Google Unleashed a New Update Right in Time for the Holiday Season
Many marketers thought they had caught a break from broad core updates; however, on November 17 Google announced that yet another had been released:
Broad core updates are algorithm updates Google makes to their search engine, typically twice a year, that can alter search results, which in turn changes keyword rankings for site owners.
What to Know
- The update took around two weeks to complete, as it finished on November 30
- The last time we had a broad core update was over the summer and it was rolled out in both June and July
- As always, Google advises you to not be worried as long as you are putting out quality content and abiding by their guidelines
- According to Lily Ray of Amsive Digital, sites under the category of reference materials had the biggest ranking gains from the update, but law and government had the biggest losses
- Ray’s research also showed Pinterest’s website saw the biggest dive in keyword positions
A Look Back at All the Updates We Have Had This Year
While we do not know what may happen in December, here is a refresh on all the updates we have battled this year:
- February – Passage Ranking
- March – Mobile-First Indexing
- April – Product Reviews Update
- June – Page Experience Update, Link Spam Update (Part 1), and
Broad Core Update (Part 1) - July – Link Spam Update (Part 2) and Broad Core Update (Part 2)
- August – Meta Title Update
- October – Continuous Mobile Scroll Update
- November – Search Spam Update
