Spam update Confirmed
December 2024 spam update
Started the day after the December core update ended. A busy end of the year.
Google updates
Google algorithm updates 2024.
What Google changed in Search in 2024: announced updates, volatility nobody officially confirmed, and new features that changed how results look.
Data last updated:
- core updates in 2024
- 4
- spam updates in 2024
- 3
- average core rollout
- 23 days
- unconfirmed volatility periods
- 5
How to read this page
Google tweaks search almost every day, but only announces the bigger changes. That is why entries come in three kinds:
- Confirmed updateGoogle announced that it is changing how it ranks pages and said when the rollout started and ended. The most common reason for sudden traffic changes.
- Unannounced volatilityRankings clearly moved, but Google said nothing. It shows up in rank tracking tools and in reports from site owners.
- Search changeA new feature or a different look of the results page, such as AI answers above the links. Rankings can stay the same while clicks still change.
What 2024 looked like
In 2024 Google announced 4 core updates and 3 spam updates. The longest rollout was the March 2024 core update, at 45 days.
A year many site owners will remember. The March 2024 core update took 45 days to roll out. With it, Google folded the helpful content system into core and introduced three new spam policies: expired domain abuse, scaled content abuse and site reputation abuse. Sites built on cheap mass-produced content lost heavily.
In May the first manual actions for parasite SEO went out, and AI Overviews launched in the US. In August the core update coincided with a separate ranking bug, so for a few days nobody was sure what they were looking at in their data. Things only calmed down in October.
To finish, Google added two core updates in November and December, followed straight away by a spam update. Online stores got all of it in the middle of peak shopping season.
2024 timeline.
The longer the segment, the longer the rollout. Click a month to see what happened in it.
- Core updates
- Discover core
- Spam updates
- Other confirmed
- Unconfirmed volatility
- Search change
2024
January 2024
February 2024
April 2024
June 2024
July 2024
October 2024
Updates in 2024.
-
- Core update Confirmed
December 2024 core update
Barely a week after the November one, another arrived. It finished after six days.
- Search change Announced
Site reputation abuse policy clarified
Google tightened the rule: third-party content exploiting a domain's reputation is a violation even if the site owner oversees it.
- Core update Confirmed
November 2024 core update
It was meant to take two weeks and took over three. During peak shopping season, which online stores felt in particular.
- Volatility Not confirmed by Google
Prolonged volatility after the core update
Calm did not return after the August update ended. For a month, some core update gains kept disappearing.
- Core update Confirmed
August 2024 core update
Google said it would reward content written for people rather than search engines. Some sites bounced back after the March drops.
- Ranking issue Confirmed
Ranking issue (August 2024)
A separate ranking bug started the same day as the core update. Google stressed they were unrelated, but they were hard to separate in the data.
- Volatility Not confirmed by Google
Ranking volatility in July
Probably two separate changes, from 18 and 22 July. Some sites felt them clearly in their traffic.
- Spam update Confirmed
June 2024 spam update
A short, week-long spam update without major surprises.
- Search change Announced
AI Overviews launch in the US
AI answers above the results rolled out to everyone in the US. From then on, the fight for clicks looked different.
- Search change Announced
Site reputation abuse enforcement
The first manual actions for hosting third-party content to ride on a domain's authority. The industry calls it parasite SEO.
- Volatility Not confirmed by Google
Ranking volatility in May
From 3 May, trackers showed elevated volatility for almost two weeks.
- Core update Confirmed
March 2024 core update
A 45-day rollout and one of the biggest changes in recent years. Helpful content stopped being a separate system and became part of core.
- Spam update Confirmed
March 2024 spam update
Launched the same day as the core update, together with new spam policies.
- Search change Announced
New spam policies
Three new policies: expired domain abuse, scaled content abuse and site reputation abuse. For many sites built on mass-produced content, this was the moment of truth.
- Volatility Not confirmed by Google
Ranking volatility, 14-15 February
Valentine's Day volatility: big movements in trackers and plenty of reports from site owners.
- Volatility Not confirmed by Google
Ranking volatility, 23-24 January
Trackers showed big movements and forums filled with reports of sudden traffic drops. Google stayed silent.
Nothing matches this filter.
Where to follow updates.
I always start with Google's own sources. I read industry sites to know what happens between official announcements.
Official Google sources
- Google Search Status Dashboard The official list of updates and incidents with start and end times. Every traffic drop analysis I do starts here.
- Google Search Central Blog Where Google announces bigger changes and new policies, often with more context than the dashboard.
- Core updates guidance The questions Google tells you to ask yourself when a site loses after a core update.
- Spam policies The full list of practices that can cost you visibility or lead to a manual action.
- Q&A on Search updates A 2023 Google post that explains well how updates work and how often they happen.
Industry sources
- Search Engine Roundtable Barry Schwartz covers volatility almost daily, including changes Google never confirmed.
- Search Engine Journal A history of updates with links to articles about each one.
- Search Engine Land Rollout coverage and solid yearly reviews.
- Rank Math An update list where unconfirmed periods are clearly marked.
Archive.
Other years.
Google updates 2024 questions.
How many Google core updates were there in 2024?
In 2024 Google confirmed 4 core updates: March 2024 core update (5 March - 19 April), August 2024 core update (15 August - 3 September), November 2024 core update (11 November - 5 December) and December 2024 core update (12-18 December).
Which Google update lasted longest in 2024?
The March 2024 core update, which took 45 days to roll out (5 March - 19 April).
Traffic drop after an update?.
Give me access to Search Console. I will compare your data with update dates and tell you plainly what likely happened and where to start.
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