Shemeo Search News #02 - double algo updates & the EU tackles AI
Hey everyone, it's time for Shemeo search news 2, electric boogaloo.
Today, we'll be going over a few search gems you should be aware of, including the never ending March core algorithm update, Google's 3 new spam policies, and the EU's landmark legislation on AI.
Let's gooo 👇
1) March core algorithm update - will it ever end?
Well, we can't say Google didn't warn us that this would be a long one. So yeah, it's still ongoing.
This is the longest time it's taken for a core update to roll out, and in combination with the March 2024 Spam Update, Google expect that it will massively reduce the amount of naff, low quality content that is currently polluting search results.
"[...] we expect that the combination of this update and our previous efforts will collectively reduce low-quality, unoriginal content in search results by 40%" - Google | The Keyword
To recap, here's some more about the two updates:
March 2024 spam update
Google updated their spam policies, and released an update to enforce it. In brief, websites conducting any of the following dodgy activities to manipulate search results could be at risk of Google taking action against them, including receiving a manual action penalty.
Scaled content abuse - creating low quality content at scale, whether AI generated or not
Expired domain abuse - purchasing and/or repurposing an old domain to publish content for the purpose of ranking
Site reputation abuse* - hosting low quality, third-party content without oversight for the purpose of getting the content to rank
*The rollout of this part of the policy has been delayed until 05/05/2024 to allow publishers to fall in line and fix any instances of this across their websites.
March 2024 core update
This update has been monumental, turning the tide on low-quality, spam driven websites which had been evading Google and seeing real success.
At the start of this update, which Google said was focused on content helpfulness, we were seeing websites getting wiped from the index left, right, and centre.
Important notes about this update
Google have rolled what they learned from the Helpful Content system into their core algorithm, so from now on, the HCU classifier does not exist and there won't be any separate helpful content updates
Sites that were hit by the Helpful Content Update (HCU) in September are not bouncing back, this might signify that the helpful content signals as they exist within the core algorithm are now stronger than they were as part of the HCU system
Glen Gabe shared on X that he was seeing huge surges and drops - sometimes, websites that dropped earlier into the update recovered later on
AI sites big and small have been impacted
We'll keep an eye out for the end of this update and bring you the latest on this in our next update.
2) The EU have introduced an AI act
As AI grows arms and legs, it only seems sensible to introduce legislation to protect people from the implications of the technology. This act was proposed in 2021, and finally passed in March 2024.
The EU's new AI Office will more closely scrutinise the use of AI both online and offline to regulate its use.
According to the European Parliament website...
Parliament's priority is to make sure that AI systems used in the EU are safe, transparent, traceable, non-discriminatory and environmentally friendly. AI systems should be overseen by people, rather than by automation, to prevent harmful outcomes.
What does this mean for online marketing?
The EU are planning on handling legislation by determining the risks different types of AI pose in different scenarios.
Things like generative AI (I'm looking at you Chat-GPT and Gemini) aren't classified at high risk, however, those using it will have to disclose that content has been produced using AI. This extends to images, audio files, and videos.
Although this is only legislation in the EU, there is every chance that this legislation will be adopted in other areas.
3) Google SGE is being tested in live search (US)
Google have started to move SGE into live search, starting with a small subset of searchers in the US. Is this a sign that they are finally gearing up to launch it? Or at least, some aspects of it?
Previously, SGE had only been open to those who had opted into the experiment in Search Labs.
According to Search Engine Land, they are starting small, by showing AI overviews to searchers for a small amount of long tail, complex queries where they feel that SGE will be helpful - terms like 'how do I get marks off painted walls'.
We're still unable to access the Search Labs experiment in the UK (boohoo), so I'm keen to see how this develops.
4) Google are waving goodbye to their search notes experiment
The search notes experiment was a nice idea, but it was ultimately a spam magnet that allowed users to add notes to search results.
This was supposed to add first-hand experience to searches, but Google never really clarified what the practical benefits of the experiment were supposed to be.
I collected a few examples of spammy notes in Search News #01 and spoke about the potential pitfalls of it.
Head over to that article to understand why this feature was so flawed from the get go.
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