Anna Fedier | May 16, 2024 | 10 min

Overview of the most important Google Updates

Google is known for continuously adjusting its search algorithm. These changes significantly impact the visibility of websites in search results.

Throughout a year, Google implements numerous minor changes and occasionally major revisions known as “Core Updates.” These not only have significant effects on website visibility but can also permanently shape the strategy of search engine optimization. Such updates provide an excellent opportunity to rethink and improve your marketing strategies to ensure optimal ranking of your content.

In this blog post, we have summarized the most important Google updates from the past years.

2024

March: The Google Core Update in March 2024 is far more than a regular update. It includes significant changes to the core ranking systems, optimizes the evaluation of helpful content, and introduces new spam guidelines. It represents a fundamental change in how websites are evaluated and displayed in search results (SERPs).
- Three main pillars form the foundation of the update:
  - Revolution of core ranking algorithms: Google introduces targeted optimizations that fundamentally change the evaluation of content.
  - Prioritization of helpful content: The system for helpful content is now integrated into the core algorithm. The relevance and usefulness of content are thus more strongly emphasized.
  - Stricter spam guidelines: A tightened set of rules to combat spam and promote authentic and valuable content takes effect.
- Volatility in rankings and deindexing on an unprecedented scale have been observed since the introduction of the update.
- The message is clear: High-quality, user-centered content is at the center of the new Google cosmos. To meet the elevated standards, content must exhibit the following characteristics:
  - Expertise: Expert knowledge and competence in a specific subject area
  - Experience: Experience and practical relevance in the topics covered
  - Authority: Recognized reputation and trustworthiness as a source of information
  - Trustworthiness: Reliability and credibility of the presented information
- Moreover, strict adherence to the new spam guidelines is essential.
- The Google Core Update in March 2024 marks a turning point in the SEO landscape. Websites that focus on high-quality content with high user value and follow the new guidelines will dominate the search results in the future.

2023

November: The Google November 2023 Review Update enhances high-quality, detailed, and authentic reviews while devaluing generic or misleading reviews.
November: Core update with increased focus on E-E-A-T. The Google Core Update from November 2023 also marks a significant step in handling AI-generated content. The focus is on the quality and relevance of content to the user, regardless of whether it is created by humans or AI. In addition to content optimization, technical performance also plays an important role. Google rewards websites with short loading times and responsive design with better rankings, increased user interaction, and improved Core Web Vitals.
October: The Google Spam Update from October 2023 specifically devalued content considered “Thin Content” or misleading. Particularly targeted were copied content, overly promotional texts, hidden texts or links, and automatically generated content without significant added value. Websites with unauthorized article scraping, intrusive ads, and thin affiliate content were also negatively rated. This update reinforces the necessity for webmasters to ensure authenticity and high content quality to maintain a good position in search results.
March: In March 2023, Google introduced a significant Core Update that once again emphasized the relevance of high-quality backlinks and an optimized internal linking structure. This update underscores the need to continuously adapt SEO strategies and optimize both the technical and content aspects of a website. The importance of user experience is particularly highlighted, with the provision of valuable, audience-oriented content being essential. To meet the challenges of the update, it is crucial to ensure both page loading speed and mobile friendliness, as well as proper indexing of websites.

2022

December: Core Update focused on E-A-T (Expertise, Authority, Trust), user intent, and content quality.
May: Core Update reevaluating domains with weak backlink profiles and a new approach to search intentions.
January: Core Update with a global impact across all languages and topics.

2021

December: Product Review Update (for English-language pages) focusing on image and audio material and links to multiple vendors.
November: Core Update with an enhanced focus on E-A-T (Expertise, Authority, Trust).
November: Spam Update focusing on link spam.
July: Link Spam Update to improve detection of purchased and unnaturally built links.
June: Core Update focused on YMYL (Your Money Your Life) topics and regional issues.
June: Page Experience Update introducing Core Web Vitals (LCP, FID, CLS).

2020

December: Core Update with a strong focus on E-A-T (Expertise, Authority, Trust) and content quality.
May: Core Update reevaluating domains with weak backlink profiles and a new perspective on search intentions.
January: Core Update with a global influence on all languages and topics.

2019

October: BERT Update (Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers) improved the processing of long-tail search queries and complex topics.
September: Core Update with an enhanced focus on video content and global impact.
June: Core Update added more video carousels in the SERPs and resulted in ranking losses for weaker news websites.

2018

August: E-A-T Update (Expertise, Authority, Trust) focused on the quality attributes of websites, especially in YMYL (Your Money Your Life) areas.
July: Google Speed Update focused on the loading times of mobile websites.
June: Video Carousels Update introduced video carousels in the SERPs.
March: Core Update focused on user intent and website quality.
March: Follow-up to the August 2018 E-A-T Update focused on expertise and good user signals, particularly in medical areas.

