Google Spam Update March 2024

Google’s latest overhaul in March 2024 appears to be one of the significant updates we’ve been anticipating.

Since 2022, Google has been gradually rolling out spam updates, but it’s only now that substantial changes seem to be taking place.

This update has been awaited for almost a decade, as online spam aimed at manipulating search results is not a new phenomenon. We’ve witnessed a surge in spam websites over the past several years.

What constitutes a spam site?

A spam site is one whose purpose is to manipulate search results. Previously, the content of these sites often consisted of ‘spun’ text, meaning the texts were generated by ‘spinning’ software.

The initial spin generators produced text that might resemble real articles but made little sense upon reading. Later versions incorporated AI-generated content.

The contents of Google’s new March update include:

Improved ranking based on quality content.
New updated spam policies.
The sites most severely affected fall into these categories:

1. Scaled Content Abuse
2. Site Reputation Abuse
3. Expired Domain Abuse

Scaled Content Abuse

Scaled Content refers to articles generated by software spinners, AI, or even purchased articles meant to fill a website. This primarily concerns articles with thin and irrelevant content—articles lacking quality content that positively contributes to what readers seek.

Site Reputation Abuse

This occurs when an otherwise informative website allows articles, often from external sources, that not only have irrelevant content compared to the rest but also have thin, meaningless relations. There’s concern that sites with mixed articles could be more or less affected. However, Google emphasizes that forum pages, news sites, and blog comments won’t be penalized.

Expired Domain Abuse

This is intriguing because the trade-in expired domains is substantial. If older, well-ranking domains expire due to missed payments or if a company closes and leaves behind a high-ranking website, domain sharks have been keen to acquire them. There are countless domains in this category, constituting a multi-billion dollar industry affected by these updates. Thank the SEO gods for that! It’s challenging for ethical SEO agencies to compete with these fraudulent sites.

It’s been 15 years since we sat in our cozy armchairs and observed this phenomenon, consciously deciding it shouldn’t be part of our strategy because we believed it was a strategy Google would crack down on. However, we didn’t anticipate it would take Google so long to address it.

The bottom line is, if you have your ethics in order, predicting Google’s future updates is relatively easy. What’s been difficult is predicting WHEN it would happen. And in this regard, it took far too long. It’s as if it had to reach a critical mass with AI before Google took it seriously.

There’s renewed hope that Google’s search results will improve.

It’s extremely important to use Google Search Console. You MUST have your site registered in Google Search Console because it informs you how Google assesses your site. Here, you’ll be notified of any errors on your site and if it’s affected by their updates.

Did you know that in 2020, Google found 40 billion spam sites. EVERY SINGLE DAY!

They’re very proud of this over at Google, but unfortunately, I still come across many sites Google doesn’t detect, and often, I give up using Google. In fact, much more frequently than just 5 years ago. Either spam has exploded in recent years, or Google’s AI is still at a Neanderthal level, but I eagerly anticipate Google eliminating as much spam as possible and thoroughly training their AI. Personally, I’m almost on the verge of depression because I can’t find solutions to what I’m searching for.

There are numerous large backlink networks worldwide, some based on thin content, others on quality content. There are also many Danish SEO company sites that mass-produce pages involved in thin networks. I sincerely hope they’re hit hard by these updates because they represent an unethical and dishonorable way to rank high in Google’s search results, making it difficult for genuine websites and genuine SEO work to achieve results.

If you behave properly with your website, you won’t be penalized. But if you employ the above techniques, you’re highly likely to plummet down to lower positions in Google. You run a significant risk of being pushed out of Google backward!