweb News Bot

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.

After the Google June spam update completed, we had even more Google Search ranking volatility over the weekend. Bing has a new Bing Webmaster Guideline for prompt injection. Some are seeing small increases for sites hit by the Google helpful content update. Google explained why soft 404s are bad. Google Maps added troubleshooting and FAQs for missing and removing reviews. Google Search is testing a top quality store badge near the site name.

Search Engine Roundtable Stories:

Google Search Ranking Volatility Over June 28th & 29th Weekend

On the heels of the completion of the June 2024 spam update this Thursday, June 27th, I am now seeing signs of an unconfirmed Google Search ranking algorithm update and volatility. It seems more heated than the week of this spam update rollout but less weak than you’d see with a Google core update.

Some Sites Hit By Google Helpful Content Update Seeing Small Lifts

There are reports that some sites hit by the Google September 2023 Helpful Content Update are seeing small, somewhat tiny, lifts over the past week or so. Again, based on what we’ve been tracking, we have yet to see any recoveries but we are all hopeful we will see significant recoveries for some of those sites with the next core update.

Prompt Injection Added To Bing Webmaster Guidelines

Bing added a new guideline to its Bing Webmaster Guidelines named Prompt Injection. A prompt injection is a type of cyberattack against large language models (LLMs). Hackers disguise malicious inputs as legitimate prompts, manipulating generative AI systems (GenAI) into leaking sensitive data, spreading misinformation, or worse, according to IBM.

Google Explains Why Soft 404s Are Bad

Gary Illyes from Google explained two reasons why soft 404 errors are bad. Soft 404s are when a page returns a 200 status okay, but Google thinks that page should return a 404 page not found error. According to Gary, soft 404s are bad because they (1) limit crawl budget and (2) the pages won’t likely show up in Google Search.

Google Posts Reviews Troubleshooting & FAQs For Missing and Remove Reviews

A Google community manager, Alistair D., posted a Reviews troubleshooting and FAQs document in the Google Business Profiles forums. It goes through why reviews go missing, why reviews are removed and how to troubleshoot those issues with the Google Business Profiles tools.

Google Search Tests Top Quality Store Badge Near Site Name

Google is testing placing the top quality store badge and icon next to the site name area in the Google mobile search results. This brings up that icon from the bottom portion of the snippet to the very top of the snippet.

Mechanical Bull Riding At Google

Google had an employee appreciation day event of some sort and here is a photo of one Googler riding a mechanical bull. I posted the embed of the video he posted on Instagram of the event.

Other Great Search Threads:

Search Engine Land Stories:

Feedback:

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SEARCHENGINES

June 28th & 29th Weekend Google Search Ranking Volatility

Published

2 days ago

June 30, 2024

Entireweb News Bot

On the heels of the completion of the June 2024 spam update this Thursday, June 27th, I am now seeing signs of an unconfirmed Google Search ranking algorithm update and volatility. It seems more heated than the week of this spam update rollout but less weak than you’d see with a Google core update.

The volatility began on Friday, June 28th and continues through this weekend.

I am seeing both higher levels of chatter within the weekend since Friday and also some of the tools are showing a spike in volatility within the Google Search rankings.

Here is what I am seeing.

Google Rank Tracking Volatility Tools

Here is what the tools are showing, notice since Friday, the spike in volatility many of the tools are showing. Again, this was a day after the spam update was officially completed. Some tools are not showing this, as you can see:

Advanced Web Rankings:

BROKEN NOW

So something seems heated with these tracking tools over the weekend.

SEO Chatter

Here is some of the SEO chatter I spotted since Friday around Google ranking movement both at WebmasterWorld and the comments on this site:

Traffic is not great today. The “not-update” update is causing some damage.

Yesterday was drop in traffic in all of my sites. Coinciding with semrush spike.

The same. By now, traffic is more or less stable during updates but collapses after the end of an update.

Some of my competitor’s sites have returned to the SERP but aren’t receiving traffic.

Seeing some pages reappear tonight that have been deindexed for months.

Update finishes and Semrush send me notification to say sensors are high again (as high as 9.1 in Japan, and 7 to 8 in lots of other places). Is this now the normal weekend thing, and if it is, what exactly is shuffling?

My e-commerce traffic was nuked on Friday specifically. Previous updates hurt but I haven’t seen it this bad before. I will wait it out like previous algo changes.