13-05-2024
On March 5, 2024, Google released two significant updates. These updates put websites producing AI-powered and low-value content at high risk.
If we look at the two updates released by Google in general terms;
• Helpful Content: Google announced through its core update that it will place greater emphasis on the concept of "helpful content" and has developed its algorithms accordingly. • Scaled Content Abuse: The March 2024 spam update quickly targeted websites producing useless content. According to Google's statement, websites rapidly generating content using AI and attempting to manipulate Google's algorithms will receive a spam penalty. • Expired Domain Abuse: Websites using expired domain names were also included in the March 2024 spam update. Sites attempting to deceive Google by using expired domain names will receive spam penalties. • Site Reputation Abuse: The March 2024 spam update also targeted websites acquiring paid and unusual backlinks. Websites obtaining unnatural and out-of-category paid backlinks from major websites will receive spam penalties.
How March 2024 Updates Affected Google Results
With the start of the March 2024 updates, originality.ai has undertaken a major research. As a result of this research, the following information was obtained: • 1.9% of 79,000 websites examined (1,446 sites) received spam penalties • In all of the websites that were penalized for spam, it was found that some of the content was produced by artificial intelligence. • It was determined that the content on half of the websites penalized for spam was created entirely with artificial intelligence. • Websites removed from Google results experienced user loss exceeding 20 million.
Consequences of Receiving a Spam Penalty
When a spam penalty is received, all content and pages on the website are removed from Google results. As a result, the organic traffic of the website is completely reset. If a spam penalty is deemed unjustified, users can request a reassessment. After a manual review by real persons, the penalty may be lifted if the request is deemed appropriate.
What Do the March 2024 Updates Show Us?
Two updates launched by Google on March 5, 2024 are of great interest to website owners. As a result of these updates, we foresee the following developments:
• Caution with AI Content Generation: When we look at the examinations, we can see that the websites that receive spam penalties use artificial intelligence a lot. To avoid similar issues and maintain/improve organic traffic, it is crucial to carefully control AI-generated content.
• Useful Content Should Be Created: With the October 2023 and March 2024 core updates, we can see how much importance Google attaches to useful content. In order to exit these updates with an increase in organic traffic, it is very important to write content that is useful to readers, highly understandable and not unnecessarily prolonged.
• Development of Backlink Strategy by Experts: With the recent spam and core updates, we can see that the importance of backlink and promotional post strategy has increased. It has become extremely important to get support from an SEO expert when choosing a website for backlinks. With appropriate website selection, appropriate title selection and a content created with natural editing, authority and organic traffic can be increased without any problems.
