September 2024 Google algorithm and search industry updates

This month we bring you some exciting developments and updates from the world of search.

First and foremost, there have been continuous periods of volatility in the search landscape following the completion of the August 2024 core algorithm update. Since the update was finalised rolling out in early September, tracking tools have reported consistent spikes in ranking volatility across various industries.

Google has also updated their Spam Policy Documentation to provide greater clarity into what the search engine defines as “site reputation abuse”. The update largely concerns changes to the wording and additional context into what they consider to be a violation of their terms.

In other news, a study by SE Ranking offers valuable insights into the development of SearchGPT. Although still in its testing phase, the study sheds light on how the tool compares to other search engines.

We’ll explore these updates and more in detail in the article below.

Allow our traffic light system to guide you to the articles that need your attention, so watch out for Red light updates as they’re major changes that will need you to take action, whereas amber updates may make you think and are definitely worth knowing but aren’t urgent. And finally, green light updates which are great for your SEO and site knowledge but are less significant than others

Keen to know more about any of these changes and what they mean for your SEO? Get in touch or visit our SEO agency page to find out how we can help.

In this post, we’ll explore: 

Google updates its Spam Policy documentation

Google has made some updates to their spam policy documentation with the biggest changes being made to their site reputation abuse guidelines. They have added a new definition of site reputation abuse and provided further information on the consequences of manual actions. 

Google has increasingly ramped up its spam targeting since the release of the spam update alongside the March core algorithm update. Earlier this year, they released three spam policy updates including site reputation abuse, expired domain abuse and scaled content abuse. You can read more about these previous core algorithm updates in our blog.

What’s changed with the latest spam policy documentation update? 

Site reputation abuse revision

Previously, the documentation defined site reputation abuse as a third party publishing content on an authoritative site “with little or no first-party oversight”. They have now expanded on this to define what clarifies as “first-party oversight”, referring to direct involvement by the content owner, as opposed to third-party services that manipulate rankings. Therefore, this could include freelancers or staff as opposed to white-labels or turnkeys. 

Further context for manual action consequences

Google now emphasises that continued violations can lead to broader actions, such as removing more sections of a website from search results. While this isn’t a new repercussion, it provides more context into the consequences if you are faced with a manual action.

“Thin affiliate” changes to “thin affiliation”

They have also revised their concept of “thin affiliate pages” to “thin affiliation,” focusing on content with affiliate links that lack substantial value. The wording of this has changed from:

“Thin affiliate pages are pages with product affiliate links…”

To:

“Thin affiliation is the practice of publishing content with product affiliate links…”

A revised introductory sentence

Previously, the spam policy documentation began by explaining what their spam policies aim to address. The new introductory sentence begins by providing a definition on what spam is to improve context and readability:

“In the context of Google Search, spam is web content that’s designed to deceive users or manipulate our Search systems in order to rank highly. Our spam policies help protect users and improve the quality of search results.”

Terminology consolidation

Phrases like “spam practices” replace more complex wording, improving clarity and consistency. 

Increased reference to the term “abuse”

The term “abuse” is now used more frequently, tying different forms of spam (e.g., hidden text and links abuse, doorway pages abuse) under a unified concept of harmful activities. This minor change makes it easier for the reader to comprehend and these concepts are clearer to understand in the context of spam abuse. 

Conciseness of the document

Throughout the document, many sections were made shorter and more direct, enhancing comprehension for the reader. For example:

“Google uses links as a factor in determining the relevancy of web pages. Any links that are intended to manipulate rankings in Google Search results may be considered link spam. This includes any behavior that manipulates links to your site or outgoing links from your site.”

Has become: 

“Link spam is the practice of creating links to or from a site primarily for the purpose of manipulating search rankings.”

There are other examples throughout the document where Google has reordered the information so it is clearer for the reader, providing more solid definitions of what they mean.

Google Search ranking volatility

It’s been just over a month since the August 2024 Core Update, but reports of ongoing ranking volatility in the search landscape have persisted. Search Engine Roundtable noted significant fluctuations on the following dates:

• 6th September
• 10th September
• 18th September
• 25th September
• 28th September
• 1st October

Although Google hasn’t officially confirmed any updates during this time, the reasons behind these fluctuations remain unclear. Despite the lack of confirmation from Google, the SEO community and website owners have seen a sharp rise in SEO-related discussions, and many tracking tools continue to show unusually high volatility, surpassing ‘normal’ levels.

Source: SERPmetrics

Looking ahead into October, this volatility continued, with Search Engine Roundtable reporting that this is the longest period of Google Search ranking volatility that they have recorded. However, this period of volatility appears to have cooled down in the second week of October.

