2024 has been a rollercoaster year for businesses, marketers, and SEO enthusiasts with Google’s seven official and confirmed algorithmic changes. This included 4 cour updates and 3 spam updates released throughout the year.
Google released 9 confirmed algorithmic updates in 2023. Google confirmed 10 algorithmic updates in 2022 and 2021.
Although 2024 had fewer updates than the past years, the March 2024 core update was Google’s largest core update till now updated several systems within the core search algorithms and implemented several new large spam policies.
In this post, we will recap all of Google’s confirmed algorithm updates that happened in 2024.
Google Core Updates of 2024
Google rolled out a total of four core updates in 2024, similar to the number in 2023. The four core updates are as follows:
March 2024 Core Update
March 2024 core update was the largest algorithmic update in Google’s entire history. It started rolling out on March 5 and took 45 days to completely roll out. This update finally ended on April 19.
Chris Nelson, a Google Search Quality team member, said that the March 2024 core update was more complex than any other usual core update and will implement changes to multiple core systems.
August 2024 Core Update
The Google August 2024 core update was officially released on August 15 and ended 19 days later on September 13. According to Google, this update was quite different from the normal core updates.
Google said that this core update took into account the feedback Google received after the September 2023 helpful content update and will fix the negative impact on small and independent publishers.
November 2024 Core Update
The November 2024 core update was rather a normal core update that Google generally releases to refresh the search algorithm. This update started rolling out on November 11 and ended on December 5, completing a roll-out cycle of 24 days.
This update was expected to finish in two weeks, according to Google, but it took 10 more days and caused a lot of volatility in the search ranking results during the holiday season.
December 2024 Core Update
The Google December 2024 core update came as a surprise when it was released on December 12. This update was not expected by most marketers as it came in just a week after the November 2024 core update was finished rolling out.
This update took 6 days to complete and officially ended on December 18. The December core update was more volatile than the November 2024 core update.
Google spam updates of 2024
Apart from the four massive core updates that happened, Google also released three spam updates in 2024, taking the total algorithmic updates count to seven. Let’s have a quick look at these three spam updates of 2024:
March 2024 Spam Update
Google released the March 2024 spam update on the same day as the March 2024 core update finished. However, this spam update took less time to complete. It ended on March 20, taking about 14 days to get finished.
Google did not highlight anything special about this spam update. Chris Nelson from Google only mentioned that the March 2024 spam update is being launched along with some new spam policies.
June 2024 Spam Update
The Google June 2024 spam update was a general and broad spam update that started rolling out on June 20, 2024, and ended 7 days later on June 27.
According to Google, this update was not a link spam update and did not automate the site reputation abuse policy, which is still being done via manual actions only. This update felt like a regular update and did not cause many changes.
December 2024 Spam Update
The December 2024 Spam Update was another surprise from Google as it was released just the day after the December 2024 core update was finished. This update was officially released on December 19th and ended 7 days later on December 26th.
The December 2024 spam update applied to all languages according to Google. This update was much more widespread and effective than the previous two spam updates.
Other Google Algorithm Changes and Updates
Apart from the four core updates and three spam updates, Google also released some specific changes in 2024. Here’s a list of these changes or updates:
- In May 2024, the Google site reputation abuse policy was implemented.
- In May 2024, Google released AI overviews in the US.
- In July 2024, Google rolled out a new deepfake search algorithm.
- In October 2024, Google released a new search algorithm that demotes content that is starkly different from other sections on the website.
Along with all these, Google also identified and fixed several search bugs related to ranking and indexing in 2024.
2024 has been a rollercoaster year for businesses, marketers, and SEO enthusiasts with Google’s seven official and confirmed algorithmic changes. This included 4 cour updates and 3 spam updates released throughout the year.
Google released 9 confirmed algorithmic updates in 2023. Google confirmed 10 algorithmic updates in 2022 and 2021.
Although 2024 had fewer updates than the past years, the March 2024 core update was Google’s largest core update till now updated several systems within the core search algorithms and implemented several new large spam policies.
In this post, we will recap all of Google’s confirmed algorithm updates that happened in 2024.
Google Core Updates of 2024
Google rolled out a total of four core updates in 2024, similar to the number in 2023. The four core updates are as follows:
March 2024 Core Update
March 2024 core update was the largest algorithmic update in Google’s entire history. It started rolling out on March 5 and took 45 days to completely roll out. This update finally ended on April 19.
Chris Nelson, a Google Search Quality team member, said that the March 2024 core update was more complex than any other usual core update and will implement changes to multiple core systems.
August 2024 Core Update
The Google August 2024 core update was officially released on August 15 and ended 19 days later on September 13. According to Google, this update was quite different from the normal core updates.
Google said that this core update took into account the feedback Google received after the September 2023 helpful content update and will fix the negative impact on small and independent publishers.
November 2024 Core Update
The November 2024 core update was rather a normal core update that Google generally releases to refresh the search algorithm. This update started rolling out on November 11 and ended on December 5, completing a roll-out cycle of 24 days.
This update was expected to finish in two weeks, according to Google, but it took 10 more days and caused a lot of volatility in the search ranking results during the holiday season.
December 2024 Core Update
The Google December 2024 core update came as a surprise when it was released on December 12. This update was not expected by most marketers as it came in just a week after the November 2024 core update was finished rolling out.
This update took 6 days to complete and officially ended on December 18. The December core update was more volatile than the November 2024 core update.
Google spam updates of 2024
Apart from the four massive core updates that happened, Google also released three spam updates in 2024, taking the total algorithmic updates count to seven. Let’s have a quick look at these three spam updates of 2024:
March 2024 Spam Update
Google released the March 2024 spam update on the same day as the March 2024 core update finished. However, this spam update took less time to complete. It ended on March 20, taking about 14 days to get finished.
Google did not highlight anything special about this spam update. Chris Nelson from Google only mentioned that the March 2024 spam update is being launched along with some new spam policies.
June 2024 Spam Update
The Google June 2024 spam update was a general and broad spam update that started rolling out on June 20, 2024, and ended 7 days later on June 27.
According to Google, this update was not a link spam update and did not automate the site reputation abuse policy, which is still being done via manual actions only. This update felt like a regular update and did not cause many changes.
December 2024 Spam Update
The December 2024 Spam Update was another surprise from Google as it was released just the day after the December 2024 core update was finished. This update was officially released on December 19th and ended 7 days later on December 26th.
The December 2024 spam update applied to all languages according to Google. This update was much more widespread and effective than the previous two spam updates.
Other Google Algorithm Changes and Updates
Apart from the four core updates and three spam updates, Google also released some specific changes in 2024. Here’s a list of these changes or updates:
- In May 2024, the Google site reputation abuse policy was implemented.
- In May 2024, Google released AI overviews in the US.
- In July 2024, Google rolled out a new deepfake search algorithm.
- In October 2024, Google released a new search algorithm that demotes content that is starkly different from other sections on the website.
Along with all these, Google also identified and fixed several search bugs related to ranking and indexing in 2024.