Thursday morning, Google unleashed the much anticipated August 2024 core update, to be followed by a very untimely ranking bug, that is still ongoing over 3 days later. With that being said, many SEOs and publishers have been busy documenting some of what they have been seeing since the August core update began rolling out.
Caveats. Before I share what we’ve been seeing, it is important to note:
There is a ranking bug currently impacting the Google search rankings
The core update will take a month to fully rollout
AI Overviews expanded and added more links, plus show to signed out users
All of this can impact a publisher’s traffic to their site from Google Search.
What we’re seeing. In short, most are seeing nothing – which is common but for the first time we are seeing some signs of life for those sites that were negatively hit by the September 2023 helpful content update. Don’t get me wrong, those sites did not “recover” and are nowhere near where they were prior to that September 2023 helpful content update, but some are showing some surges in ranking and visibility within Google Search.
I documented a lot of the more detailed chatter within the SEO industry on the Search Engine Roundtable but I figured I’d sum it up here:
Some helpful content update victims are noticing some increases in visibility in Google Search
No one would classify those increases as “recoveries” just yet
Sites hit by previous core updates, like the March 2024 core update are also seeing changes, some positive and some negative
Some sites that were never hit by a core update are also seeing changes, some positive and some negative
Glenn Gabe, an SEO consultant, has been tracking a few hundred sites negatively impacted by the helpful content update back in September; said he noticed 47 of those sites are seeing some small signs of life – some surges in visibility. “I’m now seeing more HCU(X) sites surge. Out of the 380+ sites I’m tracking, 47 have surged since the August core update began rolling out. Note, some have low visibility, but they have spiked with the update. Others have greater visibility and are surging back nicely,” Glenn Gabe wrote.
House Fresh and Retro Dodo. The two more “popular” sites that received a lot of media attention around their ranking issues in Google also spoke about what they were seeing. These sites are House Fresh and Retro Dodo. Both said they are seeing some movement but they are not full recoveries but are hopeful the trend continues.
Here are those posts:
Why we care. As a reminder, we are only a few days into the core update roll out and we have a few more weeks to go. There is also that ranking bug that is still ongoing.
These ranking changes may be related to the core update, they may be related to the bug or both. They may continue to improve, they may not or they may get worse.
It is a bit too early to say which way this update is headed but we will continue to watch and report back what we find.
We hope you all find success and improvements with this Google update.
