Updated: 6 September, 2024

On average, Google’s algorithm changes like 13 times a day.

They’re mostly minor changes.

But sometimes they’re major changes.

These are known as “core algorithmic updates”, and they’re an absolute bitch to deal with.

If your site’s suddenly dipped in traffic, or you’re just smelling something funny in the air, it’s probably because of Google’s core algorithm update of March 2024.

(Well that, or Mercury’s in the microwave. Again.)

That’s why we’ll be taking a look at exactly that. Let’s get going.

Google Core Algorithm Update – March 2024

Alright. So, let’s take a look at what Google had in store for websites with the update.

What Happened

So, a little backstory.

Google has what they call a Reviews system.

Essentially, this system reviews content on a website, and then decides if it’s helpful and useful.

This used to be done on a semi-monthly basis. However, just before the March update, Google switched over to a continuous basis. That’s a pretty big sign that there’s a huge shift coming.

And that’s exactly what happened with the Google core algorithm update for March 2024. It was a lot bigger than other core Google algorithm updates, and it showed.

The main focus of the March 2024 update was spammy, low-quality content.

Let’s take a look at what that entails.

Ranking Quality

Since 2022, there’s been a focus on lessening the amount of unhelpful content.

“Unhelpful content” is basically content that’s unoriginal and low quality.

March’s update focuses a lot on building on that.

But there’s also a lot of emphasis being placed on updating Google’s ranking systems to better understand if content is helpful and has a good user experience.

Of if it’s created specifically to match search queries.

The end result is that Google stated that they’re estimating the combination of efforts since 2022 and the current update to completely cut, like, 40% of unhelpful content.

Abuse

Another thing this update focused on was abuse.

Specifically, the abuse of site reputation, content scaling, and expired domains.

Site Reputation

A big part of Google’s focus on abuse has been around the use of site reputation.

Okay, so site reputation abuse is what happens when a site with a high Domain Authority (DA) hosts content from a site with a low DA.

There are some different examples for this, but the one that I think sums it up best would be this:

Let’s say that a high DA site that’s in the education sphere has a banner ad for a low DA site that offers legal services.

Not only is the low DA bad for the high DA site’s score, but the content confuses visitors to the site.

Content Scaling

Creating tons of content isn’t new.

And it’s something a lot of companies do.

There’s absolutely nothing wrong with that, especially if the department is small, and there’s a high demand for content.

However, when the one-man content department feeds some prompts into ChatGPT or Gemini and then copy-pastes that information to generate anywhere from 3 to 21 blogs a week, you’re going to lose some quality, and that’s what Google’s looking out for.

Expired Domains

Another thing the Google Core Algorithm for March 2024 is cracking down on is expired domain abuse.

So, an expired domain is basically just a domain that hasn’t been renewed. They can still be registered again, but they’re inactive until then.

It used to be a common practice to buy up expired domains that had a high DA, and then start posting content on there. Sometimes the content was relevant to the original domain’s, other times it wasn’t.

Mostly, though, they were used to pump out tons of low-quality, unoriginal content.

Those sites would rank, get visitors, and then see high bounces because people wouldn’t actually get any answers.

So, Google’s stated that expired domains that’ve been purchased purely to boost search rankings for low-quality content are now considered spam, and that they’ll get whacked with the March 2024 update.

Links

Okay, so if you’re not big into links, you should skip ahead, since this next section covers that.

Link Importance

In August of 2023, an Analyst for Google’s Search Team named Gary Illyes basically said that links (that thing a lot of SEOs rave about all day) aren’t even in the top 3 important ranking factors anymore.

But Google repeated that sentiment again in the March 2024 update, by updating the link spam section of their Spam Policies Documentation to say that links are used “as a factor” to determine a page’s relevancy, removing the word “important”.

Normally, removing a word isn’t that big a deal. But when you combine that with what Illyes said in August…

Content & Link Manipulation

Also added to the Spam Policies guideline was a section about link manipulation.

Basically, Google said that low-quality content that’s created specifically for the purpose of getting links (that’s link manipulation) is also gonna get whacked.

Outbound Links

Links pointing from your site to a different site are known as outbound links. Google’s always been against selling these links to people just because you have a high DA, but it looks like they’re getting more specific now, focusing on penalising outbound/outgoing links as part of link manipulation.

Why It’s Important

Okay, so if you’ve seen a dip in traffic, it’s probably because of the March 2024 update. But a dip in traffic is really not that big a deal when compared to some of the other effects we’ve seen in the SEO sphere.

Google has deindexed (removed from showing up in search results) hundreds of pages.

They’ve also hit a bunch of sites with manual actions.

Basically, manual actions mean that somebody at Google has looked at your site and decided it needs a penalisation.

These are a huge deal because the chances of getting them appealed are slim to none.

On top of that, these penalties are happening fast. I’m talking like overnight.

When It Happened

So the update was officially launched on 05 March 2024. But, since it’s a lot bigger than other core algorithm updates, it’ll keep going for a few weeks.

You can keep an eye on it on Google’s search status dashboard.

See the little “i”?

When that becomes a green tick, you’ll know the update’s done.

What You Can Do About It

There’s a long-running joke that asking anybody who works in SEO a question will always yield “it depends” as the answer. While it’s pretty funny, it’s also true. And it’s the answer here, too.

If you think that the thing that needs fixing will improve the user experience, and it’s not a lot of time and effort, then go for it.

But it’s usually a better idea to wait until the update is fully rolled out since some dips sort themselves out by the time the update’s done.

However, another guy at Google named John Mueller has said that one thing you can do is work on alternate sources of traffic (social media, paid media, and so on) so that updates don’t have a huge effect on your site traffic regardless of what’s happening.

A Conclusion? Yeah, Why Not.

Trying to work against an algorithm update is like trying to walk up a hill underwater with a boulder strapped to your back and with your feet tied together.

My personal opinion? Wait it out.

I think a lot of people panic when they hear about updates, and there are definitely a lot of big impacts. But it’s not as bad as people think.

The whole idea of scaring you isn’t something I subscribe to. So if you want more non-scary, realistic advice, you should stick around.

Did I miss anything?

Let me know in the comments below.

Or don’t.

I can’t tell you what to do.

I’m not Google.