Google Core Update: Google has ended the March spam update targeting AI content and privilege abuse.
Google Core Update: Major updates will continue….
- Google has completed the release of spam updates targeting AI-generated content, expired domain abuse, and privilege abuse.
- A core update incorporating “useful content” ratings into the core algorithm is currently in progress and will take several more weeks to complete.
- Website owners and content creators should wait until the major update is complete before making significant changes in response to ranking changes.
Google announced that it has completed the rollout of a spam update that began on March 5 in parallel with the core update.
The spam update, which took about two weeks to fully implement, targeted large-scale content production, ended domain abuse, and privilege abuse.
A core update incorporating “useful content” ratings into the core algorithm is currently in progress and is expected to take approximately four weeks in total to complete.
Spam Update Rollout Complete
On March 20 at 6:09 PDT, Google confirmed that the spam update is no longer available.
The announcement was made via an update to Google’s Search Status dashboard.
With this update, Google has implemented three new spam policies targeting mass content abuse, expired domain abuse, and site reputation abuse.
The first two policies went into effect immediately, but the site reputation abuse policy will go into effect in May.
Impact On Websites And Search Results
Now that the spam update has been released, there is new clarity in the search environment as publishers and SEO professionals can now understand the impact of the changes.
Preliminary data from SISTRIX revealed significant gains and losses across various domains, with some websites being removed from Google’s search index entirely.
After implementing the new spam policy, Google released several manual measures to address actual spam issues.
Research conducted by Originality.ai indicates that all deindexed websites exhibit indications of content generated by artificial intelligence (AI), with approximately half of these sites featuring posts composed entirely by AI, ranging from 90% to 100%.
However, these manual actions are different from algorithmic demotion.
The main difference is that manual actions are performed by Google’s human reviewers and are accompanied by a notification in the Search Console.
In contrast, algorithm ranking updates, such as the March spam update, occur automatically and result in no notification from Google.
A website can be affected by both manual actions and algorithm updates at the same time.
Core Update Still In Progress
The spam update rollout has ended, but the main update that started at the same time is still ongoing.
Google says the main update will take several weeks to complete as it integrates ratings for “useful content” into its core algorithms.
As major updates continue to roll out, SEO professionals and content creators need to focus on creating original, high-value content that resonates with their target audience.
Danny Sullivan, Google’s head of search, urged patience and caution, stressing the importance of waiting until the update is fully complete before making any major changes in response to ranking changes.
Adapting To The New Search Environment
Now that the Spam update rollout is complete, website owners and content creators can begin to adapt to the new search environment. This may include auditing existing content, reworking AI-generated content, and prioritizing human creativity and editorial oversight.
As the SEO community continues to monitor the impact of both updates, it is clear that Google is committed to promoting original, high-value content and combating low-quality spam content.
The full impact of these updates will become more clear in the coming weeks as the main update rollout is completed and search results settle into new patterns.