Google algorithm update in the middle of the corona virus pandemic ??
Yes that’s true – Although the timing has been criticized by various professionals the there was a core algorithm update which recently happened. This time the release was communicated on 4th May 2020.
Later today, we are releasing a broad core algorithm update, as we do several times per year. It is called the May 2020 Core Update. Our guidance about such updates remains as we’ve covered before. Please see this blog post for more about that:https://t.co/e5ZQUAlt0G
— Google SearchLiaison (@searchliaison) May 4, 2020
Core update primary test whether your site is adhering to the what is called the EAT guidelines (Expertise Authority Trustworthiness)
What is EAT
For any digital publishing business,
Expertise relates to the expertise of the person who has written the content. Do they have the credentials, if necessary, to back that up, and is this information available to read on the website? People with relevant life experience in specific topics can be considered experts – no formal training or education required
Authoritativeness” means having generally recognized authority. People know you, know your background, and look to you as a leader in your industry. They accept you as a good source of information.Authority can be measured by the backlinks and the visibility of the brand on social media
Being a trustworthy expert and source means people can trust you to provide honest, true information that is accurate.Trustworthiness relates to the efforts taken by the site to build trust in the visitor – this includes having aspects like a clear privacy policy, a good ‘About Us’ page and overall measures taken to improve confidence to transact and spend time on the website..
View Full Pdf of Google EAT guidelines
Who’s On the Winning and Losing Side of the May 2020 Core Update?
SERP Winners
SERP Loser
History of the Core Updates so far
Here is a update of all the code updates so far 2020 google Updates Till Date (confirmed)
Date | Update Name | Description on Update | Important links |
January 22, 2020 | Featured Snippet De-duping | Google announced that URLs in Featured Snippets would no longer be appearing as traditional organic results, in line with Google’s philosophy that a Featured Snippet is a promoted organic result. This had significant implications for rank-tracking and organic CTR. | |
January 13, 2020 | January 2020 Core Update | Google rolled another core update, with MozCast showing heavy flux across three days and a high temperature of 97°F, in line with the previous three core updates (but smaller than the August 2018 “Medic” core update). |
2019 Google updates (confirmed)
Date | Update Name | Description on Update | Important links |
December 9, 2019 | International BERT Roll-out | Google confirmed that the BERT natural language processing algorithm was rolling out internationally, in 70 languages. This announcement came after speculation from the SEO community, and the exact timing of the roll-out is unclear. | BERT is rolling out to Google search in over 70 languages (SEL) |
October 22, 2019 |
BERT Update |
Google upgraded its algorithm and underlying hardware to support the BERT natural language processing (NLP) model. BERT helps Google better interpret natural language searches and understand the context. | |
September 24, 2019 |
September 2019 Core Update |
Google rolled out another core update. The update measured at 97°F on MozCast (fairly high, but not historically high) and seemed to impact sites affected by previous core updates. Google did not provide many details. | |
June 6, 2019 |
Site Diversity Update |
Google pre-announced a “site diversity” update, claiming it would improve situations where sites had more than two organic listings. Moz data showed that, while the update did marginally improve SERPs with 3-5 duplicate sites on page one, the impact was relatively small. | |
June 3 2019June 3, 2019 |
June 2019 Core UpdateJune 2019 Core Update |
Google pre-announced a “core” update, but with limited details. Sites impacted in previous core updates seem to have been affected, in some cases, and some major UK publishers reported heavy losses. On average, the impact was smaller than the August “Medic” update, as measured by MozCast. | |
May 23, 2019 |
Indexing Bugs |
Two days in a row, Google confirmed indexing bugs. The first bug reportedly was preventing new content from being properly indexed. MozCast confirmed unusually high SERP flux from May 23-25 (peaking on the 23rd), but it’s unclear if this was directly related to the bugs. | Google has fixed the indexing issue from Thursday night (SEL) |
April 5, 2019 |
Deindexing Bug |
Google confirmed a bug that dropped pages from the search index around the weekend of April 5th. Moz data suggested drops on April 5th and 7th, with about 4% of stable URLs falling off of page one. Most sites recovered soon after. | |
March 12, 2019 |
March 2019 Core Update |
Google confirmed a “core” update, stating it was the third major core update since they began using that label. MozCast hit a peak of 101.2°F, a bit below March 1st temperatures. No specific details were given about the nature of the update. |
How to combat Core Updates
Here is an article that we did in the past to explain to site owners how to combat core updates in general