Mpro 
06 Dec 2024 
6 min read 
Google smacks thousands of changes in search algorithms at marketers’ faces. With hundreds to thousands of updates, 3 to 4 significant ones, known as core updates, have consistently shaken the search engine experts.
It has been estimated that Google caters to approximately 255,600 searches every day. Considering its search volume and importance, Google needs to ensure that its platform produces reliable and helpful results for its users. This makes the small and core updates necessary to provide users with a helpful search engine experience.
So, what updates have startled the SEO world and caused many sleepless nights for business owners? Let’s break it down.
How Many Times Google Updates Its Search Engine Algorithms
In 2023, Google ran over 700,000 experiments, bringing more than 4,000 improvements to Search.
Google evaluates its Search in multiple ways. In 2023 they ran:
- 4,781 launches
- 16,871 live traffic experiments
- 719,326 search quality tests
- 124,942 side-by-side experiments
According to Google, they proposed all the changes based on clear evaluation and analysis of specific metrics. Apart from these changes, there are multiple core updates that come every year to enhance search engines’ performance.
The History of Google Algorithm Updates (2024-2022)
Here are Google’s primary algorithm updates from 2024 to 2022 in reverse order.
August 2024 Core Update
The update occurred on August 15, and the rollout ended on September 3, 2024.
The update was aimed to demote sites that produce low-quality content and adopt outdated SEO practices.
Read More: Content Marketing Strategy: Top 10 Ingredients of Crafting Compelling Content
June 2024 Spam Update
The update occurred on June 20, and the rollout was completed on June 27, 2024.
The update focused on combating keyword stuffing and duplication of content.
March 2024 Spam Update
The update occurred on March 20, and the rollout was completed on March 20, 2024.
The update focused on targeting content flooding and expired domain abuses from sites.
March 2024 Core Update
The core update occurred on March 5, and the rollout was completed on April 19, 2024.
The update ensures that irrelevant content will be removed by 40% across search engine results.
2023 Google Algorithm Updates
November 2023 Reviews Update
The review update occurred on November 8, and the rollout was completed on December 7, 2023.
This update includes inspecting the originality of the review content on a page-level basis. It promotes original and in-depth reviews that help users make good decisions.
Read More: The Power of Positive Reviews: How They Can Shape Your Sales Revenue
October 2023 Core Update
The core SEO update occurred on October 5, and the rollout was completed on October 19, 2023.
This Google’s core update was aimed towards ranking those search results that top in providing high-quality information.
September 2023 Helpful Content Update
The helpful content update occurred on September 14, and the rollout was completed on September 28, 2023.
This update was made to encourage those brands that write content to help search users instead of creating content for search engine algorithms.
It was focused on showcasing Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness (E-E-A-T) updates.
To avoid being a prey of these updates, you need to create content that:
- Is created to help people solve their queries instead of solely focusing on search engine rankings.
- Provides helpful, original, and up-to-date information.
- Showcase Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness (E-E-AT).
August 2023 Core Update
The update occurred on August 22, and the rollout was completed on September 7, 2023.
The core update focuses on improving organic search results to be better and more reliable for users.
Read More: 7 Organic Marketing: Definition, Examples and Channels
February 2023 Product Review Update
The product review update occurred on February 21, and the rollout was completed on March 7, 2023.
The update encourages review sites where authors showcase their product experiences and forge expertise.
This update was applied to languages globally: English, Spanish, German, French, Italian, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Russian, Dutch, Portuguese, and Polish.
2022 Google Algorithm Updates
December 2022 Link Spam Update
The update occurred on December 14, and the rollout was completed on January 12, 2023
This update was intended to enhance Google’s Spam Brain, an AI detection system that detects unnatural links. Sites that were using spammy backlinks saw a drop in the rankings after this update.
December 2022 Helpful Content Update
The helpful content update occurred on December 5, and the rollout was completed on January 12, 2023.
During the rollout, Google changed its previous E-A-T (Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) update and updated its guidelines by adding “Experience,” making it E-E-A-T.
The aim of this update is to promote those creators who show their personal experience with certain subject matters.
October 2022 Spam Update
The update occurred on October 19, and the rollout was completed on October 21, 2022
The update was intended to keep Google aware of spammy practices. Sites that were engaged in spam approaches and were violating Google’s spam policies saw a drop in their rankings.
September 2022 Product Review Update
The product review update occurred on September 20, and the rollout was completed on September 26, 2022.
This update aimed to acknowledge and reward top-notch product review sites. The update was applied only to English-language content.
September 2022 Core Update
The core update occurred on September 12, and the rollout was completed on September 26, 2022.
August 2022 Helpful Content Update
The update occurred on August 25, and the rollout was completed on September 9, 2022
Google’s first update of this kind was designed to promote content on SERPs, which were written solely for people to help and educate them.
July 2022 Product Reviews Update
The product reviews update occurred on July 27, and the rollout was completed on August 2, 2022.
The product review update focuses on ranking quality product reviews higher and relegating those product reviews that add little to no value to users.
May 2022 Core Update
The update occurred on May 25, and the rollout was completed on June 9, 2022.
It was a regular Google core update that allowed their systems to assess overall content. However, many website owners face massive ups and downs in their search rankings.
Feb 2022 Page Experience Update For Desktop
The update occurred on February 22, and the rollout was completed on March 3, 2022.
This update introduces Core Web Vitals as a ranking factor for desktops. And ensure that sites use secure HTTPS connections for safer browsing.
Major Past Google Updates
BERT Update: This update was announced in 2019 to understand the nuances of users’ search queries, allowing Google to understand natural languages.
Medic Update: This update targeted medical sites that claim medical knowledge without complying with Google’s E-A-T guidelines.
Mobilegeddon Update: This 2015 update works on ranking mobile-friendly pages in search engine results.
Prepare To Tackle Next Google Updates With Market Pro
With Market Pro, your website’s search engine visibility is protected against any algorithm changes and Google updates. Minor and big updates in the past few years have made businesses vigilant and aware of using any spam or search engine-centric content. The only way to conquer search engine space is to create an SEO strategy that is human-centric and free of any black-hat practices.