SearchGPT vs Google: Early analysis and user feedback

In July 2024, OpenAI launched SearchGPT, the prototype of its search engine. While it is still only in its testing phase and available to a handful of users, a study by SE Ranking has revealed insights into user feedback and how the platform is looking.

SearchGPT: Background information

SearchGPT works through an extension which brings up a minimalistic user interface. After typing your query, the screen splits into two: the left side displays search results similar to a traditional search engine, while the right side shows an AI-generated response. This AI response may include instructions, tips, or other information based on the query, similar to Google’s AI Overviews.

The key findings from SE Ranking’s study

In their study, SE Ranking investigated how this prototype stacked up against rivals like Google and Bing. To do so, they assessed a range of keywords with different intents and evaluated how closely the search results matched that of Google and Bing.

Some key findings include:

• A single domain often appears multiple times for one query. For instance, Investopedia appeared three times for the query “How to build a successful business.”
• There were no links to forums like Reddit or Quora.
• SearchGPT seems to favour established websites with strong backlink profiles.
• 26% of results shown in SearchGPT do not receive any traffic from Google, suggesting it could help boost visibility for under-recognised sites.
• It struggles with localised results, sometimes showing incorrect currencies for different regions.
• For informational queries, SearchGPT provides thorough answers using various sources, reducing the need to visit external sites.
• For navigational queries (e.g., “Facebook login”), it provides background information instead of directly addressing the search intent (i.e., offering the login link).
• SearchGPT isn’t very effective for commercial searches, as it focuses on lists and informational content instead of product links. 

While it is clear that SearchGPT still has some way to go to match the depth of results offered by other search engines, OpenAI remains hopeful that the key features of this tool will one day be integrated with ChatGPT.

What does this mean for SEO?

Despite SearchGPT being still in its prototype phase, it has the potential to significantly impact online search if improvements are made based on user feedback. Integrating SearchGPT with ChatGPT could create a powerful information tool, but if this feature is only available to paid users, it might limit widespread adoption. Given Google’s steady revenue growth and dominance in search, it’s likely that SearchGPT and Google will coexist, each serving different purposes and user needs.

Organic product grids more visible in the UK

Brodie Clark, an independent SEO consultant, noted on LinkedIn that organic product grids have been appearing more frequently for users in the US, UK, Australia, and Germany. 

He explained that clients with a strategy for optimising product grids have seen increased traffic to their merchant listings. Since April 2024, the presence of product grids in search results on mobile online has grown by 11 percentage points in the UK.

This analysis emphasises the importance of having a solid merchant listing strategy, focusing on key elements like valid listings, schema markup, and customer reviews. 

How does the ranking system work?

In his guide to Google organic product grid, Brodie explains further how this ranking system works, but here are some key takeaways:

Valid items within the Merchant Centre

The key to ranking in organic product grids is ensuring that your products are valid and eligible to appear in them. You can check the ‘Merchant listings’ tab in Google Search Console to identify any invalid items and see how to fix them. Addressing these issues increases the chances of your products showing up in the organic product grid.

Provide an extensive range of information

Google Search Console’s Merchant Centre report will highlight any missing product fields. To improve your product’s visibility, it’s best practice to fill in all relevant fields, giving Google as much information as possible about each product.

Have an exact product match

To appear in product grids, your product must exactly match the query. If a query or product triggers an organic product listing, ensure that your product details clearly reflect that match.

Google’s recent update supporting sale pricing and the new priceType property

Google has introduced new sale pricing support in its Merchant listing documentation, making it easier for merchants to specify and display sale prices through structured data. This update ensures that the structured data schema aligns with the Merchant Center’s price features, simplifying the process for merchants to highlight discounts effectively in Google Search results. 

The key change allows merchants to specify both the original list price and the current offer price through structured data, making the sale pricing process more transparent and accurate.

What’s changed?

Merchants can now add a second price, known as the original list price, by using the priceType property. This feature signals to Google that the current price is a discounted one. If the original list price is provided, Google automatically considers the current offer price as the sale price. 

However, it’s important to note that the current offer price should not be marked with the priceType property, as this designation is reserved solely for the original list price. This approach ensures that the correct pricing is displayed, without confusion or errors, across Google’s platform.

How does the documentation reflect this?

The priceType property addition in the documentation clarifies how merchants should implement this in their structured data. It specifies that the ListPrice is the only supported value for the priceType property. 

When this property is used, merchants must also provide the current sale price using the price or priceSpecification properties. This method allows for a clear distinction between the full price and the discounted price, improving how sale pricing is presented to potential customers.

Why this matters

This update is significant because it improves visibility and accuracy in Google Search results and Merchant listings. It aligns schema markup with Merchant Center’s price features, ensuring consistency across platforms.