Introduction

With the advancement of technology and the emergence of the Internet, the global economy is progressively becoming digital. In the current scenario, more than 61% of the world’s population has access to the Internet. The Internet has developed one of the most important components of our digital life, Google.

Google is the most popular search engine, and it is used by around 81.95 percent of the people who have access to the Internet. The high prevalence of the search engine builds a sense of responsibility for Google to provide its users with the highest-quality content, efficient services, and an overall good experience. The priority of Google is its users; thus, it regularly brings out new updates to provide credible, relevant resources and maintain its integrity and reputation. In March 2024, Google launched its Core Update and New Spam Policies to improve the search quality and combat spam practices.

Google March 2024 Core Update

Google Update is a huge event for people, particularly marketers, as it can affect website rankings and brand visibility in search engines. Google updates its algorithms several times yearly to improve the user experience and provide value-driven search results. However, the Google March 2024 update is more complex as it involves changes to multiple core systems. It has also brought an evolution in how the search engine determines the helpfulness and reliability of the content.

The Core Update March 2024 is quite potent in determining how websites are ranked and impact various industries or niches. The key implications of the update are as follows:

1. Focus on Relevance and Quality: with its core update, Google prioritizes quality and relevance in its search results to effectively cater to the queries or needs of the users. We work to ensure a satisfied user experience and thus surface content that matches the user’s intent. The websites that have posted high-quality, authoritative content might see improvements in their rankings, while the websites with low-quality content might experience fluctuations in rankings.
2. User Experience and Page Experience Signals: User experience is the key to determining Google rankings. The latest updates might improve the visibility of the websites that provide mobile-friendliness, fast-loading pages, and a seamless browsing experience for the users.
3. E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness): With the March 2024 Core Update, Google emphasizes the importance of the EAT principles. It is particularly crucial in industries related to finance, health, and other sensitive topics. Websites that emphasize providing content that aligns with the EAT principles might experience an increase in page rankings due to their credibility.

New Spam Policies 

Along with the Core Update, Google has also introduced its new spam policies, which are meticulously designed to address the practices that affect the quality of Google search results. Google prioritizes quality over quantity and has a bright new update to promote only original, helpful, and relevant content on the search engine. In the latest update, Google has mentioned that it uses multiple signals to judge and determine the helpfulness of the content and protect the users from spammy content, misleading information, and a harmful experience on Google. There are three main spam policies in the update, which are as follows:

Expired Domain Abuse

It is a kind of malpractice in which an expired domain name is purchased and repurposed to manipulate the search rankings. They host low-quality content that has no value to users and work to rank well on the search engine by using the past reputation of the domain name. For example- someone purchases a domain previously used by the finance site and then repurposes it to host low-quality gaming content. They aim to succeed based on the domain name’s reputation from the previous owner. This is an intentionally done malpractice that affects the search quality for users, and Google aims to stop that. People can use old domains to serve people.

Scaled Content Abuse

There are a large number of websites on Google that are generated with the primary purpose of manipulating rankings and not helping users. These websites are full of unoriginal, low-quality content with no substantial value. Google will take necessary actions against scaled content abuse, whether human efforts, automation, or combining both to create the content.

Site Reputation Abuse

This is a kind of abusive practice in which website owners publish third-party content or pages that are unrelated to the purpose or objectives of the site, such as sponsored content, irrelevant advertisements, or other third-party pages. These are produced without close oversight or involvement of the host site and add little to no value to the users. The new spam policies of Google do not consider all third-party content a violation. Instead, it is focused on blocking irrelevant third-party content, which is hated to manipulate the search rankings.

Toffee Global: Empowering People to Adapt to Google Updates

Google updates aim to improve the user experience and provide them with only great and helpful content. Additionally, Google wants to promote websites that work tirelessly to produce original content. Thus, website owners should create high-quality, relevant content to add depth, value, and originality to their websites. The site owners can be prepared for this change as the updates will come into effect from May 5, 2024. Toffee Global, a prominent digital marketing agency in India, ensures that our clients stay abreast of Google updates and maintain their online presence with high-quality content and websites.