2017

November: Snippet Length Update increased the length of meta descriptions to 300 characters (reset to 160 characters in May 2018).
October: Chrome Security Update with warnings for non-SSL encrypted pages.
March: Fred Update penalized websites with an unusually high number of ad banners.
February: Phantom V Update with ranking losses for portals like billiger.de (not officially confirmed).
January: Interstitial Penalty penalized websites with too many pop-ups.

2016

September: Penguin 4.0 Update included real-time SPAM checking and a more flexible algorithm (integrated Penguin into the core algorithm).
May: Phantom IV Update with ranking losses for portals like billiger.de (not officially confirmed).
January: Core Update focused on quality attributes and content quality rather than content volume.

2015

October: RankBrain Update introduced machine learning systems (AI) into the search algorithm.
July: Panda 4.2 Update affected approximately 3% of search queries.
May: The Quality Update focused on content quality.
April: Mobilegeddon Update focused on mobile-friendliness (Mobile-First Index).

2014

November: Pirate Update to combat internet piracy (DMCA).
October: Penguin 3.0 Update with regular updates without announcement.
September: Panda 4.1 Update with significant ranking changes.
August: HTTPS/SSL Update provided a ranking bonus for encrypted sites.
July: Pigeon Update introduced a new ranking algorithm for local search results.
June: Removal of Authorship images in personalized SERPs.
May: Panda 4.0 Update focused on good editorial content.
May: Payday Loan 2.0 Update improved upon the original update.
February: Page Layout Update devalued pages with too much advertising in the visible area.

2013

August: Hummingbird Update with semantic search and greater consideration of long-tail keywords.
August: In-Depth Articles Update focused on timeless and high-quality articles.
June: Payday Loan Update penalized sites with unscrupulous themes.

2012

September: Exact Match Domain Update penalized disreputable domains with keywords in the domain name.
August: Pirate Update/DMCA Update for easier prosecution of copyright infringements.
May: Knowledge Graph Update provided simple information on search queries.
April: Penguin Update focused on keyword stuffing, link spam, and other “Black Hat” techniques.
February: Venice Update tailored search results more closely to the searcher’s location.
February: Page Layout Algorithm Update devalued pages with disproportionately much advertising.

2011

November: Freshness Update rewarded websites with current content.
June: Schema.org Update was a joint recommendation by Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft to use schema.org.
February: Panda Update focused on thin content, link farms, and massive advertising.

2010

December: Social Signals Update incorporated social signals into ranking.
June: Caffeine Update made Google faster, expanded its index, and sped up the indexing of crawled content.
May: May Day Update improved handling of long-tail keywords and penalized sites with little content.
April: Google’s Places Update established Google Places as a standalone platform.

2009

December: Real Time Search Update integrated Twitter feeds, Google News, and freshly indexed pages into SERPs.
February: Vince Update favored large brands in Google search.

2008

August: Google Suggest Update introduced dropdown suggestions in Google’s search input.
April: Dewey Update had unclear effects, presumably favoring Google products in SERPs.

2007

June: Buffy Update included several minor updates.
May: Universal Search Update expanded Google Search to include news, images, videos, etc.

2006

November: Supplemental Update made general improvements to the index and filter.
December: Big Daddy Update improved handling of 301/302 redirects and canonical URLs.
October: Jagger Update focused on link farms, reciprocal links, and paid links.
October: Google Local Update implemented Google Local in Google Maps.
June: Personalized Search Update linked search results to individual search behavior.
June: XML Sitemaps Update allowed for the submission of XML sitemaps to Google Webmaster Tools.
May: Bourbon Update improved handling of duplicate content and non-canonical URLs.
February: Allegra Update had unclear effects, possibly updating LSI and penalizing dubious backlinks.
January: Nofollow Attribute Update was introduced jointly by Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft.

2004

February: Brandy Update expanded Google’s index, with greater emphasis on anchor text relevance and LSI.
January: Austin Update focused on hidden text.

2003

November: Florida Update had far-reaching effects and was the first major attention grabber for SEO.
June/July: Esmeralda & Fritz Update made internal changes to the Google index, including daily updates.
May: Dominic Update had unclear effects, possibly recalculating backlink structures.
April: Cassandra Update focused on hidden links and links from co-domains.
February: Boston Update focused on backlinks of low quality.

Utilising the opportunities presented by Google updates

It is undoubtedly a challenge for marketers and online marketing agencies to keep up to date with the latest Google updates and respond to them effectively. However, it is important to understand that these updates are not designed to put obstacles in the way. Rather, the algorithm adjustments are aimed at improving the user experience and supporting the publication of high-quality content. So, if you continuously make sure to create content that offers real added value, Google will reward this with a positive ranking in the search results.