The rollout of Google's March 2024 core update is now complete. It began on March 5, 2024 and was completed 45 days later on April 19, 2024. This was a major core update, with Google saying that this core update was more complex and brought changes to multiple core systems, while also ending the standalone helpful content update.
Google didn't tell us until April 26th, 52 days after the rollout began, that the rollout would be complete on April 19th.
A Google spokesperson told us: “As the web and spam tactics evolve, we will continue to work to reduce low-quality, unoriginal content in search.” As always, we value and encourage feedback from users and site owners alike. Google added:
The March core update's ranking improvements that addressed spam and low-quality content in search are now complete. As a reminder, on March 5, we introduced a number of significant improvements to our core systems as well as several updates to our spam policies to reduce content created for search engines in Search.
45% discount. Google originally told us that there would be a 40% reduction in low-quality and unhelpful content. Well, Google said it ended up being closer to 45%.
A Google spokesperson said: “The updates resulted in greater quality improvements than we originally anticipated – you will now see 45% less low-quality, unoriginal content in search results, compared to the 40% improvement we saw as part of this work expected.”
Further changes. Google has also updated its help page to explain how website owners can resolve drops in Google search rankings.
Return message. Google has also created a new feedback form for website ranking changes for the Google search team to review more closely.
Overlapping updates. Google also rolled out the March 2024 Spam Update, which began on March 5 and concluded on March 20. Google also released a series of manual actions related to spam-only issues after these updates began rolling out. Finally, during this period, Google changed its core web vitals and now used INP instead of FID.
Because there were so many overlapping changes, it would be difficult to determine which Google change may have impacted your site's performance in Google Search.
More about the March 2024 core update. “The March 2024 Core Update is a more complex update than our usual core updates and includes changes to several core systems. It also marks an evolution in the way we recognize the usefulness of content,” wrote Google’s Chris Nelson.
Elizabeth Tucker, Director of Product, Search at Google, told Search Engine Land that the update will help reduce unhelpful content in Google Search by 40%. But Google updated that number to 45%.
- “We estimate that the combination of this update and our previous efforts will reduce low-quality, unoriginal content in search results by 40% overall,” Tucker wrote.
Unlike some previous core updates, this update includes improvements to several components across the core system. This March core update will contain several updates. Since this update touched multiple systems within the core update, Google has decided in recent weeks to release updates to these core systems.
Google said this update has refined how it understands which web pages are “unhelpful, have a poor user experience, or appear to be built for search engines rather than people.” This “could include websites built primarily for very specific search queries,” Google added.
With this March 2024 core update, Google will no longer announce new helpful content updates as the helpful content system has been integrated into the core update system.
The last helpful content update, the September 2023 Helpful Content Update, was a large update that impacted multiple websites. We hope that some affected websites will receive relief from this March 2024 core update, but it's difficult to say at this time. The helpful content system classifier has been reworked and is now integrated into the March 2024 core update.
Mordy Oberstein wrote about the wrath of this March core update, calling it non-linear.
What to do if you get hit? Google has provided advice on what you should consider if you've been negatively affected by a core update in the past. Google hasn't really provided much new advice here.
- No specific recovery measures are required. A negative ranking impact may not mean there is something wrong with your pages.
- Google has provided a list of questions to consider if your site is affected by a core update.
- According to Google, there is a slight recovery between core updates, but the biggest change would come after another core update.
In short, write helpful content for people, not for search engine rankings.
- “There is nothing new or special that creators need to do for this update, as long as they create satisfying content for people. For those who may not be ranking as well, we highly recommend checking out our help page on creating helpful, reliable, and people-focused content,” Nelson explained.
Previous core updates. Here's a timeline and our coverage of the latest core updates:
Why it matters to us. Google algorithm updates are critical for all brands, businesses, and organizations as they can impact your website's performance in search results. Any ranking change caused by a core update – positive or negative – can impact your organic traffic, conversions, and sales.
Knowing when Google makes these updates can help website owners see whether traffic fluctuations are due to a change in the website or a change by Google in its ranking algorithm.
